After a less than successful visit to the nearby Black Swan (which was fine, but devoid of any real ale), we headed back to the Royal Oak which looked perfectly adequate from the exterior. It’s an Everard’s pub and it felt like one of those successful pubs which had managed to satisfy the diners and the drinkers. The staff were welcoming and signage made clear that walkers were welcome, which is something I do like to see. The pub is dog friendly as well, although they’ve made what I consider the sensible decision to ban dogs from the main dining area.
I’m a big fan of the Titanic Brewery and their Plum Porter never disappoints me, so that’s the option that I went for. I also ignored the fact that the bottles in front of the pumps, which are meant to indicate the beer colour, hardly seemed accurate as Plum Porter isn’t that colour. Anyway, the beer didn’t disappoint here either, with the barman pro-actively mentioning that he’d top the pint up after it had settled. The choice of beers was well measured, with a variety of different beer types, with craft beer options also available.
It’s apparent that they have a system where customers must sign in at the bar for the car park, since there were signs which appeared to be located everywhere, on the front door, on the bar, on every table, on the wall, in the toilets and no doubt in the car park. It seemed a clunky way to handle the car parking situation, although I’m sure it must be frustrating for them if people are abusing it.
Anyway, a very lovely pub and it was clean and organised throughout, with the beer selection meeting my requirements.
