Reckless Engineer

Reviews

• Chris F.

  star star star star star_border 28 October 2026

  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!

• Mike C.

  star star star star star_border 28 October 2026

  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 decor and crustier clientele...and the Butcombe bitter was as real as it gets.

• Henry N.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 26 October 2026

  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.

• Will P.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 15 October 2026

  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.

• Melanie M.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 8 October 2026

  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 decor 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.