Reckless Engineer

Pretty average pub, but it deserves a extra star for being named for Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
When I visited the heating was «out» on a bitter February day. Not very homely. But, I like the crusty décor and crustier clientele… and the Butcombe bitter was as real as it gets.

This place is just barren, rocky and slightly unwholesome enough to keep away the gentile and oversensitive train traveller (and good riddance). I was the sole customer, besides the arrow throwing locals.
Otter Ale and Butcombe were decent pints and the lucky locals seemed to have access to an unseen secret cider!
Pub is also a venue for gigs. fairly small ones though surely!

Not the best of pubs, the Reckless Engineer is not a particularly nice place to get a drink. As it’s right outside the station it’s well placed if you balk at the eye-​watering prices on the train but are gasping for a drink. My advice would just be to lump it and get a can of beer to have on your journey, as sitting in a carriage with a drink is preferable to a pint here. The place suffers due to the bad service and lack of cleanliness, basic things for a pub to get right in my mind.
They have live music every now and then. It’s not the biggest place, not particularly set up for it, so they don’t pull in the biggest acts. The atmosphere isn’t too bad if the bands manage dot pull in enough fans, though I wouldn’t go here unless some friends were playing.
Definitely not worth going out the way for, I would even think twice if you’re just straight out the station and desperate for a drink.

Ideal location if you’re hopping off the train and gagging for a pint, not ideal for pretty much any other reason. The seats are sticky and the beers are warm. The crowd is an odd mix of studenty looking non-​students (i.e. people who are clinging on to their mispent youth with their fingernails) and older folks who spend every waking hour here.
The décor leaves a lot to be desired — generic carpet, wipe-​clean tables and your bog standard drinks behind the bar. The service I received was at best, dismissive, at worst utterly uncaring. If you can possibly wait until you reach a) the city centre or b) Totterdown for a drink I certainly would.

I don’t like this pub. Firstly, it sits right outside Temple Meads which means it naturally attracts a large number of transients (I mean people staying in the nearby hotels for business, not homeless people) and gig-​goers (who, in fairness, often look as if they may actually be homeless). The latter come here to subject themselves to the tribute acts and no-​hoper local rock bands (with names such as Gold Fish Don’t Bounce — I swear that’s actually a real name) that play here on Friday and Saturdays.
However, the reason I really hate this place is the rudeness of the staff. The one time I drank in here, the landlady insisted on kicking me and a friend out dead on 10.30pm on a Sunday night, despite happily selling me two full pints at 10.25pm. Something tells me she knew her pub was a shithole and couldn’t even be bothered to try and pretend otherwise.

Nice enough pub but a very biker centered crowd. Haven’t tried the food but it always looks good.
Worth noting it only takes cash.

The Reckless is the first pub you come across when going down the ramp from Temple Meads. It had a refurbishment in the last few years turning it from a spit and sawdust kind of place into an indutrial looking spit and sawdust kind of place. It’s actually not too bad but seems to have attracted the odd rough character from pubs that have shut nearby.
It does have rock and tribute acts on most nights and the some of these nights are excellent when you consider the size of the venue.
They have a pretty decent selection of drinks and offer a fine pint of Otter. The pub food they serve also looks half decent.
The best pub near Temple Meads and much better than the Weatherspoons in Temple Quarter or Bonaparts in the station.

A good pub for cheap live music. Opposite the entrance to Bristl temple meads train station. Regular venue for many local bands, mainly rock but also punk and blues. Good sound for a pub. Can get quite busy for the more popular bands. Good bar staff. Frequented by punks, bikers and similar reprobates.