Latest reviews from Bicester
| 58 /100 Bicester Avenue Garden Centre (Grocery Store) BICESTER AVENUE, OXFORD ROAD “Large garden centre on the Oxford side of Bicester. Wheresthepath has covered this really well so I have little to add other than this used to be called Wyevale Garden Centre last time I came but didn't write a review on it. The weird attempts at beery comedy beers are still there but there are a few local offers plus they now stock the Jeremy Clarkson stuff, which in their way are also comedy beers.“ |
| 48 /100 Bicester Avenue Garden Centre (Grocery Store) BICESTER AVENUE, OXFORD ROAD “Note: pre lockdown visit. Large and fancy garden centre at the end of a precinct containing other outdoorsy shops, a mile away in both distance and attitude from the ghastly designer outlet centre that Bicester is famous (or notorious) for. The garden centre is of the modern type where the plants play second fiddle to home decor etc. The large cafe has rather nice food but the service has been abysmally slow whenever we've been there. For beer lovers it features a large-ish farm-shop-cum-deli which actually has quite a reasonable selection of 30-40 local beers and ciders, including a couple from breweries I'd not tried before. One of those places you can say you're taking relatives to for their benefit, yet still have a chance of picking up a new rate for yourself while you're there.
Update: Revisited August 2021. Much the same. Service in the café seemed better, although the prices seemed to have increased to compensate. The beers are now more prominent in the farm shop, and there might be a few more - still several local breweries I'd not tried, although there sadly seemed to have been an Invasion of those ghastly comedy name ones from Staffordshire. Hope they don't sell and they get rid of them and go back to all local ones.“ |
| 36 /100 White Hart Bicester (Bar) 4 SHEEP STREET “Visited 30/12/2019. Irish themed pub. Attractive from the outside. Nothing exciting beer wise.“ |
| 66 /100 Penny Black (JDW) (Bar) 58 SHEEP STREET “Visited 30/12/2019. Pretty decent ‘spoons and second best beer place in Bicester. 5 cask ales at £2.15 a pint including Acorn Gorlovka imperial stout and a decent stout from Salopian. Service was fine, atmosphere good, comfortable seating, the sort of JDW you’d happily visit more than once.“ |
| 48 /100 Bell Bicester (Bar) 84 SHEEP STREET “Visited 30/12/2019. Outside it suggests something very traditional possibly even heritage. But that’s not at all what it was like inside. It divides into two distinct parts. Pool table on the right side busy with local ‘yoots’, open plan and quieter on the left side, with a central bar and Death Metal playing in both. Very friendly welcome from the lady behind the bar but sadly a poor beer selection - just Hobgoblin or Chris Moose. So as much as I’d have happily spent more time there the beer selection made me move on.“ |
| 38 /100 Jacobs Plough (Bar) 63 NORTH STREET, “Visited 30/12/2019. Quite an ok looking pub inside and out but nothing of note beer wise. Old Speckled Hen and “Jacobs Bitter” which is no doubt a common GK house rebrand. Food focused. Friendly staff, less friendly look from the customers who were congregated by the bar. It’s not far out but it’s not worth the walk out of Bicester centre.“ |
| 72 /100 102 SHEEP STREET “Visited 30/12/2019. Stand out place in Bicester. 5 cask ales available including one by Bicester Brewery. Nice cosy comfortable pub. The place was quite quiet so was able to have a chat with the very friendly lady behind the bar about the brewery and bottle shop. The latter closed late 2018 due to lack of footfall. But she said the Bicester brewery is on site and Bicester beers are brewed at the back of the pub. The brewer is the same one as that at Barnet but they brew their beers in separate locations and he splits his time between the two.“ |
| 44 /100 Jacobs Plough (Bar) 63 NORTH STREET, “Last pub on our Friday evening Bicester whirl as it's fairly close to Bicester North Railway Station. Modernised and knocked through, it's quite a large, foodie pub, popular with pre Christmas diners. There is a guest beer available but mine was in rather poor condition unfortunately, the others being GK beers. Party pub.“ |
| 44 /100 Bell Bicester (Bar) 84 SHEEP STREET “Small basic boozer in the centre of town, previously the Hobgoblin, retianing the Marston's tie seemingly. It's in the 2020 GBG but it's hard to understand why unfortunately, the beer choice was particularly dull on our visit. 2 rooms as you enter, basically a games room to the right and a lounge to the left where they have live music on Friday evenings.“ |
| 34 /100 White Hart Bicester (Bar) 4 SHEEP STREET “2nd pub on our Friday evening pre Christmas Bicester crawl. This pub is dominated by tv screens playing Christmas song pap, hard to hear conversations. Feels a little run down, basic otherwise. Just 2 hand pulls on both with GK beers, neither of great quality. No need to re visit this one.“ |
| 62 /100 102 SHEEP STREET “This is a bijou traditional town pub a short walk from Bicester North Railway Statiion. Packed out on a Friday evening with a good atmosphere, standing room only. 4 hand pumps in operation non of which had a Bicester Brewery beer on, doubting whether brewing is still taking place at Barnet Brewery for them. Didn't see the bottle shop, possibly out the back. Easily the best choice for beer in Bicester at this present time.“ |
| 80 /100 Littlebury Hotel (Bar) KINGS END, “The bar is a room size, it’s clean and tidy, good amout of tables and seating places. nice, friendly staff and good prices.“ |
| 68 /100 102 SHEEP STREET “I thought that I had reviewed this place some time ago, apparently not until now. We have visited here on a number of occasions most recently on Thursday 29th March 2018 in the company of Lynn and Barry. The pub is located towards the top end of Sheep Street beyond the pedestrianised area, it's en route to Bicester North Railway Station and close to Jacobs Plough (pub). As you look at it from the front, to the left is a drive access to the back garden, brewery and bottle shop. Inside the ceilings are quite low, the pub has almost certainly been knocked through, so what may have been 2-3 rooms is now just one large space, it is wider at the front, the bar is on the right as you enter and the remainder of the pub stretches back, its long and narrow. We have sat outside in the summer months, it is hardstanding out there with a large marquee off to the right hand side. The stone outbuilding houses a small bottle shop, the selection will not excite anyone and is really just a modest step up from what you can get in a supermarket, however prices are good and the likes of Siren are almost always available. The choice of beers in the pub is ok, you are likely to find XT and if very lucky one of their own Bicester Beers which are fine but pretty much in the traditional mould. I quite like the pub, which to be fair is one of the better places in Bicester which is otherwise pretty lacklustre for beer. Service always swift and friendly and prices are good. Btw there is a huge choice of Gins.“ |
| 58 /100 Littlebury Hotel (Bar) KINGS END, “ I visited The Littlebury Hotel on Thursday 28rd April 2016 to attend a CAMRA revitalisation meeting. I had been here just the once before when our NHS Trust were setting out plans for the new hospital build for Bicester Community Hospital. The Littlebury is reasonably close to the centre of town it is on a road called Kings End and is close to the aforementioned now completed hospital. The Littlebury is a good sized hotel, btw the car park at the rear seems disproportionately large. The exterior is a gold stone look, but not a pretty stone appearance, it looks more like that faux stone. As you enter the bar is off to your right hand side. The bar is a good sized room, it’s clean and tidy but has that air of Hotel bar about it and is unremarkable in many ways, the floor is a mix of wood and carpet, a reasonable amount of tables and seating and stools at the bar. I guess that one of the reasons I have added this is that it seems to be a Vale Brewery outlet with two of their beers on tap, one core beer Brill Gold the other a new one and a monthly special I guess called Vale Isambard Kingdom Brunel described as an English Tawny IPA. The beer was in excellent nick and tasted decent, service was swift and the price £3.70 for a pint was fair. I wouldn’t suggest that the Littlebury is a go to destination for a beer geek but if in the vicinity and if wanting to try a Vale beer it’s worth searching out as it is likely to offer new Vale stuff also. “ |
| 64 /100 Jacobs Plough (Bar) 63 NORTH STREET, “ I visited The Plough in Bicester on Wednesday 2nd December 2015. In all the years I have lived close to Bicester I had never once set foot in here, I guess the fact that it is a GK pub and looked a little down at heel for most of those years was as good a reason as any to give it a swerve. However after a huge refurbishment the recruiting of a highly respected landlord from a CAMRA regional award winning pub and beer range expansion to ten handpump offerings, I though I should give it a go. The pub is situated between both North Street and the B4100 almost at the apex where it meets the roundabout so I guess that it is accessible from both roads, indeed I believe that there is a small car park on the B4100 side. It is also en route to Bicester North railway station and if memory serves me correct it is probably the closest pub to the station. I cannot really compare or explain what it looks like now to what it used to be, because as I have already mentioned I never came here pre refurbishment. However I am of the opinion that it has been opened up quite a lot. As you enter from the North Street entrance the bar is immediately ahead with some seating off to the LH side and further seating by the windows at this side of the pub. The colour scheme is all very modern and safe as is the furnishings, so think, creams, beige, some chocolate colours here and there all very easy on the eye smart and tidy. Around to the RH side and heading sort of back and behind the bar is a raised area with seating, this is clearly laid out for diners and looks like this has been added during the refurbishment. Some old photos of Bicester by a further small non dining seating area around here complete the picture. The barman was taking a large armful of logs around the LH side so I am guessing that there was an open fire around that part but I didn’t explore further. The bar had ten cask offerings, the vast majority of these appeared to be from the GK stable but Oakham Citra was an option and was in very good condition. It being a Wednesday night it was understandably a little quiet, though by the time we left there were a few in here. Being fairly quiet service was quick and the staff seemed friendly enough. Despite it being a GK pub this will probably be your best place for a beer in the beer desert that is Bicester, though the The Penny Black JDW a five minute walk away will clearly offer a more diverse range of beery offerings. I think this place will see the occasional repeat visits from me particularly if I am walking to or from Bicester North.“ |
| 64 /100 Penny Black (JDW) (Bar) 58 SHEEP STREET “We visited here on Saturday 31st January 2015 we being me, Loz, my mum and her partner Keith. Of course being only 4-5 miles away I’ve been here lots over the years, despite being ’just’ a JDW it is easily the best pub in town however I need to balance that by pointing out that Bicester is a desperately poor town for beer. It is situated on the main pedestrianised street i.e. Sheep Street and layout wise is not too disimilar to many other JDW’s, slightly narrow but very long. A lengthy bar on the LH side with raised seating area at front RH side, I am really not sure what the purpose of having that area raised is about. Cleaner and tidier than many JDW’s. Usually offerings from local & local’ish’ breweries such North Cotswold, XT, Hooky. Beer quality always pretty good. Unlike many JDW’s the toilets are not upstairs or downstairs they are actually on the same level at the front LH side of the pub. Carries all of the ’craft’ stuff that is being promoted nationally, so if all else fails you can get a Lagunitas or Bengali Tiger for £2.49. Its absolutely fine in here.“ |
| 46 /100 Penny Black (JDW) (Bar) 58 SHEEP STREET “Large Spoons, a conversion of the old Post Office on Sheep Street, the main drag in Bicester. Basically the only game in town for any chance of getting new beers in a pub. Normal Wetherspoons issues like service, but if you find yourself in Bicester then this is the place, other than getting bottles in SH Jones.“ |
| 68 /100 Penny Black (JDW) (Bar) 58 SHEEP STREET “In the middle of the main pedestrianised commercial street in the heart of the town centre in a fine centuries old brick period building, this pub is deceptively small from the outside and while it never has a lot of width it does extend back a fair bit beyond the crescent shaped serving area. There’s the usual couple of rows of of real ales including a rotating selection.“ |
