Shoulder of Mutton in Vale of White Horse

Great pub. A fantastic range of cask and keg beers, which are continually changing. The landlord is very friendly and welcoming. Can't recommend enough.

Pleasant pub with friendly service and with a pub session going on. Perfect!

Quiz night Thursday from 8.30pm is great fun

Good for a pint and a bit of sport. light and airy main bar with a small beer garden to the rear

Now if cask ale and a complete set Encyclopaedia Britanica’s is a pub nut you’ve struggled to crack then look no further! But seriously a friendly pub in the town with plenty of seating and good music. No food served so just a nice cold beer

Fantastic traditional pub. Excellent selection of well-kept real ales. Open log fire and friendly staff. Varied snd friendly clientele. Great New Year's eve!

Excellent pub with great beer and friendly staff.

Great selection of real ales and cold tap lagers. There's also a great open mic night on a tuesday evening

Delicious beer, cider, mead. Well kept and curated. An interesting selection with something for everyone. Low percentage and alcohol free beers too. Brilliant and knowledgeable service. This pub doesn't serve food but you could bring your own pizza from the vaults down the road!

Nice little local pub with a good rotating range of ales. Currently known as The Shoulder.

Decent pub, except for the fact they regularly play obscenely loud music past 11pm and can be heard by surroundings houses. This isn't a few minutes after 11, I mean till nearly 11:40 regularly.

My favourite pub in Wantage. Great craft beer choices, including draft and tap. Recently renovated (will miss the cookiness of the old layout but the new style is great!)

We had an absolutely lovely time at this place! There were plenty of group games and books to keep larger groups entertained. The pints were also fairly cheap. The bartender was nice and polite, and the bathroom was clean and well decorated. Will definitely return again

Only went to play a few songs on piano. The pub is very well laid out and well presented. The staff are absolutely awesome and they know about the decent selection of beers. Fantastic music night in there

Great atmosphere friendly staff

Very pleasantly surprised at the "new look" som ...went in Friday for early doors ...Lovely pub with a great atmosphere and a wonderful selection of beers...cosy fires and friendly staff....I will be back...keep it up !!

Lovely pub with a great atmosphere and a wonderful selection of beers.

Lovely staff Good gins Great pub after refurbishment

Full of lycra wearing cyclist. Avoid

A good selection of beers, lovely atmosphere and good service. This is a great place to enjoy a pint or two. Cyclists are made to feel welcome, so we often stop by on the way home. Definitely worth a visit in my view. UPDATE: I've been back several times since my first visit. Each visit has confirmed the comments I made following my my first experience. This pub will remain on my favourite pubs in the area list!

First visit. Good beer, friendly staff, good conversation. What more could one ask for.

Clean pub. Pleasant girl serving drinks. Good beer.

Best pint of Guinness in town imo

Open mic night on a Tuesday is grand!

Excellent Beer, Knowledgeable and friendly staff. Worth a visit. Update: it's been renovated and is now twice the size! It's brilliant...

Great refurb. Has really opened the place up and so much more welcoming than the old Mutton.

The Shoulder is an institution that has had a recent face lift. The gally bar and old toilet block has been opened up into a sizable space. It looks like a Costa and contrasts the front of the pub where the quirky warren of smaller rooms remains. The Shoulder was always know as an ale pub and this reputation is still retained. As is the well attended open mic night. It is nice to see a pub like this make changes that are in keeping with its past. One previous landlord tried to make it a vegetarian restaurant. RIP Bev

Fantastic pub. Good beer. Great atmosphere. Will go back 🙂

It's reopened after a long closure with a high quality update to layout ,decor and toilets. Warmly welcomed good vibe.

Great to see the place opend and have enjoyed a few drinks here already. Comfortable seating with a decent pint. Toilets were impeccably clean. Thumbs up

A bit quiet for a Saturday night but it has only just re-opened. I really liked how the interior has been opened out. The wine and service was good 😀 . Maybe open the curtains so people passing by realise you've opened up again.

First time in here and I love it. Quirky pub with a strange bar that adds to the experience. Plenty of changing beers and games to play. Friendly staff. Great pub.

Really cool relaxed pub open Mic is cool on Tuesday but the lady of the bar smelling me a mile of whoops 🤪🙂

Beer. Lots of lovely real beers. Nice quiet place where it's easy to chat and enjoy an evening out.

Nice local pub with friendly staff and good beer.

Great pub, super friendly staff. Everyone in the pub happy to have a chat. Even some games hanging about with people getting involved. Definitely worth a visit. The beer selection is excellent. All of them tasted like new barrels with all sorts of options.

Banging selection of beers and all in top notch condition..

Great beer! Relaxed atmosphere!

8 different ales on tap on my last visit, from light golden to full on chocolate stout. Very old-fashioned bar area, (that's part of the charm), but incredibly knowledgeable staff and brilliant quality beer. A proper real ale pub. They also brew Alfred's Mead on site. Definitely worth a visit.

Warm welcoming atmosphere and excellent beers. Superb open mic nights on Tuesdays.

Great beer, great characters. What's not to like?!

Great alehouse. Always about 10 hand pumps on the go.

Did a open mic there really friendly people

Nice little pub, very friendly. We stayed in one of their rooms through air b and b, room was nice and homely.

Dog friendly. A bonus from our usual locals.

Fantastic pub! 10 real ales of varying strengths- right up to 7%. Really friendly atmosphere, accept dogs, nice and cosy and has a cool vibe! 😂

Pleasant little real ale pub with around 8 ales to choose from on my visit. Popular with the local alers, a nice little teatime croud.

Nice friendly pub with excellent drinks, miss the excellent vegiterian menu but still love the place.

Could do with a separate till for drinks only.

Great people and a fantastic atmosphere! Especially on Tuesdays when open Mic night is running! And of course, bar staff are top notch! ;)

Great real ale pub. Looking forward to hearing some local folk bands here in the future.

Great selection of ales in a cosy pub

Fantastic. Great beer and good atmosphere.

Great hospitality and real ales

Great choice of beer, as always, and friendly atmosphere and service. And bumped in to a friend too. Couldn't ask for more from an occasional boozer!! Thanks.

This place is by far the best pub in Wantage. 10 real ales which continously change. Beer is kept really well. Bar staff are are great. Not a bad word to say about the place.

Great pub, great beer, great staff. Beer is kept well and a good selection. One of the best two pubs in Wantage.

Good real ale pub with a wide range and nice atmosphere

Fantastic ales and brilliant open Mic on Tuesdays

Perfect selection of real-ales in a much improved set of rooms. Pricey compared to next nearest competition but acceptable value.

Traditional boozer with a diverse range of well-kept beers and customers.

Excellent ale, friendly and great fun!

Excellent real ales and open mic night

Edited: I visited over Christmas 2016, and I'm glad to see the place back on form - great range of beer, well kept.

Great choice of beers and great people, not many 'corridor pubs' left, love it, so friendly

Great beers and a great, ever changing, variety too.

I really like this pub. Good choice of ale (well kept), friendly owner, staff and clientele. Live music on Tuesday nights.

Ever changing list of great beers. Sometimes quiet, sometimes rammed, particularly on the regular Tuesday Open Mic night.

Great ciders, great food and a huge side salad to go with it! The only negative (if it even counts as one) is that it's very small and only has a few large tables, so book well in advance!

An excellent local pub, warm welcome, and amazing ales.

Fantastic vegetarian food with a wide range of tasty ales. On Friday nights local musicians pop in to play folk music which is lovely.

Long Waite at the bar,very dis gruntled landlord on appearance1st Ale was off second ok,clearley not wanting to be their we where given a menu. He then disappeared.after 10 mins with no interaction or sight of him we leftNot the friendly pub it says in previous reviews !!!

This is a brilliant place for food and drink in a very warm and friendly atmosphere. The landlord and bar staff are always welcoming and happy to help you choose from their huge range of excellent ales and ciders. The locals are very friendly too and the food is delicious and all freshly prepared. This place is a real gem!

I only visit for a Good Pint of Beer, usually after completing my grocery shopping. Wantage is an ancient town, birthplace of Alfred the Great, but it in line with a lot of towns in England it seems like it has changed a lot over the last 20 years. However, walk into The Shoulder of Mutton and you can experience a little taste of "GB" that epitomises 'unique' and all that is good about Great Britain. The Beers are as good as any I have come across (pretty sure there were 21 'Real Ales' available today. This is only the second time I visited and I sat by a Bar, almost in an 'alley' with some regulars, who I am pretty sure I met on my First visit. I would encourage anyone to visit. I am confident the Food would be good too. But as a 'Pub experience' this takes some beating.

We visited this Pub on 28th November. We booked a table first which was fortunate as it appeared that there were only 3 tables and judging by this pub's reviews I would expect them to be all taken by 7.30pm so book if you don't want to be disappointed.I was driving so only had a half of the lowest alcohol cider which was very sad as I'd love to have tried more. Why not offer cider and beer by the wine glass so that customers can try a few types?We were soon asked for our food order and we all chose pies which seem to be a speciality here! Our food arrived promptly, each pie accompanied by a huge salad and new potatoes. I found the fact that the potatoes were cut into quarters a bit strange as I would prefer to have whole potatoes. I suspect this is done to make sure they cook quickly but my solution would be to serve some oven roasted new potatoes which could be pre-cooked and kept hot without losing flavour. I would also offer hot veg instead of a salad in the winter as not everyone likes cold and hot food together.We were too full for a pudding and had a coffee which was in a mug -another suggestion here, offer a cup as not everyone likes a full mug of coffee after a meal.This is a lovely place with really good food and lovely staff with a few tweaks (change the lighting which is a bit over powering in a restaurant and I would move all the games from restaurant room to make space for a small table.)

My wife and I went to this restaurant on Saturday the 18th of October.What a fantastic place.The venue has been sympathetically renovated to retain all its charm.The service was incredibly friendly. My wife only wanted half a cider but the very helpful barman let her try a couple before purchasing, a really nice thought.Peter the owner, was very engaging and nothing was too much trouble. He even brought out some complimentary sweets and gave my wife some poppadoms to take home to cook.Forget the fact its just very good vegetarian food but just very good food and excellent service.We shall return.

First trip to the Shoulder of Mutton and we definitely will be returning. The food was great and the atmosphere was very relaxing. The homemade houmous and veggie curry were delicious and we all left with a very full belly! The menu doesnt really cater for young children, but when we made our reservation, Peter said that he would be more than happy to rustle something up for our 3 year old son that was not on the menu. We really appreciated this. The restaurant isnt the biggest. In order to avoid disapointment, I recommend that you make sure to book in advance to ensure you can be accommodated. The selection of real ales and vintage ciders was fantastic. The landlady allowed me to sample some beers before I bought which I thought was a really nice touch and to be honest, i could have easily stayed all day! This is by far the best pub in Wantage.

I am not a veggie, but I love Pete the landlord's curry, the belly dance girls and I all get along for our annual Christmas Curry and its always always very plentiful and filling and fabulous. Peter the Landlord is an absolute treasure. The Ale is always spectacular and reasonably priced bottle of wine. Keep up the great work.

Really good food and really good beer. And input from the landlord to help with choices much appreciated - he clearly knows his stuff!

Anyone familiar with Wantage will know that there is no shortage of pubs, but the Shoulder of Mutton stands out amongst the crowd. The Shoulder is very much a traditional pub, serving a wide range of real ales and ciders, and is a great place to visit if you want to try something new - the bar staff are incredibly helpful and will happily provide tasters of any of the beers or ciders on tap to help you decide what pint to purchase. The Shoulder has a really homely atmosphere, and the food is absolutely fantastic. If you are deterred by the veggie-only menu, DON'T BE! The food is excellent and I guarantee you will enjoy it so much you won't even notice the lack of meat. Peter and the team have clearly worked hard to make sure the Shoulder offers something different to the other pubs in the town and it has paid off.

Peter is an amazing host! He catered for my dietary requirements with really interesting food. A lovely change from the usual salad or fish I get in most places. Nothing was too much and the cost was very reasonable. Very good value for money. The ale was great too.! My favourite was Black Velvet. Will definitely be back!!

Now, I don't drink beer & am not a vegetarian but I highly recommend the Shoulder of Mutton. There is a vast variety of drinks, especially ales, though I am a fan of the cider. The food is home-cooking comfort style vegetarian food, perfect for the chillier days - I really recommend the homity pie. Try to pop in when the locals bring their folk instruments to really experience the lively, cosy & friendly atmosphere - everyone, both locals & staff have made me feel very welcome whenever I have been able to pop in, remembering my name even though it could be weeks between visits! Give it a try for a honest, homely & sociable evening.

Ok if u r a veggie but would be nice if they catered for meat eaters as well.Weird club like atmosphere more geared to Howard and Hilda than posh and necks-so old fashioned, brightly lit and pub like.Would not return- person behind the bar really very rude

Made a trip especially after hearing such great things from tripadvisor. Arrived sadly to be told they weren't serving food on Mondays?! The place looked lovely and the staff were very helpful advising where we could go, just a bit sad that we weren't able to eat there. :(Will have to make a visit there another day. Just wanted to advise others so it didn't happen to them too.

Despite not even being a vegetarian myself, I would highly recommend this restaurant. The owner was absolutely delightful and so friendly. My veggie friend, with whom I was dining, was delighted by the choice of dishes and tasty vegetarian food

This was my first visit to this secret wonder! If you want vegetarian, vegan, gluten or wheat free this is the place to go as the menu is entirely vegetarian with at least half of the dishes for vegan or gluten free choices. Your host is also the chef who quite literally puts his heart and soul into what he produces .... your enjoyment is absolutely paramount. This little gem deserves to be far more well known than it is. I'm almost afraid to give it a high rating for fear that it will become so busy I will find it difficult to get a table next time!

A friend and I went for lunch today, very good food and service, everything was obviously Home made and absolutely yummy, after starters and mains sadly we did not have room for pudding but we will be back!!!

We ate here last night after hearing food was being served again and we left stuffed and content! The risotto and the potato pie were amazing but the brownie was out of this world. We were really looked after and could fault nothing. Washed down with a selection of real ale it's no wonder this pub is the top place to eat in Wantage. Nom nom!

If you like Vegetarian food, and real ale this is the place to go. Many pubs have lost their character with modernisation, however the shoulder of Mutton and been left substantially original. It was a Morland Pub, until the Greene King takeover, but this little place now sells the best of boutique ales. Try the landlords Betjeman Wantage Bells, its the best.

Great atmosphere and great choice of beer - its like a beer festival every day with so much choice. Dog friendly pub which is a bonus as we have a puppy.Cant wait to try the food.

I'm not sure I need add to wow! The beer, food and service were superb.This is by far the best place to eat in Wantage and well priced; quite simply brilliant. Cannot wait until the next time. Bring it on.

I went to the Shoulder of Mutton for my wife's birthday celebrations and we had a fantastic evening. Amazing food in generous quantities, fine local ales and a very warm reception. We will definitely be going back.

We came here for my birthday and had such a fantastic time. The food was delicious and plentiful and as always Peter was very accommodating. The ale selection was brilliant. My only regret is that I'll have to wait a whole year to have my birthday there again! 5 stars. You won't be disappointed!

I've been coming to the Shoulder of Mutton for about a year now, but last night was the first time for a meal. The vegetarian food is incredible, meat lovers should not be put off by this place. The portions are big and incrediblely tasty- particulary the quiche and curry!The landlord Peter is very welcoming and really makes you feel at home. He really takes pride in this place and i'm already planning my next visit.Be sure to try the real ales whilst you're here- there is a vast selection, some of which is brewed by Peter himself.

You will always be assured of a warm and friendly greeting from Peter.Peter has created a drinkers' paradise in Wantage, an ever changing selection of excellent quality real ale is always available and the beer festivals have now become a thing of legend in Wantage.A complete refit has now led to some high quality food being served in 'The Shoulder'.Features of this excellent welcoming pub are the regular music evening when local musicians meet to 'Jam' in the lounge.For the discerning beer drinker who enjoys good wholesome food , this is a pub you must visit.

The landlord, Peter, has an imaginative menu - this is not the obligatory vegetarian choice of a meat-eating pub, but a full vegetarian menu, home cooked, and even I, who am not a fan of hot and spicy food, enjoyed every mouthful. The pub itself is quirky and genuine, with interesting real ale selection. A little courtyard garden allows a drink in the sunshine. A real treat.

We were excited to find somewhere that offers a decent vegetarian selection, with real ales to boot. Had we not read about this place we probably wouldn't have found this little gem. We were greeted with the warmest welcome we have had in a long time and the landlord could not have been more accommodating. The locals were happy to recommend the ales and the food was hot, fresh, tasty and plentiful. We will certainly be back, just a shame we don't live closer! Thank you for a lovely dining experience.

Dinner for 4, spicy hummus starter, veggie "Mutton" curry, washed down witha ruby ale...all with warm friendly welcome from landlord and others in the var.get down there and enjoy!

A great local vegetarian Resturant. The food was freshly cooked, well seasoned and piping hot. I ordered the curry, which could have fed a small army. The portions are large!Very pleasant staff. Highly recommend.

If you like your beers, this is the place to be. The walls comemorate Best Pub Awards and with a selection of 12+ beers and other CAMRA affiliated drinks to choose from you can see why. The place is smallish, has a warm, friendly, local pub atmosphere, and the landlord treats you as if you are part of the family. The idea of a vegetarian pub is a novel one. Although I am no food critic, I thought the food was a bit bland. The pies and tortilla omelette were a little dry to my taste, and all the food contained lots of plain tasting potatoes. The salad portions are large, though again could do with something extra rather than just a drizzle of dressing. Overall a great place to try different beers, though feel that the vegetarian food option can really offer a lot more.