The Goat & Tricycle, Bournemouth

This is probably Bournemouth's best pub in terms of serving a decent range of beer and certainly the best bet for a decent pint at this end of town. The interior is dominated by dark wood flooring and wall panels, with some rather bright, pink wallpaper offsetting it in places. The entrance takes you into a medium sized room with the bar along the left hand side and some padded bench seating opposite. Beyond the end of the bar there is a doorway to a second room which has some standard seating as well as a large leather sofa. There is a large shelving unit here filled with various pots, plates, jugs and books, which seems to fit in nicely and helps create quite a homely feel in this area. A TV screen is mounted above the sofa and this was showing the cup final to a small number of punters when I recently visited. An archway leads you back towards the front of the pub where there is a rather smart pool room. A simple beer patio can be accessed from the rear room. This is a Wadworth house, so their beers took up the majority of the handpumps with 6X, Henry's IPA, Horizon, Strong in the Arm and Bishop's Tipple all on alongside guests in the shape of Brewster's Hop a Doodle Do (£3.35), Wooden Hand Cornish Mutiny, Bakehouse Bakers Dozen and Rudgate Ruby Mild. The beer is generally kept very well and the guest policy ensures good choice if you're fed up with the Wadworth brews. Food is also available with main meals around the £9 mark and baguettes or jacket potatoes at a fiver. Bournemouth is a terrible town for finding good beer (unless you like Ringwood Best or Wetherspoons), so the Goat stands out as being by far the best ale pub in the town centre. Given the dominance of drinking barns throughout the rest of the town, it's well worth setting yourself up for a long evening in here, as you're unlikely to do better anywhere else.