Hopefully the next incarnation won’t try to claim to be over 200 years old.

Full story here.

But despite shedding the geographical constraints that had forced us to review hideous puking dens such as Nags Head and Rumours,  we didn’t initially venture too far from the stone walls that had previously restricted us.

There was no need to, for the Minster Inn, located on Marygate just behind the Museum Gardens, was always high on our ‘to review’ list.

Quite simply, it is one of the best pubs in the city, or any other city for that matter.

Iit’s not just us who think so. The Minster reguarly appears in CAMRA’s York branch ‘Best of’ lists, including most recently as the Winter pub of year 2009.

And there’s a whole host of reasons why everyone who finds it seems to like it so much. The mighty fine selection of well kept real ale it serves is certainly a big factor, as is the friendly and convivial atmosphere which we’ve always encountered.

Thankfully, this ambiance isn’t lost amongst  noisy fruit machines or down the back of comfy leather sofas, it is lovingly enveloped in all four rooms, by the attractive interior, which for the most part, is a perfect example of an Edwardian pub and still contains many original features.

We’re not suggesting that anyone visits a pub solely to check out their lavatories, but, if If you’re needing any more reasons why the Minster Inn demands you pay it a visit, then the outdoor (in the literal sense of the word) toilets that nestle at the back of the pub, next to the small beer patio, should seal the deal. Unfortunately for all you new fathers out there, these facilities do not double as a baby-changing area.

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Whilst it may not be winning Michelin stars anytime soon (and it certainly doesn’t deserve the twunt that is Michael Winner and his ludicrous dining stars venturing within a pork sausage of the place) the chips are chunky, the pies are prodigious and the prices are p, pr, por, par … sensible. Infact, thepubsofyork.com think this place serves up the best pub grub in the city. So there.

But what’s the beer like we here you yawp?

Respectably reasonable is our answer.

On our last visit, the (somewhat surly) barman could have filled our glasses with a Brains owned Hancock’s HB, a York brewery tipple in the shape of Constantine, Theakston XB or a Ruddles County from the Greene King Stable, which, despite not being approved of by a significant proportion of discerning drinkers, is enjoyed by at least one taste bud of thepubsofyork.com’s tongue.

However, despite this solid alcoholic line-up, if you visit when other patrons are hungry the chances are your pint will have to be drunk next to couples chomping their way through vegetable lasagne and old ladies wiping profiteroles from their husbands chins with a crinkly hankerchief, which to this website’s mind at least, just isn’t cricket.

It’s a shame really because the wood panelled walls and iron fireplaces (both apparently reclaimed from a nearby prison that was demolished) would provide a very pleasant drinking environment if only there was room to sit and enjoy your drink without being showered by peas from a clumsy cut with a steak knife or being inadvertantly pricked in the ribs by a wayward fork. We may be exaggerating a little bit, but you get the idea.

We would usually mention the beer garden which takes the form of picnic bench tables that overlook the Foss and Ouse through railings, but this area tucked behind the car park and is not really worth mentioning.

Unfortunately, It just doesn’t feel quite right visiting this very nice pub for just a pint and so if you’re in this neck of the woods with a thirst  that needs slaking then the fantastic Phoenix is only a stones throw away.

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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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Keen observers (or chaps reguarly nipping into the ‘adult art’ emporium just down the road) would have noticed that the doors to this Nunnery Lane pub have been closed at 8pm on Saturday evening, yet open at 10pm on a wet Wednesday the following week. This is most baffling and seems to be a regular occurence.

Perhaps the large ‘For Sale’ sign plonked on the building’s facade could partly explain these circumstances, as could the incident that occured one December evening when a group of fellows decided to have a game of Baseball in the bar area. Without a ball. If you do happen to know the real reason, let us know.

By the time you read this, these strange temporal fluctuations may have been resolved and the doors could open and close as regular as clockwork, and hopefully so, because although the Old Ebor’s proximity to thepubsofyork.com HQ means it has almost certainly been visited a lot more times that it really should have, it has always been a good local boozer to nip in for ‘a quick one’, not least on New Years Eve when the pub was bustling with people (which admitedly doesn’t take much as it’s a bit on the ‘compact’ side) and a festive, jovial atmosphere.

However, the lack of any real ale, a Sky Sport showing televison and an underwhelming interior means we think it’s fair to say that there’s no real reason for you to visit this place unless you a) live within a 500 yard radius b) are partaking in a Nunnery Lane pub crawl (which this website has done and enjoyed on several occasions) or c) are calling in for a large dose of dutch courage before scuttling a few doors down to purchase Shaving Ryan’s Privates.

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As you wander merrily around the potted borders, you can cast your inquisitive eye over a Roman Tower, 1800 years old, clamber over the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey (at one point the most powerful and wealthiest abbey in the the North of England) or feed the pigeons, squirrels and chavs with your left over pasty.

As nice as all these activities most certainly are (apart from feeding the chavs; they only accept White Lightning and Benson and Hedges) you would do well to carry on through the museum gardens, emerge onto Marygate and get yourselves into the Bay Horse, a smashing pub that is deserves your custom, not least because it could quite easily have been a dozen or so swanky flats.

The Bay Horse had been serving drinkers for more than a century, before closing in late 2003. It appeared the writing was on the toilet wall when the building was the subject of two planning applications to convert it into residential use, after being laid empty for five years or so.

To the delight of pub-goers, the developers failed in their bid and the premises was bought shortly afterwards by the Little Pub company, who set about a programme of renovation and re-opened as a pub in the Christmas of 2008, and thepubsofyork,com are most certainly glad it did, for it is a cracking pub.

The stylish wallpaper, comfy upholstered seats and contemporary lighting may be a bit too ‘modern’ for some purists but seeing as though it was so recently and extensively renovated, anything else would probably feel a bit contrived (and if you do want ‘traditional’ head up the road to the Minster Inn which is as traditional as they come).

Six hand pulls are readily available at all times and on our last visit, Greene King IPA and Rocking Rudolph (by the same brewery) were sampled and both were well kept and eminently drinkable.

The friendly bar staff can also serve you a packet of ‘Real Crisps’ which has been stated before on these pages, are the greatest crisps known to man and there’s even a plasma screen in the corner which shows live sport, so football fans needn’t miss out on their weekly fix of Uncle Jeff.

In fact, thinking about it, bypass the Museum Gardens and head straight here, you won’t be disappointed.

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