Gainsborough – Canute Pub

The Canute pub is operated by Stonegate so I expected a hugely overly refurbished pub and minimal effort made with real ale or craft beer. It’s fair to say that they delivered on that and they’ve evidently spent a lot of money on the interior to make it look modern and comfortable. It was also clean and tidy, so the staff seem to be on top of the whole arrangement.

The service was friendly, but there were only two other customers in the pub and so this clearly isn’t a venue making Stonegate a fortune during lunchtimes if my visit was anything to go by. No-one was eating despite the low prices they were charging. A number of reviews have suggested that they are closing before their scheduled closing time, not something which bodes entirely well for any venue.

The Wainwrights seemed slightly tainted and wasn’t at its best, but it was the only real ale available and there were no craft beers on offer. The price at least was reasonable at £3.10, although I forgot that I could have used one of my 50p off CAMRA discount vouchers until after the event. I like the Wainwright glasses incidentally for what it’s worth…

For reasons unknown, you can get 33% off the bill if you book in advance and you’re not a group of one. I suspect desperation has sunk in here from Stonegate, but there was a slight irony in the arrangement that if they had extended the offer to groups of one, they might have actually made a food sale from me as the food here seemed well reviewed. They are inevitably going to suffer from the JD Wetherspoon that is next door and has no shortage of lunchtime customers (and real ale, craft beer and sensible pricing which isn’t dependent on the group size). But, this pub seems as if it would cope with parties well and I think their target audience is older teenagers with their party nights, so I’m in entirely the wrong demographic now I’m aged over 26.