Latest reviews from Colchester

“Re-rate 8/3/2024. Unfortunately under new ownership the place is not what it was. Very poor customer service now from the new owner/landlord. Won’t be back. No longer a must visit in Colchester. Shame. Previous rating 19/2/2017. Stop 9 on our tour of Colchester, saving this one as the last stop as we walked back to the station. Have visited a number of times before and it’s consistently good. Nice and busy in the evenings, with very good beers available, service is efficient, prices decent, and on this occasion the landlady made a point of coming over and chatting to our group about the pub, their beers, their philosophy which was much appreciated. A must visit Colchester venue.“

Grumbo 31 days ago

“Visited 1/6/2023. Quick visit after the Colchester Beer Festival on way back to station. It's just a few minutes from the station and occupies half of what was once The Norfolk. The Norfolk closed and was then split into a fish & chip shop on the left and a micropub on the right. The fish and chip shop closed not long after opening but The Magnet Pub seems to be doing well enough. 3 cask ales on (including a Redemption mild, and a new one by Lacons) plus I think 5 other taps and a small eclectic selection of cans. Friendly service and locals. Certainly worth popping into now, unlike it's predecessor.“

Grumbo 323 days ago

“Very clicky! & the landlord thinks an aweful lot of himself!“

martin501058 425 days ago

“Visited the Other Monkey with Grumbo. Large place connected to Three Wise Monkeys. Serving bar with horizontal fermenters behind it, plus various kinds of tables in an adjoining room with a view of the brewhouse fermenters along one side. An upstairs bar as well. Nice selection of interesting styles including a tasty altbier and a marzen, available in flights of three thirds - although they were out of flight glasses, the barman used kolsch glasses rather than denying us a flight, which would have been much easier for him. They had food, but no one else was eating so we didn't either. Solid place.“

Travlr 450 days ago

“Visited with Grumbo. Tudor style facade, modern interior. Serving bar and scattered pub tables. Six casks, one interesting one when we visited. Didn't see anyone eating so we didn't either. Nice enough stop.“

Travlr 450 days ago

“My last stop of the evening. I sat in the stage area as Grumbo recommended and was greeted by a balcony of very famous people ranging from Elton John to Hans Solo. Large cask list, but nothing terribly interesting. I ordered food from my table, delivered there in just a few minutes. Haggis, in honor of Burns Night. Few bugs at the table and a general scruffiness were a bit off putting, but it's still worth a stop. Just needs a deep clean.“

Travlr 450 days ago

“Last stoop with Grumbo on a mini pub crawl. Older characterful place. List of ciders greeted us as we we entered, then the barman said hello, they the cask list graced us with its presence - about half from Essex. No food or music. Nice traditional pub.“

Travlr 450 days ago

“Stopped in before the Winter Ale Festival for a double espresso (tasty) and after the festival for some beers with Grumbo. Eight or so beers on tap, all good stuff. Tons of variety in cans and bottles. Superior service from Paul and the Lady from Tucson. A barman from Victoria Inn was drinking there, always a good sig. A place where I could easily camp out, perhaps overnight.“

Travlr 450 days ago

“L-shaped bar with lots of folks standing at it, plus restaurant tables. Just three Fat Cat beers on, and since the Nitter was unimpressive I didn't progress further. Stopped by on pizza night, and they were OK. Pricey. Unremarkable place.“

Travlr 451 days ago

“Large place, single big room. Slightly scruffy and damp. Four cask ales on when I stopped by, two local. Friendly landlady. Worth a look if pasing by.“

Travlr 451 days ago

“Two rooms, one on either side of the bar. Nice real fire when I visited on a rainy Wednesday evening. Four cask ales on, two local. Sadly no food at all. Friendly.“

Travlr 451 days ago

“Two-roomed, classic old school pub with a community spirit, located not far from the Colchester Town train station. Six cask ales, three from Colchester Brewery. The Oddie is, in fact, run by the brewery. Cozy with an open fire place, friendly service and relaxing ambience. (Visited with Finn, 23.11.2021).“

Rune 830 days ago

“A tourist attraction with a lot of cask ales. Worth a visit.“

Finn 879 days ago

“Cozy backstreet pub with a local feeling. A few beers from Colchester on.“

Finn 879 days ago

“Modern place with an ok range. Only a few of their own beers on our visit.“

Finn 879 days ago

“Ok pub. Some lokal beers. Too eager barman.“

Finn 879 days ago

“Review for an online order placed recently. Apparently (according to a local) there is an extensive selection of a few hundred different beers in the shop, on the occasion I ordered there were precisely 19 beers available online. Order placed as it was part of a zoom event I was on. I'm not quite sure why more beers don't make it onto the online shop. It was good to support them but I probably won't bother again. The delivery arrived swiftly, packaging was fine.“

Cheeseboard 1077 days ago

“Visited 7/12/2019. Warmly welcomed. We had hoped to eat here but turned out food wasn’t available until later (we visited about 4pm Saturday afternoon). Pub was open but only had 2 beers from Colchester Brewery that we’d had earlier so we politely moved on intending to come back at 6pm but we ended up eating elsewhere. Will have to revisit sometime when food is on as have heard good things about that, but it’s no beer destination.“

Grumbo 1592 days ago

“Visited 7/12/2019. 5th pub of the day on what was definitely the ‘alternative Colchester pub crawl’ and first one worthy of entering onto RateBeer. Offered up 8 real ales/ciders from around the UK served well and in good shape. Nice friendly landlord and clientele. Multi-room lay-out. Comfortable and welcoming. I’ll go back to this one next time we‘re touring Colchester (will skip the other 4 though!).“

Grumbo 1592 days ago

“Visited 8/1/19. Located a 10 minutes fast walk from the railway station. Big cream white building, 3 different seating areas, there is also a courtyard outside, lovely atmosphere, chatty and knowledgeable staff at our visit, new beer from a new brewery from Wales at our visit“

gunnar 1907 days ago

“Visited on tour to 22 southern counties with OGJ and EE 08.01.19. Five ales on cask, all served without spaklers. Friendly atmosphere and friendly service by staff who were knwoledgeable and interesten in their ales. Most ales were from small micros.“

Holmen2 1929 days ago

“On the outside this is a traditional old pub, timber framed with a balcony upper floor. Inside it is heavily, perhaps brutally, modernised and stripped out. There is a modest beer line up with local ales on cask, the service is pleasant and efficient. Popular with young families. Well worth a look.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“A really surprising Wetherspoons, from the outside it looks like a normal conversion of an old theatre, once inside towards the rear it really is fun. It's all been described here, but it's better than you might think. The bar is a central circular affair with around 20 hand pumps and quite a few put on to guest beers, also unusual for Wetherspoons these days. Efficient service, it's definitely worth visiting.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“Largish pub with multiple seating areas, notably with a very pleasant barn out the back. There is a central bar serving each of the areas. Good beer choices with a Yorkshire theme to some of the beers. Handy for the northern railway station in Colchester. For me the best pub in town.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“Rather a rambling pub close to the centre of town, crammed full of memorabilia and bric a brac. Cobbled floor, Belgian style beerhouse. Blues Brothers soundtrack on vinyl. An interesting place to visit when it is open, don't take their declared opening hours as gospel. Some of their own beers, now brewed at Red Fox, through hand pull.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“This is a modern bar bang in the middle of town. Popular as a meeting place and for the selection of gins. The beer range is good. The room has been paired back but comfortable enough. Busy on both of our visits.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“The New Inn is a friendly local style two roomed pub just outside the centre of Colchester. Family run, looks like there is ongoing improvement work going on at present. Reasonable range of beers, mostly from the region. Well worth a look.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“Friendly locals pub opposite The Fat Cat just to the south of the centre. Single roomed, comfortable enough, decent service by the landlady. Reasonable range of cask beer guests, certainly worth a visit if nearby.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“Having been in the Norwich Fat Cat the day before, I was looking forward to this one, unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed. Nowhere near the range of beers, ambiance nor welcome really. Mostly a fat Cat Brewery outlet. Not a pub to return to for me.“

imdownthepub 2099 days ago

“A really nice old pub, with a slightly limited selection of nevertheless very good ales. Worth the short trip out of the town centre, and it's one of the closest pubs to Colchester Town station. Previous visit was totally spoiled by rudeness of landlord. But now run by Colchester Brewery. Decor is aged but that goes with the charm of the place. Has 2 roaring open wood fires in winter which also add to the charm and warmth as well as the atmosphere! Had previously vowed never to return but the change of ownership has put this back on the list. It's certainly one of the most authentic pubs in the central Colchester area.“

Grumbo 2325 days ago

“A large brewpub we visited on a cold November Saturday afternoon for a crawl round Colchester. Great beer selection and their own beer was very good, particularly the pale ale. Very good service and ambiance while we were there.“

deerstop 2337 days ago

“Nice friendly pub we visited late Saturday afternoon on a cold November crawl round Colchester. Very good beer selection and ambiance, with a real coal fire.“

deerstop 2337 days ago

“A lovely friendly local we visited late Saturday afternoon on a cold November crawl round Colchester. Good beer selection and great ambiance with a real fire and candles.“

deerstop 2337 days ago

“A traditional pub with character near Colchester Town station. We visited as the first stop on a Saturday afternoon crawl round Colchester in November. The selection and service were very good with tastings offered. The ambiance was spoilt by rather loud background music though.“

deerstop 2337 days ago

“We visited this pub a lttle outside of the centre as the last stop on a Saturday afternoon crawl round Colchester in November. We were disappointed. Although the selection was good the ambiance, with its mix of new and old styles, was not great. The bar was noisy, made worse by the juke box.“

deerstop 2337 days ago

“Just a lovely British pub full of charm and welcome, local, laid back atmosphere. Five well conditioned cask ales, a few interesting ales on keg and a decent range of craft beers in bottles and can. When I entered the pub I was, in fact, spontaneous given solid samples of their beers. Friendly and knowledgeable service. A medium sized, corner pub with an oval bar serving two sections of the room. A nice little beer garden to the rear. A tidy and stylish pub with a woman’s touch to the decoration. The pub is run by a couple from York and Sheffield who have succeeded in giving the place a Yorkshire touch with hospitality. It is just a great pleasure to drink and stay in a pub like this. Even the background music was just right with Lola and Waterloo Sunset by Kinks and a few tunes by Buddy Holly. Victoria Inn is located between the main train station and the city centre.(Visited with Frau Eva 13.07.2017).“

Rune 2449 days ago

“A well-stocked, independent bottle shop close to the city centre, not far from Playhouse. A four sided room with a good selection of beers from the Essex county and with shelves of beers from other regions and further afield. Interesting to see so many bottles from Lervig. Friendly and knowledgeable service, on his advice I bought beers from Cloudwater, Verdant, Bishop Nick and Red Fox. When asking for the best places to drink in Colchester he recommended Victoria Inn. I went straight down hill to the pub and was not disappointed. Btw Two Brews is good for craft coffee as well. (Visited 13.07.2017).“

Rune 2457 days ago

“A very special Spoons, even the guided walking tour in Colchester stops here. A converted old theater building with a balcony where dolls like Obama, Marilyn Monroe, Chaplin, Queen Elizabeth, Elvis, Roy Orbison, and so on are watching drinking people downstairs. The rest of the pub is also nicely decorated with theater like items. An oval bar in the the middle of the main room with 24 hand-pumps, most of them active at our stay. Friendly service. (Visited with Frau Eva 12.07.2017).“

Rune 2458 days ago

“Could be called a brewpub now since their own brewery, Other Monkey Brewing, is established downstairs. Two of their own beers available at my stay in July 2017. 22 taps altogether, with six cask ales among them. Expect to find beers from breweries like Gipsy Hill, Weird, Colchester, Brooklyn, Beavertown, among others. A modern corner place spread over a few floors right in the city centre. The bar and tap section at the ground floor has got comfortable chesterfield chairs for relaxed beer drinking. Polite service offering beers flights from their tap menu. Separate eating section. (Visited with Frau Eva 12.07.2017).“

Rune 2458 days ago

“Visited on our Colchester pub crawl in 2015. A tidy Adnams pub with a fairly full range of their beers across six cask and a number of keg taps. Not an essential stop but a pleasant spot for a pint (or a half on this occasion). Probably the best source of Adnams beers in Colchester, if that’s what you’re looking for.“

chriso 2546 days ago

“Very pleasant pub with good music not too loudly playing in the background. Friendly staff, nice selection of beers including Beavertown on tap, well worth a visit.“

malushky 2602 days ago

“Nice pub with a good selection of beers. Good portion of what is in the menu are belgian brews. Great service, very friendly. I personally found the ambient inside a little heavy, with a trippy electronic music not really fitting to Sunday afternoon. All in all, well worth a visit.“

malushky 2602 days ago

“A small bottle shop with a really great selection of local beers, UK beers in general, and international beers. If only I could have carried more in my backpack, but we were far from the end of a day long pub crawl in Colchester, so I had to limit myself. Great service from the owner. I would really love if they would open a web shop and start shipping to Denmark. If I ever come back to Colchester, I will be going back here.“

Rasmus40 2614 days ago

“Really liked this place. Small narrow pub with a long bar down the left leading to a small stage at the end (which had speakers playing music a little too loud which is my only criticism). Otherwise a very cosy and warming place. Was comfortable yet fairly busy early on a Friday evening. Was able to get seated at one of their booths. Reasonable selection of beers and one in particular I liked. Friendly locals and staff, prices fair. This was my first visit here and it’s a definite for the list for future trips to Colchester.“

Grumbo 2617 days ago

“Visited late last year and enjoyed it. It was on the list of places to visit on this crawl but ran out of time. It’s a nice historic pub in the Colchester lanes. Beer range somehwat limited but what they serve is in decent condition. There are better pubs in Colchester but bit of a shame we didn’t get to go in this time as it is a decent oub.“

Grumbo 2617 days ago

“Modern conversion, attracting a younger crowd. Stripped back decor with bare walls exposed. Set over 3 floors. Decent selection of beers. Quite expensive.“

Grumbo 2617 days ago

“Conversion of an old Playhouse by JDW, with an amazing view from the back of the building (the old stage) up into the stalls and boxes where cut outs of famous characters watch down upon modern day JDW clientele. That aside, it’s quite disappointing, most pumps on our visit were not on so restricted selection available. Food was typically good and worryingly quick to arrive. Service was ok. Place was fairly busy and was the typical JDW crowd, many of whom it would seem best to avoid eye contact with!!“

Grumbo 2617 days ago

“This is a nice pub, friendly atmosphere and good service. Of course the beer selection is mainly Adnams, plus a few guests, so nothing particularly special to be found beer wise, but will have special release beers from Adnams to accompany it’s core brews. Worthy of a quick visit when on a Colchester pub tour.“

Grumbo 2617 days ago

“Ales served from casks in the tap room behind the bar. All from local brewers plus one from Fat Cat. More expensive than other pubs visited so far. Have visited a few times now, it’s ok but my least favourite Fat Cat pub.“

Grumbo 2617 days ago