East Devon Pubs

Sam Smith's

On tour in London....more Devon bars coming soon

There's nothing wrong with a good old blokey boozer.

Sam Smith's pubs, of which there are about 20 in London, are categorised in almost ever discerning pub guide as having a 'blokey atmospehere'. This is probably the only way to describe them without offending customers, staff or the brewery.

They are good pubs. But they all give the impression that, while they were very pleasant in their day – around 40 years ago – now they just need a good old refurb. They do have their charm, and the six or seven that I visted with my drinking partner last weekend were good places to go for simple, cheap drinks and a quiet atmosphere - the sort of place you can sit and chat.

There is no music of any kind, and the drinks on sale are primarily from Smith's own range - Alpine lager is £2.10 a pint. While enjoying a quick beverage in one of them, we were amused to watch an American tourist and his girlfriend try to order Campari and soda - and to be told that there was no chance in hell of Sam Smith's ever selling anything even remotely like it.

They might give the impression of being a tad austere, but they do have something about them - non threatening, London as it was, the bar where everybody knows your name - that kind of thng.

If you're looking to spend a few hours of quality catching up time with friends, and you don't mind a bit of spit and sawdust, Sam Smith's pubs are a good choice. Notable venues include Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street, The Earl of Lonsdale, Notting Hill and the Angel, on St Giles High Street, just of Shaftesbury Avenue.

Torquay: sexy girls and sexy boys

A night out in Torquay is somewhat different to the more laid back atmospehere of most pubs and bars in Exmouth, Sidmouth and so forth.

Over there it's more about fast drinking fast chat up lines, sexy boys, sexy girls , hair gel and mini skirts.

There are a few pubs worth going to, and a daytime drinking session is probably more rewarding for those wanting to enjoy the booze without drowning in it, or slipping over on the floor because some dozy git has spilled their pint, or stomach.

But as most people will be hitting TQ of an evening, be prepared to get jostled around, lose a fair volume of your drink and get ripped off. I paid £3.50 a pint in one pub, and not for anything spectacular either. Several rounds at those prices, coupled with a portion of chips and cheese at £2.50 a go (£1.25 in Exmouth, big up to Mehmet and the crew at the Exmouth kebab house!), will see you clearing the bank account in no time, so beware.

One of the best bars to go to would be Mango, next to Debenhams, right by where the buses drop off. While it is expensive, it does have the added bonus of a balcony, partially taken over by smokers but still good for a laugh. Following safety fears, customers have all been told they can only go out there if they are seated at all times. This obviously makes getting out there from inside a tad difficult, and moving around once out there is also somewhat constrained. The best game to play to wind up the bouncers is simply to stand up and count how long, in seconds, it takes before they order you to site down again.

Post pub, there is club life in TQ as well - Bohemia is recommended for anyone not wanting to shake it with 17-year-olds, although other establishments are available.

Enjoy, just wear a figurative safety helmet, it's a bit of an assault on the senses.

London calling

Right then, one for the London massif... Regular drinkers visiting our illustrious capital city in the near future, would find themselves in a happy haze of bars, pubs, wine bars, old time boozers, restaurant bars, cocktail bars (and juice bars, though I prefer not to think about them too much) So how to choose which one of the thousands to go to? Well there are many and I will no doubt be outlining a few of them, all in good time. But one venue worth a look is the world famous (their words) Dog and Fox in Wimbledon village. Less than two miles from the All England Lawn Tennis Club, the Dog and Fox is possibly the most popular drinking hole in the village. An interesting if pricey, range of lagers like Peroni and Asahi are on sale, as well as a good mix of wines. This being London, there are also champagnes on the menu, a decent variety ranging from the average to the exceptional. One to think twice about may be the Young's own brand champagne. It's popularity comes from it being one of only two available by the glass, the rest come by the bottle only. But having sipped a few bottles with an estimed drinking partner during my year in the rat race, the taste was not one I would recommend to friends. Without wanting to be rude, let me just say that there are better bottles out there, although you would generally have to pay more for them, suprise suprise. However, champers aside, the Dog and Fox, post its referb of two years ago had a large restaurant area which is somewhat quieter than the main bar area. Main courses vary between £10-£15. There is also a perennially popular outdoor drinking area, now ever busier thanks to the smoking ban. Overall, the Dog is a great place for a get-together, with enough space in a good sized bar for several large groups. And I think this is what makes this such a good place - lively atmosphere, good company and quality drinks, although it may take you time to actually get one, the bar staff are not the speediest in the world.

Pot black

Exmouth's newest pub/bar is the Number 9 bar in St Andrew's Road. Formerly the Banqueting suite, it has now become a slightly odd two for the price of one american pool hall *** classy lounge bar. All in it is a classy joijnt, although having the two different styles in one venue is slightly odd. So, first off, the pool half - five american pool tables (huge, you can't miss, even if you were using the wrong end of the cue, pockets, only nine balls to worry about) and a table football game. The first night I visited not long after opening, it was busy with all tables spoken for. But a visit on on Thursday evening was a quiet affair with only one game of pool being played. The lounge bar area - very nice, large comfortable chairs and sofas, good thick wooden tables , with a cream and brown theme throughout. Gives a relaxed atmopsphere for theslightly older crowd. Plenty of space to talk and enjoy an evening, although on my visit being the only customers in this side of the venue, it was slightly disconcerting. The bar is decent for a venue of this size with a limited choice of reds and whites, while there is a better range of draught and bottled beers. Snacks are alegedly plentifulm, but on my visit the only nuts available were chilli spiced, much to my chagrin as I am more of a dry roasteds type of man. Prices were around £6.50 for wine and a bottle of Corona.

Quiz-tastic

The Famous Ship in Exmouth is home to a great Monday night pub quiz and theerefore is well worth a visit. The questions are not too hard, makinhg it an enjoyable experience where you can go home feeling intelligent and tipsy, rather than stupid and drunk. (Incidentally, my friends and I won the quiz two weeks ago, so we think the pub is great because the landlord gav us a gallon of beer as a prize) It takes place every Monday from around 9pm, althouygh starting times vary if the landlord is hoping more teams will take part. usually there are between six and 10 and the atmosphere is light-hearted. there is no single team which wins every week, which often spoils quizzes in other places hwere the rest of the teams are really only competing for second place. Aside form the quiz, the Ship, is on e of exmouth's better pubs, following a successful refurbishment several years ago. Drinks are not expensive and it's generally a lively place, especially on student nights (Wednesdays) and at the weekends. Unusually for Exmouth, it also serves a range of cocktails, some of which are, I think two for £5. They might not be too adventurous - you won't find a Pink Panther or a Diablo on the list - but they do make a pleasant alternative to beer or wine. You could expect to pick up the likes of a Woo Woo or a Sex on the Beach. Entertainment away from the drinks is plentiful in the Ship, with two pool tables (priced £1 per game, bit steep) a table football game and several fruit machines, as well as a supersize TV showing sports almost all the time.

A leisurely time

A meal at the Feathers in Budleigh Salterton has always been an enjoyable experience. Last Monday was not the first time I've eaten there, but having not visited for food for more than a year, I was pleased to find the standard of the food was as good as ever. While the menu is not extensive and does not generally stray for the standard pub grub favouriteas like curry, lasagne and steak, what the chef there does do, he (or she) does very well. I had the lasagne, and my companion anjoyed a medium cooked steak. Both meals were filling and took long enough to arrive that we were assured they were not zapped in a microwave but properly prepared. The drinks range in the Feathers, in Budleigh salterton's high Street is good, especially for asmall pub. There is a decent selection of real ales, good for a winter evening, as well as lagers, including Castlemaine XXXX, wines, and non alocholic types. The atmophere is what makes the Feathers what it is though - it's a pub where everyone seems to know each other, and kind of strikes me as a bit like a home with guests visiting rather than a pub. The long and eating area is in one half of the pub, while the bar, which has a pool table is in the other half. At around £20 for two drinks and two meals, it was a well priced evening. Landlords and regulars: tell us about your establishment by emaling peter.leriche@archant.co.uk

From the ashes

I went to the relaunched Blue Ball in Sidford on monday for the Herald's self funded Christmas meal. This is the pub that regular readers and those who know what goes on in Sidmouth, will be aware burnt to the ground around two years ago. Well now, and probably for a good few months, it's back in business and is again serving up good quality food and an interesting selection of drinks. It being a Christmas dinner, our menu revolved around turkey so we were not really able to sample all the food the Ball's kitchen produces, but what we did have was good. It was also plentiful. Unusually, my roast turkey came with stuffing as well as a yorkshire pudding, which I had thought was generally reserved for beef roasts. The three course Christmas meal was £19(I think) and the two course option was £14, which seems reasonable. Wioth a round of drinks for seven coming in at around £18, it was an affordable evening out as well. The atmospehere is good, the original Blue Ball having been recreated much as it was. It is now slightly lighter inside which, while it might make illicit liasons harder, it does make group get-togethers easier. This is a good pub with good pub-quality food. One friend described his meal as slightly bland, and clearly it was not five star restaurant food, but it was certainly a good meal in good company making for a good start to the Christmas season. Is your work place having a Christmas meal out at a pub in East Devon? Let me know where you're going and what you think by emailing peter.leriche@archant.co.uk

Great pubs I have known

Monty: "May I propose a toast?"

Withnail: "It depends entirely on the quality of the wine."

Righty, it’s pub time. Not physically of course, it still being within working hours, but figuratively. It’s time someone wrote a blog on pubs in East Devon - the good, the bad and the ugly.

So in a bid to increase the general understanding of a leisure time activity which is very close to my heart, ie drinking, the idea of a pub blog, or plog was born.

No doubt soon to become cult reading for 20-somethings in East Devon and beyond looking for a good time and a drink, I intend to sup my way through the best the area has to offer.

Whether they be your typical ‘old man’ pubs, with aged carpets on the floor and wonky bar stools, to chain pubs dishing out pints of ‘non specific’ to the

classy joints serving cocktails and champagne, I’ll be visiting as many as possible.

Most of the pubs I’m going to visit are going to be somewhere in East Devon or Exeter, although the occasional London wine bar, Welsh pub or shropshire ale house might crop up while I’m on my travels. If you know of somewhere good, email peter.leriche@archant.co.uk and let me know where it is and why it’s worth visiting.

Cheers

Pete