March – The Acre

This town centre pub is operated by Greene King, taking its name from the road that it’s located on, Acre Road. It has a decent location near to the river, I can imagine it’s rather pleasant during the summer months.

The pub interior, which was clean and comfortable. There was a choice of different tables throughout the pub, with a contemporary feel to the whole design.

The choice was, well, let’s just leave that there. It’s a Greene King pub which nearly always means that it isn’t going to trouble the Good Beer Guide.

This was the pub’s effort at serving half a pint, pretty dreadful. The real ale itself though was well kept, at the appropriate temperature and had a depth of flavour, so I was not displeased at their Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Their food reviews are also towards the higher end for a Greene King pub, with many people dining when I was there. On that subject, onto TripAdvisor…

“Your continual reference to your close friendship with Gordon Ramsey failed to impress, as did your general conduct in this unfortunate incident. It would perhaps be better to take your future custom to establishments that are impressed with your famous friends but not the Acre.”

This is the pub’s reply to a review and I can quite imagine how this one played out….. I do like listening to a customer who claims that they’re well-connected.

“As we don’t do a dollop of chillie , you were charged for chillie and chips with an extra charge for the loading of cheese and bacon.”

A customer ordered chips with “a dollop of chilli” and wondered why the pub got confused…. Although, I like the idea of a dollop being an official menu item.

All in all, this was a perfectly acceptable pub, although the craft beer options are zero and the real ale options aren’t going to set the world alight. The environment was comfortable though and all the customers appeared to be enjoying their food, so it’s probably a reliable choice for food.