The Old Ale House in Wiltshire

Fantastic pub with great selection of beers, good food and really nice staff - really nice when a pub gets everything right, thank you!

Nestled near the historic Salisbury Cathedral, the Old Ale and Coffee House proved an ideal spot for a group lunch after exploring Salisbury Cathedral, home to one of four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta. The venue has a nice, relaxed vibe, and a good range of food options. It’s a convenient and enjoyable stop after a morning exploring the town and Cathedral. There were six of us, so we opted for a variety of the bar snacks and smaller plates. The standouts? The ham hock terrine, by far one of the best I’ve had in the UK. A good terrine is firm yet tender, with flavors that balance richness and seasoning, and this one hit every mark. Paired with a tangy piccalilli, it offered just the right contrast, bringing out the flavours of the hock, while adding a bright finish. It was everyone’s favourite. The dusted crispy squid with aioli was a close second and also deserves a mention, the coating was perfectly crispy and the squid was tender and cooked well. The sweet chili chicken wings were a crowd-pleaser, and the crab got cleaned up quickly - I’d order both of these again too. The king prawn skewers sounded great, but they were pale and despite some big flavours listed in the menu, they were a bit bland and flat in execution and didn’t get finished. The giant pig in a blanket, which I ordered as an amusing gimmick, and because I love Pigs in Blankets, was a bit of a letdown. It is a big dry sausage wrapped in thin, overly crisp bacon. The proportions are off, and it was sad that it was bad - as I wanted to love it, and sausages wrapped in bacon should always be a winner. For drinks, we had a round of Hawkstone IPA, a refreshing choice from Clarkson’s farm, and besides the couple of lesser dishes, everyone left happy. For anyone visiting Salisbury, the Old Ale and Coffee House makes a memorable meal break, and I’d be keen to visit again. The Magna Carta states: “for a trivial offense, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offense…but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood.” So in the spirit of proportional justice, I can forgive them for a couple of mis-steps. After marvelling at the Magna Carta, you definitely should pop over for a pint, a terrine or plate or your choosing, the Ale House is a nice venue and definitely worth a visit.

Very chilled out pub, attentive staff and good vegan options for food.

We originally popped in for a drink but really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere so decided to eat here. Starters.. you must get the giant pig in blanket!! Incredible 😋

Huh, surprise. On a pub-crawl thru Salisbury, this was the best place out of the dozen we tried, which included the well-known ones.

Stayed in Salisbury for five nights (what a world class awesome place it is). Popped in for a pint after shopping for food for the week. Goodness me, what a stunning pub!! I'm 71, been in many pubs, and have drank many pints of real ale. This pub sells the best beer I have tasted in my whole mouth! Deer Stalker from Ramsbury brewery. This is the friendliest pub as well. I felt I was going into a good friend's house every day? Special mention to Shane, DJ, and Rachel. Super relational, helpful as tour suggestions, just perfect. Great food and service with high quality in a friendly relaxed environment. I wish I lived nearby.

Went to the Tuesday night quiz night where we are regulars, always a friendiy relaxed atmosphere and the food was yummy as usual 😄

Fabulous food in one of the comfortable courtyard Huts. Staff attentive and as polite as they are everytime. Such a breath of fresh air for traditional values and surroundings. People make a place come alive, as well as the decor

Nice pub in a lovely location, excellent service, they let me taste the beers to give me the chance to choose the one I liked. Good quality of raw materials. I recommend 💪

Good selection of ales and a lovely sun trap at the rear with lots of tables and 3 booths. Dog friendly too.

Bank Holiday Monday 26 August 1974 - we met for our first date (then known as the 'King and Bishop') Bank Holiday Monday 26 August 2024 - we returned to mark our 50 years together. We could not have had a better evening: enjoyed excellent food and drink seated in one of the the 'beach huts' in the garden - a great setting. The evening was enhanced by the warmth of all the staff and their friendly personal service, even though they were busy hosting a meeting in the main bar. The experience was more fitting to our celebration than we expected.

Good place, nice food and service.

Booked an outside table for a bunch of friends/colleagues. We had decided to have a night to let our hair down as we are all busy emergency workers in the NHS. The staff were amazing, friendly, helpful and accommodating. The atmosphere was brilliant, lively yet relaxed and we ended up staying until closing time. Unfortunately all our party couldn't make it but we all agreed the pub is lovely, the garden is great and one of our members had some food which they said was really good. Thank you so much Coffee old ale house, always a pleasure to drink and dine at your establishment.

All beers are so good, different tastes, so nice, you can ask to the bartender to tell you which you want ! You can ask to Jaya, she knows a lot of their beers .

Great pub with good selection of drinks and food. Large outside area with games, cosy inside. Clean facilities (upstairs). Bar service can be slow sometimes but is always friendly and happy.

Beers so différents and so good

Lovely friendly atmosphere from a lovely pub, quick and easy service with a smile and suggestions of bits to do ( we were just visiting for the day ) great clean toilets too, food looked good, but can't comment on taste. Lovely and cool on a hot day and dog friendly.

My friend and I have had a lovely evening thanks to the wonderful service of female bartenders Sophie, Chelsea and Alyona. They were kind, positive and very accommodating. I just cannot stop thinking about why they don’t have a male bartender that would help them with heavy lifting and hard tasks. Dear managers, you have fantastic team and I am sure that this place will bloom even better if you would add so much needed support 🫶

From the outside, this pub looks stunning OK, for me, the modernisation inside may have spoilt the look, but WOW.the food was amazing, only had fish and chips but what a beautiful meal. We sat in the yard at the back to eat. Service was very efficient. Would highly recommend a visit

Attempted to book and was replied to 5 minutes prior that our booking won't be happening and we were sat in there for an hour prior waiting for a response, total garbage and you should try cleaning a table every now and again

Very nice service, delicious food.

Always a nice place to pop in for a pint

Nice beer garden, nice staff, delicious elderberry spritz!

Conveniently located and clearly popular. Interesting selection of food and drink. Lots of indoor and outdoor space. Friendly service.

Light evening meal with cider. Asparagus quiche, corn chowder, and salads. We ate on the patio. Several people enjoyed themselves with games. As an American, I'm still getting used to smokers.

Interesting pub near Salisbury Town centre. Pie and Mash were great. Good selection of ales.

Lovely place, very welcoming staff, and the food was great too!

Popped in for a drink and snack, chose the Hand raised pork pie £7 and Cheesy chips both to share, well the pork pie was not hand raised, machine made that resembled a £1 effort from a supermarket, should have questioned it straight away, my fault. But the pub needs to correct its listing on the menu and adjust price accordingly!

I love this pub. A warm quirky place which is dog friendly. The coffee is excellent and the perfect place to visit on a Saturday morning with Jaz playing in the background

Nice lively pub with a good selection of beers. Bar staff very friendly. Great outdoor space with cabins. A bit expensive but it's city centre so to be expected.

Nice place to go. Bit pricey though.

As always excellent food and choice of drinks with great service! Had the fish and chips which was lovely and crispy. Always our first choice for food when we visit Salisbury.

Lovely food, friendly helpful staff

Thank you for a lovely evening celebrating my retirement. The staff were absolutely brilliant. They couldn’t have been more accommodating. 5* service

Good pub, nice cocktails and good range of beers.

Popped in for lunch. My husband had a BLT which he explained was lovely. I ordered the cheese rarebit which was thick and gloopy. It’s very rare for me to leave anything but this I just could not stomach. It was like a thick gunky paste on toast. It felt like the bread had been toasted but not the cheese mixture. Very disappointed as the texture was grim.

My friend and I drove down to Salisbury on 10 March and decided to catch a late lunch at The Old Ale and Coffee House as we liked how it looked and it's signage said it has been operating here for many centuries. Though the place was only reasonably occupied and many seats were vacant we were politely told by a man at the bar that they ''were expecting a wave of guests soon". Yeah right! Anyway, if you don't want my money I am happy to give it to your competitors and that is exactly what we did. On our way back, we peeked in to see the "wave of guests" but saw that the place still had only a few tables occupied. Good luck with this type of service!

Great local w good food & fair prices

Great family lunch. Enjoyed the food and ambience. My Dad lives near by (my mum died recently) the owner has been so kind to my Dad. It’s also really nice inside and always seems to be full. We have been a few times.

Dog friendly. Food really good standard.

Delicious food and filling too. Good service and lovely aesthetics.

We did the outdoor beach hut dine, not realising that there is no door or glass in the windows, so it was a breezy experience. Food was uninspiring, service a little patchy, for example nobody offered us a dessert menu for over half an hour after clearing our plates, we had to ask at the bar. Based on previous reviews, family members had travelled from Exeter and Eastbourne for this lunch, so a bit disappointing over all.

Only had a drink .but lovely atmosphere

First visit to the old ale house, really enjoyable. Friendly relaxed atmosphere, with good food and well kept bar. From now on will be my go to bar, for food and drinks, in Salisbury.

Good, reasonably priced pub grub. Beef in the pie was tender, mashed potato tasty. My husband had the pork chop and was more than happy with it. Have only had lunch time nibbles here before but will definitely add the venue to our evening rotation.

I must admit I have not been on here for some time. Oh my god was pleasantly surprised. Wife had pie, me pork chop, black pudding and fried egg. Everything eas superb. Two beers each and food for £45. Awesome quality and great value for money. Cannot recommend highly enough

A GREAT PUB IN THE VERY CENTRE OF SALISBURY. COSY SETTING, VERY PLEASANT WELCOME FROM THE CHEERFUL LANDLORD. COMFORTABLE SEATING, AND WONDERFUL VARIED MENU. NOTHING WAS TOO MUCH TROUBLE , AND WE WILL MAKE THIS VENUE OUR FAVOURITE NOW.

Great Sunday Roast with generous sized portions. The beef was cooked perfectly and the chicken was really tasty. As ever excellent service.

If I had a bar this would be the style, atmosphere, Food and service I’d love to offer. The whole layout is well thought out, great decor, differing options of seating, quiet corners and open social areas. We had a great lunch, classics and hearty. Excellent customer services, friendly and polite. If this place was close to my home, I’d never be out of here.

Fish finger sandwich - this was a lump of grey, foul smelling and foul tasting fish in a very greasy batter which tasted of old fat. The bun was dry. The salad I pushed aside as it was old, with brown marks on the one main lettuce leaf and some sort of unappealing dressing. Fries also tasted of nothing but old fat. Within 15 mins I regretted putting a single mouthful in. Within one hour I felt very sick and had to find a shop to buy mints. Several hours later I could still taste cheap/old oil. Several days later, I still feel ill at the thought of that revolting food.

Delicious nice large portions of fish and chips. Nice shandy with the food. Surprised how good it was having looked in quite a while ago and didn't bother. Wish we had gone in that time.

We booked a table beforehand and flagged up that the dog needed to be a quieter space. Couldn’t have wished for a better table away from distractions with a bowl of water waiting. Lovely friendly staff. The food was great and the beer was too.

Had such a great time at the quiz night this week. Easy parking at lush house with a short but pretty walk to the pub. They reserved us the perfect table for a dog that's usually in the way in pubs - she could stretch right out, and pop out at half time without bothering anyone. The quiz was wide-ranging: all ages & abilities; words, music & pictures. The staff are lovely and the quizmaster is an absolute treasure. Looking forward to the next one.

Good food .nice place for a pint

Friendly staff. Great children's menu. Generous portions and very tasty. Relaxed, informal atmosphere.

Sunday roast amazing!!! Great service!!!

Me and my girlfriend went today for a roast - sirloin to be precise. Albeit the meal was very well presented; the meat was extremely fatty and gristly, potatoes internally hard and hardly crispy, like if they were sat under a hot lamp for hours. This wouldn’t had been a massive issue as working in hospitality these things can happen, bad part of the joint etc, however, for us it was the service. When the food was brought over, the gent didn’t even give me a chance to ask for sauce before he was walking off, let alone offer any. There was no check back to ensure it was ok and it wasn’t busy. When coming to collect plates, seeing essentially all the meat was on my plate and my gf ate half hers, he asked if everything was ok, to which I explained the above regarding the food, he said ‘sorry I’ll let the kitchen know’, nothing further to this then walked off, again, working in hospitality, we were both very surprised by this.. we gave the opportunity to resolve or at least offer us a drink or something, but nothing. Normally I wouldn’t say anything but we’re both extremely surprised by somewhere we’ve been before had food, was great and a nice establishment, for that. And I don’t feel I should have to go up to the bar and complain when the opportunity to resolve was there - hate leaving a review like this but it is what it is. £47.50 for 2 meals and a drink each, you expect better.

My wife and I visited the Old Ale and Coffee House last week for the first time, where we had a lovely lunch with friends we hadn't seen in a while. The food was excellent, the service was great and the restaurant is a lovely, relaxed place to meet up. I can strongly recommend this place and will certainly go back there in the future.

Friendly relaxed atmosphere, great service and value. Our waiter was particularly helpful and friendly and the service was quick and efficient.

Nice place, great stop and reasonable prices.

We had family visiting from out of town so we booked lunch for nine of us. We arrived first and were greeted fairly indifferently by a lady behind the bar who indicated our table with a nod of her head, saying ‘you’re in there’. She...

Good find.... Great selection of beers and lovely staff . Give it a try

Dog friendly. The staff were very welcoming and efficient. Wide selection of beer and lager. Plus 3 real ales. Didn't eat but the food coming from the kitchen seemed very good

Drinks with friends but having seen the food being served will return to try.

I took my family for pre- Christmas lunch before setting off for our annual visit to the pantomime. It had been well organised and pre-booked. We were a party of 7, ages ranging from 9 to 84, and we all enjoyed the festive lunch with...

Overall this place was lovely. We came for a Christmas meal and the food was alright! The smoking area was large and spacious with lots of room for vaping and chatting with friends. The best thing in the pub was this small dog which had lovely soft fur

Great place to meet up and have a meal, reasonable price, nice atmosphere plus dogs are welcome.

A great place for a meal and/or drinks. Really good to find somewhere that does a bit more than just pub food, but with the relaxed atmosphere of a pub. Food is excellent and staff are very friendly and helpful. Have only been here for...

Nice pub, right in the centre seems to be a very popular pub. Do get in early if you want a seat on Saturday.

Food is good, staff are friendly, and it’s perfectly positioned to explore Salisbury and the Cathedral Close. Very relaxed with lots of board games.

Very delicious food Friendly service Everything fine :-)

Selling fortified wine/Vermouth in 35mm (single) and 70mm (double) measures, which is not in accordance with the UK Government's weights and mesures act. When challenged, I was informed this is what was programmed in the till, which was also confirmed by the Asst manager. This our second visit.

Knowingly selling fortified wine/Vermouth in 35mm and 70mm measures, which is not in accordance with the UK Government's weights and mesures act. When challenged, I was ignored

Went for a booked Sunday lunch. Excellent welcome, excellent service, good food, reasonable price. Would definitely recommended. Thank you OACH.

Pretty quiet on Wednesday night. Service was efficient and polite. Food was good and portion size more than ample. No mistakes by the waiting staff which a pleasant change.

Had a really good lunch in a big group. Food was great and it's a great atmosphere, but I had a dodgy pint of real ale (going sour). When I took it back, the barman questioned my integrity and judgement ... after some toing and froing, the pint was reluctantly replaced, and 10 minutes later, the beer was taken off and the line cleaned: no apology was offered! IF pubs don't listen to customers, how can they know the small things that need improving? The waiter and waitress for our group were very friendly and 'on it', but this experience soured the occasion unfortunately.

We were very well looked after - 3 of our group of 14 needed allergen-free meals and thanks to good communication with the staff at the booking stage this was really well and intelligently organised in advance. The food was cooked well and arrived pretty...

Oh my goodness! I’ve just had the Ox cheek pie. Wow! Delicious! I’ve been many times and the food, service and ambiance is always super! The deputy manager is attentive without you realising. In the back ground, non invasive. The food has never disappointed. My...

It's an attractive place for a drink, really inviting, but service was so miserable. Every staff member was so unhappy. This was mid afternoon, we were nice but everything we could come up with to say was just met with minimum, grumpy words. There's so many pubs in Salisbury, it's a shame about this experience, competition is fierce.

Visted The Old Ale House on many occasions and have always have some good meals, but on this occasion was dissapointed. There was only 4 mains to pick from the menu, and I would say thet the Pork belly was OK, but the Roasted Cauliflower...

Great atmosphere, we went for a girls monthly meal out. We had the most delicious food, i had the Roast Pork, so tasty , then Sticky Toffee pudding . The other had the Vegan food bowl, and I had food envy .

Sunday lunch with friends was great. The beef and the belly pork were excellent. The staff were attentive without being intrusive. I need to come again when I am not driving to sample the beer.

Really nice place. Quite quirky, nice beer selection and a chilled atmosphere. A very cool venue.

Really friendly and welcoming - it’s so nice when you have a child and dog in tow not to feel judged or uneasy. Staff do a great job with this. Great kids menu. Offered our dog a bowl of water when we arrived. Fantastic choice...

This a great spot in the middle of Salisbury. We arrived early for our booking but the staff were immediately accommodating. Service was excellent. The local beer, a pale ale, was delicious and there was a lot of choice at the bar. The food was...

A real cozy and friendly English pub.

Very warm welcome and a delightful table in this cosy, characterful pub. Service was second to none and the gentleman who took our order also brought my dog a bowl of water. Food was very good and generous quantities: I loved my chicken & saffron...

This is a great pub. The range of beers and wines is great and a cut above the normal pub selections. The food is exceptional. Service is quick, friendly and efficient. A must see if you are in Sailsbury.

Friendly and welcoming pub, with a good range of decent beers and lots of different gins to try. Menu looked delicious, we were just there for a quick drink but we'll definitely be back to try the food another time.

We tried most of the options on the specials menu and I need to say, we were impressed! I tried their cauliflower cheese gratin and it was amazing. Very well seasoned and very warm. Amazing place for a dinner with the family and friend.

Not hugely impressed. The vegetables were cooked but stringy although the quantities served were more than adequate. Tables sticky

Just back from lunch at this quirky, lovely restaurant in the middle of Salisbury. The place is a one off. And the staff are excellent. Couldn’t do enough for us. There were only 2 on duty & it was busy but they still had time...

I was only there for 1 cider and was the first in there but was served quickly and the staff were pleasent. Did like the cushions on the seats which gave a homely feel.

Highly recommended place, good food, good drinks and very friendly people

It was a very hot day and we were supplied with plenty of ice and water. The food was delicious and the staff were very friendly and helpful. It is a very handy location for the cathedral and museum, both of which we were visiting,...

A nice pub for a spot of lunch in the city. Food is freshly cooked but some dishes are pricey for what they are. A raise from £9 to £12.50 in six months for a fish finger sandwich but this could be down to wholesale price increases in current times. Unsure whether the toilets are accessible as the main ones are located up two flights of stairs. Some nice outdoor seating areas and the staff are friendly. We would have liked a check back to see if everything was alright with our meals though after serving.

Was just having a stroll around Salisbury with family looking for somewhere for lunch. This is one of those places that you congratulate yourselves on finding. Quirky decor, clean, friendly, excellent service and gorgeous food. Lovely courtyard garden with little private huts and plenty of...

After walking round Salisbury all day we was so hungry and spotted this place! Ordered 2 rump steaks I’ve never seen something so small the steak was so fatty and thin!!! For £20 each I left still hungry and very very disappointed!! Staff was so friendly and a nice atmosphere but the food really let it down

Was a little quiet when I wss there as it was a Tuesday, but I'm sure the atmosphere is banging later in the week

So I just want to give an honest review. The location, decor, and staff were amazing. Really friendly and helpful. But the most important part, why we were there, was for the roast on a Sunday. I can truly say one of the worst roasts...