Salisbury Scrutineer

According to a friend, there are nearly 60 public houses in Salisbury. So far, we’ve managed to sample about 18 of them. The pubs vary from plush modern bars, to large chain pubs serving lager and football, to real ale pubs with beams and tankards. There’s a pub for all tastes.

This page will be updated as we visit more.

In our minds, we have some basic requirements that a pub has to meet if we will go back to it for another drink. The may well not be the same as yours, but they go as follows:

• Real ale. Not just a token handpump, squashed awkwardly between the lager dispensers, but a well looked after British ale, that the landlord takes a pride in.
• Real Cider. Flat, not fizzy, anfd served from a hand-pump or straight from the barrel. Rare, but generally the sign of a ‘proper’ pub. Real cider is not the typical pub cider, in our opinion, such as Strongbow or Dry Blackthorn, which bears as little resemblance to pure fermented apple juice, as coal does to black pudding.
• No loud music. I want to talk to people. I want to have a conversation! I don’t want to be deafened by crap dance music! If I want to do that, I’ll go clubbing!
• Comfy chairs and nice tables. Somewhere to relax.
• Beer garden. Great for the summer, gets you out into the fresh air. Cider is especially good outside for some undefinable reason.
• History. We like buildings with a bit of character and history to them. If they housed siamese monks in them in the 13th century, all the better. Pubs that fight to be the “oldest licensed inn” or “oldest pub in Salisbury” (and there are a few) are generally quite nice inside. Beams are optional. A real fire in its original fireplace is a bonus.
• No fruit/games machines. If I want to go to an amusement arcade, there are plenty around! I’m trying to drink and talk to people, not listen to dings, beeps and digitised laughter.
• Good food. Not essential, but if a pub is going to do food, let it be hearty and affordable. And let food be an addition to the pub, not turn it into a restaurant with the pub bit as a half-forgotten aside…

So. Now you see the sort of pubs that we like, and if our likes and dislikes are agreeable, let us tell you about some of the pubs that we like.

The pubs visited so far are below. Those marked with two asterixes are definitely worth a look! Ones with one asterix need more visits for us to be sure, but on experience of a swift half, seem OK. This list will change, and we will be writing about the pubs in more detail.

• Rai D’Or (69 Brown Street) ** (friendly, local ales and excellent food)
• Queen’s Arms (Ivy Street)
• Cloisters (83 Catherine Street) *
• Wig and Quill (1 New Street) **
• New Inn (New Street) *(good beer garden!)
• Old Ale House (Crane Street)
• Deacons (118 Fisherton Street) *
• The Old Mill (At the Harnham end of the Town Path) **
• The Village (33 Wilton Road) **
• The Hogshead (12-14 Fisherton Street)
• The Haunch of Venison (1 Minster Street)
• The Anchor and Hope (59 Winchester Street, by the ring road) *** Real cider and real company!
• The Pheasant (19 Salt Lane)
• The Winchester Gate (113 Rampart Road)
• The Wyndham Arms (27 Estcourt Road) **
• The Chough (Blue Boar Row, Market Square)
• The Coach and Horses (39 Winchester Street)
• The Rose and Crown (Harnham)
• Avon Brewery (Castle Street)*
• The Huntsman Tavern (Gigant Street)*

If you can suggest a pub that you think we might like, please leave a comment on this post telling us about it.

You can also find a list of Salisbury’s pubs at the Beer In The Evening website.

Keep reading for our individual pub reviews.

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