Product Description

Now in its 27th year, "The Good Pub Guide" once again brings you the very best pubs in Britain. The only truly independent guide of its kind, its comprehensive yearly updates and countless reader reports ensures that only the very best make the grade. Whether you are looking for a delicious gastro meal for that special night out, or just want a quiet, laid-back pint in a friendly countryside local, you're guaranteed to find the perfect location among the unique, memorable and often hidden-away places that make up the 5,000-strong listings. For an honest, comprehensive and vastly entertaining guide to delicious gastropubs, off-beat drinking dens and idyllic rural inns, "The Good Pub Guide 2009" is truly indispensable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59500 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1056 pages

About the Author
Alisdair Aird worked for many years with Which?, editing its motoring magazine and Which? magazine itself. He set up Holiday Which? and the consumer policy and research side of the National Consumer Council. He has edited The Good Pub Guide since its first edition in 1983. Fiona Stapley has worked with Alisdair Aird on The Good Pub Guide for over 10 years. She previously worked with the Consumers' Association.

Customer Reviews

Great but needs to be refreshed
If you do not own any pub guides, including previous editions of this one, I would recommend this one highly - it only includes pubs of a high standard (and doesn't just focus on the BEER) and covers the whole country with impressive breadth. Even the lucky dip pubs are usually the better pubs in town - I've rarely been disappointed by one.
BUT... if you own any of the previous few editions of the Good Pub Guide I see absolutely no point in buying this. It is slightly frustrating the way the Guide never changes much. This could be a signifier of good standards, but it isn't flexible enough. So many great pubs are not included (this edition has no place for The Flask in Highgate, one of the best pubs in north London) and yet year after year many of the same ones are, like that dubious Wetherspoons near parliament.
There are very few changes to the previous edition, and that includes the layout and paper stock, both looking a bit old fashioned now. The Good Food Guide underwent a radical revamp two editions back - it's time the Pub Guide did too.

Keep it in the car
At my request, The Good Pub Guide is the standard Xmas present from my daughter. The introductory narrative is firstly read, then the local (Devon) section is scanned for any "Main" and "Lucky Dip" ins or outs, and then the previous year's Guide comes out of my car's "glove compartment" (to go into our home's bookcase with the previous incumbent going from there to the local charity shop) and the new one goes in.

At least once every year and often several times, I find myself away from "base" somewhere in the UK and where I need to be "fed and watered"; invariably the Guide points me in the right direction. Add to this the ability it gives me to book a table at short notice for a meal in a listed pub anywhere in my home locality, with a high degree of confidence that I will not be disappointed, and it more than earns its corn.

It is arrant nonsense to opine that the layout is somehow outdated or that there are too few year on year changes to warrant an annual purchase. Firstly, it is a guide pure and simple, not a fashion accessory. Secondly, there is always a proportion of changes and woe betide anyone using "last year's Guide" for, say, an important business or social reason, only to find that the pub has changed its management and is rapidly heading out of the "Premiership" as a result!!

Never suffer a dodgy pub meal again
As soon as the leaves start to fall it's time to get the new copy of the Good Pub Guide. Other reviewers have complained not much changes, but for me it's the small changes from year to year which are the pleasure. Which pubs are newly inserted, which ones are out?

If a pub you like isn't in there then why not submit a review (you can now do this on the web). The GPG team do take notice and you might even see your name in print in the 2010 edition...