Steve's Score:	2.5 (Out of 5)
Gray's Grade:	2.5 (Out of 5)
Steve Supped:	Hop Back Summer Lightning
Gray Gulped:	Hop Back Summer Lightning
Garden / Facilities:	Nothing outside, but a pool table and a raised dining area inside
ORIGINAL REVIEW: 2 September 2004
Reminded me a lot of the Sun Inn just a couple of doors away - but not half as impressive inside (and no outside for that matter). The same cheap food menus and decent traditional pub style. They've at last redone the seating inside, which was previously rotting away. The new stuff has quickly collected cigarette burns though. I actually found the fact they'd smartened it up a bit disappointing - as it had lost the feeling that it had been unaltered for forty thousand years. Although, lets face it, it did need tidying up desperately. The bloke behind the bar didn't seem interested in anything at all really and seemed like perhaps he'd gone without sleep for a week (the sign outside asking for new staff might hint he's heading for the sack anyway). In fact the clients the other side of the bar seemed just as dopey as well. Not exactly the most lively pub in Reading then. Still, some proper beer emerging, and a tidy enough town centre pub. G. Just remembered that they have a chess club on Tuesday's or Wednesdays! Madness! G. Yeah but you forgot about the pool competition they were having as advertised on the table next to us. They really did need to upgrade that seating and I think it's better they have, altough it was a bit of a novelty previously. Not a great pub experience all told as nothing special going on and just a standard local type pub, but they do have a pool table and a sperate dining area towards the back which seemed pleasant enough. I can't see a return visit on the hoizon but with a name like it can't be a bad place can it. S.
BEER EXPERIENCE
Good pint of Summer Lightning - they also had Marston's Pedigree - I think in cask format. The blackboard outside promised more cask ales to come including Tanglefoot. G. Yeah, good beer in this one. not sure of what else was on offer though. Standard fair I think. S.
VISITOR FEEDBACK [Give Your Feedback]
"Didn't think pubs like this still existed. No decent beer, staff didn't understand English, no ice. Absolute rubbish and shouldn't have a licence. Do yourself a favour, keep walking past it." (Rated 1 out of 10) Bill Carpenter visited in December 2006 "Turned up on a Thursday and was expecting it to be a reasonable town centre pub, as my memory told me it should be. My be I missed something, but the beers seemed limited in selection and whilst the barmaid was pleasant, she wasn't what I'd call welcoming. It seems to have become the last stop before getting a bus home and probably the first when arriving in town. As a consequence it was noisy and a very, very average." (Rated 5 out of 10) Beano visited in September 2006 "It has already been said that the beer in here is good, and it is. However I find the Staff extremely friendly. The food is excellent, and outstanding value. Two Sunday roasts costs £7, and at that price you would expect it to be average at best, but it is far more than that and the portions are very generous." (Rated 7 out of 10) David visited in November 2005 Average Visitor Score: 4.33 out of 10

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