The next Good Beer Guide listed venue on our little pub crawl was St Aldate’s Tavern, a Young’s pub which makes an attempt to have a couple of local beers. The history of the venue is complex and Young’s have shown no interest in the pub’s heritage, but it’s not the original St Aldate’s Tavern which was located further down the same road. CAMRA notes that there has been an inn here since 1397, although rebuilt on numerous occasions and in 1716 it was known as the New Inn. It was then renamed as the Bulldog in 1965 before being rebranded back to St. Aldate’s Tavern in 2005.
The beer selection was dreary, although there was an attempt at having a local beer which was the Prospect from Oxford Brewery. The service was friendly and engaging, although the prices were to the higher end of the scale.
The seating was odd, a sofa that really isn’t that suitable to sit at for those wanting to drink or eat, it all felt formulaic. The online reviews here are a little poor, although I like this one:
“I went to this pub and was enjoying My self with friends when we were told to be quite? I won’t be going back as we had to be quiet”
The pub replied:
“Good evening, we are sorry you are feeling this way about your visit today. Your group were raising your voices and cursing, including raising your voice towards one of our team. You were politely asked to keep the noise level down. To give an opportunity to all of our guests so they can equally enjoy their time in our venue.”
I’m with the pub, I like them a bit more now.
“After a show in Oxford we went in the pub and Callum said to us that they were showing the World Cup Final. Great we thought! Lets stay eat drink and enjoy the match. After the match, extra time, two meals and several drinks later it was time for a penalty shootout. Lots of people in the pub in a good mood. Took to France missing second penalty and calum decided to switch all the TVs off in a huff. Plus the upstairs projector.”
I quite like Callum 🙂
The DEYA is decent, there’s a slight effort to offer some craft beer options here.
I went for the Prospect as it was the local option and it’s named after the story of when the unfortunate prospective Balliol scholars were set upon by the College Fellows and carried to College Hall where they were forced to tell stories to entertain them. The beer is 3.7% and was hoppy, a slight taste of toffee and was well-kept. It was slightly challenging to battle off all the flies in the venue, a slightly sub-optimal situation.
It was dark when we left…. Although it’s an interesting venue historically, I thought it was all just a little soulless, corporate and formulaic, perhaps fortunate to be listed in the Good Beer Guide.