IT wasn’t easy for Pub Spy to find himself a place to eat one recent Monday – the first two places he tried didn’t do lunches on Monday, the third didn’t do food, full stop.

But after a tip-off from an intelligence source, Pub Spy found himself standing outside Ye Olde Talbot Hotel, at the junction of Friar Street and College Street – not to be confused with the Talbot in Barbourne Road, although both are owned by Greene King.

From the outside, the Talbot is an unassuming building, although in an excellent position, just across the road from Worcester Cathedral and yards away from the historic houses of Friar Street.

Inside, there is a bar and a slightly more formal restaurant. The bar is decorated in a low-key way, with bare wooden floorboards and simple furniture.

On the bar itself, hand pumps offer Greene King’s own Abbot Ale – a favourite pint – and IPA, as well as Hardy and Hanson’s Bitter.

The spirit drinker seemed to well catered for: a glance at the bottles lined up behind the bar revealed a selection of speciality gins – a very now drink – including variants such as rhubarb gin.

With work to do, Pub Spy kept off the booze and ordered a ginger beer, which turned out to be Fentimans, a very reliable and tasty brand.

Next: a look at the menu. The main menu featured a variety of pub favourites, priced around the £9 mark.

But for those on a tighter budget, there is a value menu, with main courses starting at £4.99, which probably makes it a favourite with pensioners and students.

And a breakfast-brunch menu contains old favourites like full English and full vegetarian breakfasts – both in two sizes – as well as steak and eggs, chorizo breakfast hash, smashed avocado and more.

All very tempting, but the breakfast menu stopped at noon and it was well past that.

Pub Spy ordered an old favourite – sausage and mash at £8.99 – which, when it was served after a short wait, proved perfectly acceptable.

The sausages, pork and parsley, as they were described on the menu, were well cooked, served on a bed of creamy mash, and generously doused with a tasty shallot gravy.

Since there were three decent-sized sausages, the meal as a whole made a filling lunchtime treat, and if there had been time, Pub Spy might have contemplated rounding it off with something from the small but appetising-looking dessert menu. But it was not to be.

Service, was quick and efficient, with the two visible members of staff seeming to be genuinely concerned that everything should be all right for the customers.

One customer (not Pub Spy) returned a full pint to the bar, saying it seemed to be the end of the barrel, and his pint was swapped for a new one from another tap without hesitation, while the offending barrel was immediately changed.

The place was spotlessly clean, and the overall impression was of a well-kept establishment, with a range of meals to suit most pockets.

Atmosphere: 7/10
Decor: 8/10
Staff: 9/10
Drinks: 8/10
Food: 8/10
Overall: 8/10