Drink 2/5, Décor 4/5, Price 1/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Staff 3/5

ONCE upon a time there was a pub called The Bird in Hand but then stuff happened so it had to change.

Now it is called The Widmore and it is seemingly even more determined to be a bit more upmarket than it was before.

There was a traditional bar menu with jacket potatoes, sandwiches, lasagne and scampi among the offerings.

But the main focus food wise is on the restaurant section where dishes such as haddock wrapped in bacon, pork belly and seafood cannelloni were being served up.

They sounded good and I might have been tempted to push the boat out as an alternative to my pack of salt and vinegar crisps but I had already spent most of my money on beer by the time I was hungry.

It was not that I had sat there all day sampling goods (honest) but none of the drinks I had chosen came in at under £3.

Both the London Pride and the Harvey’s Best cost 300 pence each before I shelled out £3.30 for a pint of Amstel.

Tasting the Pride on the hot summer’s day — but it will probably be raining by the time you read this — while sitting out in the large beer garden was almost worth the money as it slipped down very easily.

But the Harvey’s Best was a slow struggle to drink and smelled funny, which was a shame because it is usually quite an agreeable pint.

One thing which was much more agreeable than in its Bird In Hand days was the atmosphere.

The TV has gone from the main bar area, the staff all look like they want to be in foppish indie bands and along with the decor it all adds up to make it a more relaxed place than before.

Only the prices made me feel uncomfortable.