Duke of Oxford, Weston Central, Weston Super Mare

An upmarket quirky place which includes a baby grand piano and a suit of armour - nice if slightly contrived. Three cask hidden right round the corner past a couple of cider pumps and cake stand – felt like a bit of an afterthought but it’s GBG’23 listed. The line-up consisted of 2x Quantock and Exmoor. My Quantock Eternal Spring didn't fully clear and was a disappointing muted thing (NBSS 2). Worth a nose for the interior but maybe swerve the cask. The local CAMRA seem to have a surfeit of entries – the White Hart and Waverley are better shouts than this for decent real ale and they are hardly meccas.

Official site of The Duke of Oxford - www.dukeofoxford.co.uk

Official site of The Duke of Oxford - www.dukeofoxford.co.uk

Refurbished corner pub with slightly uninviting dark grey-green paintwork. However, the semi-traditional interior is rather more appealing, albeit in its own words as a "Coffee + Beer + Wine + Cake" sort of place. Several different seating / dining areas in a slightly split-level L-shaped layout, together with another few tables upstairs. Grand piano for the live Sunday jazz events. Good Beer Guide listed, with three Quantock Brewery beers - QPA, a very good dark-brown Plastered Pheasant (£4.60) and Theatrical Skies - plus Lilley's Mango cider available from four of the five handpumps.