News, pints and plates from the Glen
We sat at the bar with a pint and a notebook to find out which pub nibbles earn their keep in 2026. Salt, crunch, mess and the four-quid question all count. Some classics shine; some posh olives need a word with themselves.
The dining room is loud, the lighting is unkind and the tables are the wrong height. Meanwhile, the little room off the side of the bar — the one with four seats and a fire — is quietly serving the best food in the building. A case for booking the snug this winter, and a few tips for actually getting one.
A realistic car-free crawl built around one bus route and a train home, with four stops picked for different reasons: a proper bitter, a kitchen worth planning around, a back room with something on, and The Glen Tavern to finish. Timings, budget and the last-bus plan included.
Everyone says the pub roast is a rip-off, and everyone still books one. We costed our own Sunday lunch against cooking it at home in 2026 — energy, meat, leftovers and all — and asked diners whether it's still Britain's best-value meal or now a once-in-a-while treat.
Cold nights call for dark beer, but every pub board tells a different story. Here are eight styles worth hunting down this winter, with tasting notes and kitchen pairings from The Glen Tavern — plus a short script for getting the good stuff out of the cellar.