This pub is owned by the same person who owns The Victorian Bar, which is located further down Queen Street. It must have been recently refurbished as it is bright and light with wooden flooring and recessed lights in the ceiling etc. There are a couple of TV's fitted in to the "canopy" which runs above the top of the bar area. A further 2 bigger plasma TV's are located in each side of the pub. The TV's over the bar were playing a music channel and the 2 other TV's were showing cricket on Sky. I'm not sure if it wants to be a music pub or a sports pub - surely all 4 TV's should have been showing the same programme?
To the rear of the pub is a reasonable sized beer garden with numerous benches and kiddies playground - slide, climbing frame, swings, seesaw roundabout etc.
It was a Monday evening when we visited, and there were only a handful of punters in the place. I'm sure there would be a few more customers on a weekend.
The pub sells the same real ale as its sister pub (The Victorian Bar), Hobgoblin, which I was happy to sample.
The inside and outside of this pub seem to be in conflict with each other. When first approaching the pub, we were expecting it to be of a more traditional layout, perhaps a bit darker and more "homely". The inside is quite modern, bright and trendy and took us a bit by surprise.
The refurbishment at The Victorian Bar seems to work well; I'm not sure it quite does so here.
I'll call in at the weekend and see if it is any busier than on a week night.
The back area of the pub hasn't been refurbished and the toilets were old and really smelly.
The Hobgoblin was a nice pint and I wouldn't have a problem calling in again. read more