River City is a pub on Spike Island that always seems more shut than open and was certainly shut a couple of years ago after a major fire.

Currently open, the traffic cones in the small front garden still don’t give it the most welcoming of airs.

Just around the corner from here is the Orchard, an ever popular cider pub which attracts people from miles around.

When I visited River City on a Sunday afternoon, I could count the punters on the fingers of one hand, while they were spilling out of the doors of the Orchard.

It was a peculiarly stale environment, with those inside talking in whispers so as not to break the silence, broken only by lift music on the stereo.

Salmon pink is the colour scheme more suited to a hotel bar than a pub, but there is a roaring fire – although on closer examination this is actually a flat screen television in one corner.

Roast lunches at £7.95 were the food of choice for those visiting last Sunday. Desserts also seemed a popular option, which included fruit bread pudding and key lime pie, made in the pub’s kitchen.

The only ale on tap was Doom Bar, with the two ciders available Copper Press and Thatchers Gold.

River City, 130 Cumberland Road, Spike Island, Bristol, BS1 6UX. 0117 929 2109.

www.rivercity.uk.com