So, as of the 11 December 2007 we now have The Hidden Brewery in charge, with a range of 6 of their real ales. Chatting to the manager last night he told us to expect refurbishment works in the New Year (I hope the gents receive some attention) and the restaurant to re-open upstairs in March.

Beer availability should also increase, with two extra pumps being installed for micro-brewery guest ales. It was also pleasing to see taps for Palm and Grolch Wheat Beer, although there were also taps for Carling and Guinness. Luckily for all of us there is no provision of keg bitter – a customer last night who asked for John Smith’s Smooth was politely told to either buy proper beer or drink something else. After a taster of Quest he bought a pint of that.

Salisbury is crying out for a pub that is not owned by Enterprise Inns, and therefore not subject to their restrictive pricing and buying policies. We are obviously lucky to have free houses like Deacons, The Village and The Rai D’or, but for us Market Square types the free house pub choices are pretty thin on the ground.

I look forward to becoming a regular in the Chough and supporting this ambitious brewery turn this pub so full of potential into a great boozer.

Link to Googlemaps for location.

A quick update after a year has passed: The Chough is going well and many refurbishments have taken place. Generally a range of 6-8 real ales are available – all from the Hidden Brewery but it would be nice to see some guest beers instead of just the Hidden range.

The kitchen is producing excellent meals – so good that I held my staff Christmas dinner at the Chough and had a great time. The 3 course Sunday lunch is simply the best I have found in Salisbury and even better it comes in under £10.

Niggardly points that I think need attention include: there is no quieter, warmer dining area for people who just wish to eat with a degree or privacy, and on occasions the ambitious beer range effects the quality – I would trim the number of ales back to give a better turnover to the remainder.

The pub itself is low ceilinged and fairly small inside, with a busy standing bar area facing the entrance and chairs and tables laid out for dining. For me the nicest area was outside where one can either enjoy the large garden or cosy up in the covered and heated area, where smoking is permitted. There is a hatchway into the bar for service, although a trip to the loo means walking all the way to the front of the pub and in to the main entrance.

Last night was the Fifth annual V&A fireworks evening, with mulled wine, mulled Blavk Rat cider and a BBQ. The bar was also open, with a choice of 3 real ales (possibly 4). The only other cider available was Stowford Press which was slightly disappointing – it would have been nice to see at least onereal cider to choose from.

I tried a pint of Slater’s Supreme from Staffordshire – this was quite a pale browish ale, very bright ad in excellent condition. Very moreish and a good strength at 4.7%. I also ordered a pint of Paulaner – hoping it would be the cloudy wheat beer and a little disappointed that is was in fact the clear Pilsner. Still, a nice pint and in a stunning tall glass.

The star attraction was the mulled Black Rat. A hefty pan sitting on a burner with floating chunks of apple, the concoction itself was pretty good but much improved with a dose of dark rum from an illicit hip flask.

At around 9pm the 50 or so strong crowd of customers led out into the cold to watch the fireworks – we walked through the village to the underpass (I had no idea Netherhampton boasted anything as grand as an underpass) and into a neighbouring field where for a good 10 minutes or so fireworks erupted from up on the hillside. It was a good display, with donations to the Lion’s Club optional, only slightly marred with the tractor’s headlights illuminating the firing party, but also glaring the watching drinkers.

The procession back to the pub reminded me of Wassailing in Herefordshire, but without the comforting light from flaming torches. After being whipped in the face by an errant bramble I will remember a flashlight next year.

The BBQ was simply a burger or two sausages in a bun, with onions if required. Either was £3.00 which was reasonable, the mulled cider was also £3.00 for about half a pint which was OK, given the free fireworks. A round of four pints, including my Paulaner, came to £11.70, again OK.

Transport to and from, for the five of us, was by taxi from Value Cars initially with a fiendly and helpful driver, who explained that it was quite a quiet night so getting a taxi back would not be a problem. Unfortunately the night was so quiet the driver went home, leaving us slightly stranded until City Cabs Ltd sent no less than the boss himself to collect us. The fare each way for 5 people worked out at no more than £6.00 per head, including a tip.

All in all it was a really good night out to a nice pub with free entertainment. Well done the V&A and I look forward to next year.

For the more adventurous out there, or those with more time and less darkness, the V&A is a good bike ride from Salisbury centre along the path known as Broken Bridges. This route is hopefully going to be upgraded – read more at the Connect2/Sustrans website.

• French or Italian patisserie
• large and varied music store (like Fopp [God rest its soul])
• a branch of Lush
• real cider pub
• late evening cafe style bar with outdoor provision and chill-out music club

69 Brown Street, Salisbury, SP1 2AS.
For reservations: 01722 327137

Freehouse, with ancient origins (apparently 1292), the Rai d’Or – literally, Beam of Gold is a pub of good character and also lovingly known as Salisbury’s best ‘Thai pub’. It used to be the city’s medieval brothel whose madam, later founded Trinity Hospital next door for retired prostitutes in 1370. More recent infamy, some would say, was the pub’s period as a rough biker’s pub, then known as The Star.
There are generally only one or two real ales on tap, usually from the Downton Brewery or Stonehenge Ales who brew Great Bustard, the profits of which go towards the efforts to re-introduce the bird to Salisbury Plain. There is also sometimes Butt’s Brewery (West Berks) beers who brew organic ales. They also serve Moles Brewery’s(Melksham, Wilts) Black Rat clear and sparkly edition of their legendary cider. All the beer is beautifully kept and there is a good wine list too. This is definitely the ’snug’ of Salisbury pubs, coming into its own during chilly autumn and winter nights next to the cosy fires and served by the very warm and friendly bar staff.

Of course, there’s the food. Excellently cooked Thai food, with much of it made from locally sourced ingredients such as that from Futurefarms co-op in Martin, Hampshire. There is a good variety on the menu and all dishes can be made vegetarian and to your palette’s chilli tolerance on request. Follow it up with home made puds such as Wiltshire Apple Cake, made locally. They do get busy with eaters so if you just want to sup a pint and it’s a Thursday to Saturday night, don’t go too late if you want to sit down. The main dining area of the pub is non-smoking.
We like the Rai d’Or. It’s the pub that one January night persuaded us to move to Salisbury.

The Anchor and Hope is a proper pub. In the words of a local, after asking us what we thought of the place: “It’s a proper working class pub, no pretention, but you won’t get no trouble here”. There are several areas within the pub, from comfy sofas, to tables, a pool area, and a decked beer garden.

Getting down to business, the Anchor and Hope sells real ale generally from Moles Brewery, as well as Black Rat scrumpy cider, pulled straight from the barrel. This week it’s had St Austell Tribute, and Sharp’s Doom Bar, two fantastic Cornish beers, in really good condition.

If you’re hungry, rather than trying to be a gastro pub, the Anchor and Hope focusses on one thing when it comes to food: pizza. 6 different pizzas are on offer, and are available all the time. There’s no restaurant area, just eat your pizza with your beer (or cider!) wherever you’ve settled down in the pub.

It’s a cosy, friendly pub. The bar staff smile and make you feel welcome. If you leave later into the evening, the landlord thanks you for stopping by. This is a gem of a pub, and there aren’t many like it.

If you’re in Salisbury, it’s well worth a visit. If you’re travelling to Salisbury from abroad and you want to see a real English pub, you won’t be disappointed.

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.