The Old Ale and Coffee House — Restaurant in England

Nestled near the historic Salisbury Cathedral, the Old Ale and Coffee House proved an ideal spot for a group lunch after exploring Salisbury Cathedral, home to one of four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta.

The venue has a nice, relaxed vibe, and a good range of food options. It’s a convenient and enjoyable stop after a morning exploring the town and Cathedral.

There were six of us, so we opted for a variety of the bar snacks and smaller plates. The standouts? The ham hock terrine, by far one of the best I’ve had in the UK. A good terrine is firm yet tender, with flavors that balance richness and seasoning, and this one hit every mark. Paired with a tangy piccalilli, it offered just the right contrast, bringing out the flavours of the hock, while adding a bright finish. It was everyone’s favourite.

The dusted crispy squid with aioli was a close second and also deserves a mention, the coating was perfectly crispy and the squid was tender and cooked well.

The sweet chili chicken wings were a crowd-pleaser, and the crab got cleaned up quickly - I’d order both of these again too.

The king prawn skewers sounded great, but they were pale and despite some big flavours listed in the menu, they were a bit bland and flat in execution and didn’t get finished.

The giant pig in a blanket, which I ordered as an amusing gimmick, and because I love Pigs in Blankets, was a bit of a letdown. It is a big dry sausage wrapped in thin, overly crisp bacon. The proportions are off, and it was sad that it was bad - as I wanted to love it, and sausages wrapped in bacon should always be a winner.

For drinks, we had a round of Hawkstone IPA, a refreshing choice from Clarkson’s farm, and besides the couple of lesser dishes, everyone left happy.

For anyone visiting Salisbury, the Old Ale and Coffee House makes a memorable meal break, and I’d be keen to visit again.

The Magna Carta states: “for a trivial offense, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offense…but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood.” So in the spirit of proportional justice, I can forgive them for a couple of mis-steps. After marvelling at the Magna Carta, you definitely should pop over for a pint, a terrine or plate or your choosing, the Ale House is a nice venue and definitely...

We met with some friends in town and needed somewhere to eat, we hadn’t booked anything and were wandering around until we came across The Old Ale & Coffee House - the girl behind the bar was friendly and fast as she took our orders - our friends both had the roasted vegetable, hummus & Hampshire watercress ciabatta with chunky chips, unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of their food but it looked amazing and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband had one of the specials, a chicken and leek pie with mash and cabbage, the puff pastry top was flaky, the filling wonderful creamy atop a smooth mash with a thick glossy gravy to go with it, he said it was one of the best pies he ever had! I decided to go for a trio of bar snack; truffled cheesy chips, giant pig in blanket and tempura vegetables - the chips were chunky and crisp yet super fluffy with a decent amount of oozing cheese on top and intense truffle flavour, the pig in blanket was a little disappointing; a bit dry and lacking a kick of flavour and the tempura vegetables were tasty but oily. All in all it was really decent food, just a couple of adjustments to some of the dishes and they would have been bang on! To wash it all down I had an alcohol free Erdinger due to driving, and was very jealous of my husband’s Hawkstone - I had a taste and it’s fantastic! Our waitress was SO bubbly and we had a good laugh with her about deciding what to have and that we were eager for food. We want to come back asap to try a couple more dishes...

Me and my girlfriend went today for a roast - sirloin to be precise. Albeit the meal was very well presented; the meat was extremely fatty and gristly, potatoes internally hard and hardly crispy, like if they were sat under a hot lamp for hours.

This wouldn’t had been a massive issue as working in hospitality these things can happen, bad part of the joint etc, however, for us it was the service.

When the food was brought over, the gent didn’t even give me a chance to ask for sauce before he was walking off, let alone offer any. There was no check back to ensure it was ok and it wasn’t busy.

When coming to collect plates, seeing essentially all the meat was on my plate and my gf ate half hers, he asked if everything was ok, to which I explained the above regarding the food, he said ‘sorry I’ll let the kitchen know’, nothing further to this then walked off, again, working in hospitality, we were both very surprised by this.. we gave the opportunity to resolve or at least offer us a drink or something, but nothing.

Normally I wouldn’t say anything but we’re both extremely surprised by somewhere we’ve been before had food, was great and a nice establishment, for that. And I don’t feel I should have to go up to the bar and complain when the opportunity to resolve was there - hate leaving a review like this but it is what it is.

£47.50 for 2 meals and a drink each, you...