The ninth pub of the day was Branford’s Restaurant and Bar, with Jen requesting that I mention that they could do with more lighting in the car park. The venue is located within the Old Hall Hotel, but they are separately managed.
The entrance is around the back via the hotel. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect here, and I have no idea what was in the marquee, but the signage was at least clear. I can’t write much about the history of this venue, it’s not clear to me how old the building is and I can’t find out much online.
It was a wider real ale selection than I had expected with four local beers available. The service was friendly and welcoming, with the atmosphere being less of a restaurant type venue than I had expected.
The interior is spacious and there’s another dining area to add to this whole arrangement.
I couldn’t work out whether there were any heritage elements from an older building or this was all relatively new. It didn’t help that we visited the venue when it was dark outside.
I quite fancied chocolate by this point, but instead I made do with Mini Cheddars with my Adnams Broadside. This was well kept, malty and at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.
For anyone interested, there’s quite a large menu available. The restaurant and bar are all well reviewed on-line and it felt quite busy for a Sunday evening.
I’m still not sure that I entirely understand this venue, it appears to be primarily an independently run restaurant which also has a bar, with the hotel element being run by a sister company. Either way, the beer selection was decent, the real ale was well kept and there was a friendly welcome. All really rather lovely.