1019163 Twin Oaks

I've written before on the problem of deciding what a pub is, and how this may be more of an issue in the future if/when the proposed licencing reforms are passed. Currently pub licences are quite expensive, so not many restaurants have them - but the number that do is increasing year on year, as there are some good reasons to do so. You can serve punters who don't want to eat, can serve beer and spirits more easily, and the licence (currently) holds its resale value fairly well.

In the case of Twin Oaks, I believe the unit was actually originally a pub (The Barbican) rather than a restaurant bringing a pub licence in - but there have been restaurants-with-pub-licences here for a while now.

But, if we were to assume I was visiting in a post-reform world, would I consider this a pub? I think I'd have to. There were three strong indications that would be amongst what I imagine I'll have to decide on in future.

First impressions would not make you think so - I walked in to be greeted by a staff member who was assigning seats. All the tables that I could see were set up for dining and there was nobody else there that was just drinking.

I was assigned to sit at the bar - not uncommon in these pub-sturants; and the first indication that I would consider this a pub appeared here. The bar had a normal pub level of taps, including multiple Irish craft options. Most restaurant bars have two to four taps at most.

The second indications appeared while I was there - two regulars who walked in, past the staff member at the door, and sat at the bar. If the place has regulars who are not dining regulars.

The third indication I noticed when heading to the gents. There is a small area to the side of the bar that appeared to be seating for drinkers; but there is also a vast, seated, covered smoking area - of a type a restaurant would never have. This appeared to be there since the pub days and not an outdoor dining era addition, and would let a reasonable pub crowd in without needing to divert any of the dining room seats. The relative scale of the bar suggests to me that this is probably what happens.

The beer was a little toward restaurant prices, but this is a fancier pub in a fancy area, so what do you expect really.