Pub review: The Masonic

Thursday 27th August 2009

This is a Crackerjack review of Masonic. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.

Family friendly: 5 / 10.
Range of drinks: 8 / 10.
Atmosphere: 8 / 10.
Food and drink: 3 / 10.

After 40 years in the trade, landlord Martin Bidder knows a thing or two about running boozers. For 25 of those, he has run pubs in Bedminster, the past 11 being spent behind the bar at The Masonic, a Victorian corner pub on North Street.

Behind the partially-frosted front windows, The Masonic is deceptively large, with an L-shaped bar and a separate skittle alley at the back.

Skittles is taken very seriously at The Masonic, with 10 teams based here and the game is played at the pub five nights a week. There is also a well-used dartboard at the back.

In an area where a number of pubs have been given trendy makeovers, The Masonic is traditional, timeless and untouched by fads and fashions. In other words, it’s a proper old-school boozer full of chatty locals rather than poseurs and people ordering cocktails.

The walls are painted a minty green colour, with some wood panelling here and there. Carpets are red and patterned and tables have wrought iron claw feet.

But it’s the simple things like cleanliness that makes The Masonic different to many other pubs in the area. The tables are polished, the ledges are dust-free and the glasses are gleaming. This is obviously a free house run by a landlord who has old-fashioned pride in the job he does and it shows.

The walls are dotted with framed pictures and mirrors, mainly featuring beer or whisky advertising, and there is a strong Courage theme, with even the dartboard having the name of the former Bristol brewery emblazoned on it. And Courage is still very much the beer of choice for the regulars – so much so that it is the only hand-pulled real ale available and it’s so popular that it appears on both pumps. They must get through gallons of the stuff every week.

Food is restricted to clingfilm-wrapped rolls and crisps, but there are plenty of other pubs in the area serving restaurant-quality food and it’s almost refreshing to sit down with your pint and not have a menu thrust into your hand.

The Masonic is one of those sepia-coloured pubs that refuses to change into something it’s not and it is all the better for it.

Mark Taylor

This is a Crackerjack review of Masonic. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.