“I can’t see many changes,” a customer at the Cider Press told the barman, a few days after the pub formally known as the Rising Sun reopened under a new name and a lick of paint or two. He wandered off back to his seat rather confused, looking wistfully out at the passers-by on the Gloucester Road.
So what has changed? This is still a Scream pub, but like the White Harte on Park Row it has now lost some of its more ostentatious yellow branding.
One wall has been painted with a colourful representation of a cider press and a crate of apples, while the exposed air ducts remain alongside some funky modern lighting.
Scream pubs are firmly aimed at the student market, and there are drinks discounts aplenty here for those with Yellow Cards, available only with an NUS card.
Bath Ales Barnsey (the new name for Barnstormer) and Gem are the ales on tap here, alongside a generous lager selection but, surprisingly, not too many ciders.
Cider connoisseurs drawn to the pub by its new name certainly would not approve of the Brothers pear cider on tap; the fruit juice from concentrate of the cider world, the Babycham for the alcopop generation.
As evidence of the food menu, look no further than a beer, burger and chips for £4.50. Or go gourmet and have a pizza, now made on the premises. Now there’s a change.
The Cider Press, 86-90 Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol. 0117 989 2471.
When you title an article “pub of the week” I assume you mean the best pub this week, but upon reading the review it seems this is not the case? is this “pub within 2 meters of a zebra crossing of the week”?
Fair point, Graham. But writing ‘The one pub that we write about this week, whether good or bad’, would just take up too much space. ‘Pub near a zebra crossing of the week’ could make a nice feature.
Pah, it’s hardly The Colosseum (Bristol’s only 1-star pub within spitting distance of a zebra crossing? http://www.viewbristol.co.uk/pubsandbars/the-colosseum-info-39474.html)
I live just round the corner from here and I can’t say I’ve ever been enticed to go in here when it was The Rising Sun or now it’s The Cider Press. I’m in the target age group but much prefer The Bristol Flyer or The Prince of Wales. There’s so much competition on Gloucester Road I don’t see what this pub offers that’s different, perhaps it’s a lot cheaper but it seems a lot grottier too.