Archive for the ‘Bar Games’ Category

Trafalgar Bay

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

The Trafalgar Bay is, apparently, the only pub that bears this name in Britain, which we think is quite nifty.

The inquisitive fellow who might think about how this boozer got such a unique name would probably link it to Nelson’s famous victory over the Spanish and French fleets off the Cape of Trafalgar in 1805. It would be a fair assumption, and one thepubsofyork.com made until having a look at Hugh Murray’s excellent ‘Directory of York Pubs’.

In it, Murray suggests that at about the time the pub started trading, it was customary for alehouses to prefix or suffix a famous or popular racehorse’s names with their colour. Pleasingly for fans of this theory, a horse named ‘Trafalgar’ finished 2nd in the Derby in 1806 and won two extremely valuable prizes at the Knavesmire, just a mile or so down the road the following year, with this in mind it’s perfectly reasonable that this unique name has equine connections.

Anyway, whichever theory you prefer, you could do a lot worse than mull it over in this Nunnery Lane hostelry which is not only a Sam Smiths house, but is rather nice too, unless you want to sit outside.

The beer garden wouldn’t look out of place behind a Bucharest police station, but thankfully you have the choice of three pleasant and comfortable internal rooms to sup in; a pool room which unsurprisingly boasts a pool table and two front rooms which are situated either side of the entrance.

The main room, where you will find the bar, has ample space for you to park your posterior and has a warm and cosy atmosphere which we put down to the traditional decor and real fires.

Whilst the the clientele always seem to be of the more mature variety and the locals a bit, er, local, it shouldn’t put you off visiting this place, not least for the famously cheap bar prices.

And if you get a bit bored of discussing the Horse v Battle pub name debate, then try to find the copy of the Reader’s Digest Road Atlas that is generally located in the bar area. Between the covers you will discover over 100 pages of colourful cartograhic enjoyment, with fancy folding out pages and accompanying geographical trivia. Smashing.


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Rating: 3.0/5 (1 vote cast)

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Posted in Bar Games, Food Available, Location, Nunnery Lane area, Sam Smiths, Within the ring road | No Comments »

Phoenix

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

The Phoenix is perhaps York’s most aptly named pub, and thankfully, the pub most amenable to lazy metaphors …..

Over the last few years this ale house has closed, risen from the ashes, re-opened and then always closed again shortly afterwards. This sequence was repeated more times than this website cares to remember, but now, it seems to be thriving and it is sincerely hoped that this place remains risen, for this latest re-incarnation is rather ruddy good, despite its surroundings.

Dour, miserable council properties fringe this grade II listed boozer, and despite the presence of part of York’s medieval walls within (literal) spitting distance of the pub, if you were to judge this establishment by its surroundings you would be forgiven for thinking this place would be as ropey as George Best’s first liver. Once inside however, any misgivings are quickly forgotten.

There is a small bar on your right as you enter the pub from George Street, which is both inviting and cosy. The bar in the centre of the room is well stocked with Golden Pippin (one of thepubsofyork.com’s all time favourites), Timothy Taylor Landlord and Black Sheep – which unlike the Bee Gees, is a trio this website could gladly spend a whole evening with. There was a lack of anything darker or maltier but this can be forgiven, especially when considering the high quality continental lager on sale, which is available in bottled form from a suitably chilled fridge.

At the back of the pub you will find a comfortable lounge area with a real(ish) looking fire, dartboard and numerous pictures of Jazz heroes (the Phoenix hosts regular Jazz nights) on the wall, including Miles Davis, another of thepubsofyork.com’s all time favourites.

From the lounge area, you can access the reasonably sized, walled beer garden which gets ‘Brilliant Beer Garden’ status due to the fact you have a view of the medieval walls, and after all, how many beer gardens can say that?

It is testament to the quality of the pub that at the time of writing, despite only being open a few months, and being a little out of the way, this pub has been visited numerous times and will no doubt be frequented many more times in the future. If it’s all in the name then thepubsofyork.com suggest this public house should be renamed the Macaw, as this species of tropical bird apparently live until they are at least fifty.

P.S. If you’re historically inclined, whilst visiting the Phoenix, you could take a quick detour to the grave of Dick Turpin, who is buried in St George’s churchyard, just a hop skip and a jump down the road.


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Rating: 4.3/5 (4 votes cast)

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Posted in Bar Games, Brilliant Beer Garden, Food Available, Highly Recommended, Location, Real Ale, Within the city walls, Within the ring road | No Comments »

Golden Slipper

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Situated slap bang next door to the Royal Oak, the Golden Slipper, like it’s bed fellow, is another grade II listed boozer within the city walls.

The pub (apparently) takes its name from a slipper found by workmen doing some rennovation work within the pub in 1984, as by all accounts, it was a medieval tradition to place two shoes in the construction of a building to ward off evil spirits.

Whilst a pair of London Base loafers or some Rockports usually send the thepubsofyork.com running, your favourite pub review website has no such reservations about medieval boots, which is quite convinient as the Golden Slipper is a rather nice pub.

There’s always a good, solid selection of ale on offer and the last visit saw your authors sample a pint of Golden Tankard from the Wylam brewery in Northumberland. At 4% and with an extremely light, hoppy taste it was eminently drinkable. John Smiths Cask, Old Speckled Hen, Deuchars and Bombardier were also available should you fancy something a bit maltier.

As well as a decent selection of ale, there is a choice of rooms in which to sup your pint. The bar area in the middle of the pub leads into four sepearate rooms, the nearest of which with a TV and front aspect is generally used by locals, with the room opposite providing good views of the tourists trapesing up and down Goodramgate and is set up for diners.

The back room, complete with dartboard is less cosy, especially when comparing it to the snug over the corridor which somewhat strangely doubles as a mini library. As well a couple hundred of books, a more conventional provider of entertainment is the wall mounted juke box that stocks classics from several eras. Its impossible not enjoy ten minutes picking songs from this beauty whilst reading a Mills and Boon with your pint.

But no matter where you sit (or what you read) you’ll enjoy a friendly atmosphere and a good pint, just so long as you’re not an evil spirit.


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Rating: 4.2/5 (5 votes cast)

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Stone Roses Bar

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

When John Squire named his post Stone Roses band The Seahorses he was probably well aware that his bands name was an anagram of ‘ He Hates Roses’.

We assume the subject of his hatred were The Stone Roses, the band he achieved superstardom with during the late eighties and early nineties and not the Stone Roses Bar, on King Street, which wasn’t even around then anyway. Even if it was, thepubsofyork.com certainly wouldn’t conceal any dislike towards York’s premier indie bar because York’s premier indie bar is pretty good. For an indie bar.

The floor can get sticky late at night and the toilets are all the way upstairs, but apart from that there’s not much else to moan about. Big screens show live sport, pool tables provide entertainment, indie music is piped throughout the large premises, the staff are friendly, the fellow patrons relaxed and comfy sofas provide plenty of areas to kick back and relax.

The pub is in possession of a seven day late licence and its student clientele no doubt endeavour to fully exploit that.

With all this in mind though thepubsofyork.com won’t rate a pub highly if there isn’t a decent choice of beverages on offer and Stone Roses Bar doesn’t disappoint. Thwaites beers are available from the bar and these fine ales prove that Andrew Flintoff isn’t the only good thing to come from Lancashire, there’s always a cool draught cider on offer too.

This place is a good live music venue, with acts often inspired by the faces peering down from the walls at them. Several prints of indie-gods with big sideburns look down onto revellers with designer scowls.

One such band to have played here was Coventry’s The Enemy who played a secret gig in early 2009 as part of their sponsorship deal with a local rugby club. Yes, really.

It is probably best not to expect chart topping acts every single week, but decent local bands do frequently play here. thepubsofyork.com reckons that if you enjoy spending your nights out with indie loving youngsters, thrive in a thronging environment and love indie music rammed down your ears, then you really should head to the Roses.


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Rating: 2.2/5 (5 votes cast)

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Spread Eagle

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

This boozer is situated on Walmgate next to Infinity Motorcycles, a large shop selling motorcycle related goods. There’s a sign in The Spread Eagle’s window stating “Bikers Welcome”; thepubsofyork.com has never been in control of a motorbike, but still felt that its presence within the pub wasn’t a problem. There was a slight collective stare as the locals ensured their afternoons weren’t going to be ruined by York’s premier pub review website putting Atomic Kitten on the jukebox before the cheery landlord took an order of two pints of Pedigree and a pint of Bulmers.

thepubsofyork.com was pleased to see that it could have opted for hand-pulled Hobgoblin, a tipple that is rarely spied in York and that a bit of change was returned from a ten pound note.

There’s plenty to entertain visitors to this pub, with a pool table, a quiz machine and the aforementioned jukebox. thepubsofyork.com shot some pool whilst admiring framed prints of George Best, The Rat Pack, Clint Eastwood and Pele.

The access to some shots was a bit restricted, but for this purpose the barman had provided a knitting needle sized cue and to be fair thepubsofyork.com is yet to encounter a pub based pool table that has the required free space around its perimeter.

The relatively new owners seem keen to re-establish the pub as a venue for good live music, with a particular desire to get Blues acts to come and strum their stuff. thepubsofyork.com whole heartedly hope that this campaign is a success.

thepubsofyork.com was last in here in June and the weather was just mild enough to facilitate a brief trip into the basic, but clean beer garden. Once in the rear outdoor area thepubsofyork.com was positively delighted to see an aviary in the back corner, how fucking cool is that?!

If thepubsofyork.com was presenting an award for “York’s Best Beer Garden Based Aviary” then The Spread Eagle would win hands down. In fact, the mere presence of an aviary would make it one of the contenders for the “Best Beer Garden” award, should an award exist.

Don’t let the fact that a local decided he’d make a rude gesture at the passing Google Street View camera put you off trying this boozer, they’re a bit like that in this part of York. The folk inside The Spread Eagle are a nice bunch though and thepubsofyork.com will be back, complete with its copy of Bill Oddie’s Introduction to Birdwatching.


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Rating: 3.5/5 (4 votes cast)

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Golden Ball

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Upon entering the narrow entrance corridor of The Golden Ball for the first time it is difficult to comprehend just how much there is to behold inside the walls of this Victorian street corner pub.

The first reason to rejoice is a bar heavily laden with quality drinks. Ruddles Rest, Deuchars IPA, Marston Pedigree, Bombardier and John Smith’s Cask are all permanent residents and a star guest is always on offer.

Decent draught lager and cider is also available along with anything else a well stocked drinking establishment should provide (many would contest whether or not pickled eggs belong on such a list, but either way they reside on the corner of the bar here and thepubsofyork.com has been known to sample them).

The pub provides a whole host of areas to settle down and enjoy a nice pint. The large-ish bar area, which is home to a TV and dart board is always bustling on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

A cosy snug beside the bar provides space for more intimate chat and you’ll also have the best view in the house of the John Smiths Cask plinth, which resides on this corner of the bar. The billiards room (as its name suggests) houses the lesser-spotted bar billiards table and it’s walls feature a couple of paintings of members of the Yorkshire County Cricket team long since retired. Across the corridor the garden room provides wooden tables which are often surrounded by happy patrons enjoying this grand old room.

Sunday night in The Golden Ball is Folk Music Night and the garden room plays host to the areas folk music fraternity. Thursday nights also feature live music of supremely high quality. It’s nice that these events don’t completely take over the premises, but merely add to it’s warm, comforting ambience.

The above alone would be enough to cement The Golden Ball as one of thepubsofyork.com’s favourite drinking establishments, but when you consider the shiniest jewel in it’s crown – it’s delightful beer garden – you can conclude that it is a truly great pub. A foliage lined sun-trap, this glorious area is a beautiful place to spend a warm summers afternoon, and if you’re still feeling thirsty, evening.

The toilet facilities are accessed via the beer garden and amenities are clean and basic. On thepubsofyork.com last visit there were even some wonderful illustrations on the magnolia painted pebble dashing behind the urinals which must have been added by artistic, (full) bladdered customers.

The Golden Ball sits, in understated elegance, in a lovely residential area on the corner of Cromwell Road and Victor Street about five minutes walk from central York.

It is removed from the well-trodden paths of most tourists, but it is a small walk well worth taking. It’s perhaps a shame for the owners that it is so far removed from the masses and goes unnoticed by so many, although upon consideration thepubsofyork.com is sure this is the reason that it is such a very good pub indeed…cracking pickled eggs too.


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Rating: 4.3/5 (9 votes cast)

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