Hello,
last Monday, when I could both walk, and consume alcohol, I decided to fill in the time I had orf in a useful and productive manner. That Monday I decided to utilise some of my hard earned overtime payments to go for a little wander around some pubs which are good. Here are some shards of the memories of that short but slake-d hike.
I started in Crookes and was delighted, after checking, to find the Punch Bowl was open. To be fair, Faceache had told me they were reopening on the Wednesday and I assumed this was not a one off so decided that any stumble should start there. The Punch Bowl layout has not changed, they still do Reet Pizzas and they still employ some of the same staff. They are however, run on a tenancy at will or similar sounding arrangement with Greedy King and have less access to decent ale. It having just been Bank Holiday weekend, as the exhausted manager told me, they had sold most of the better ales and were awaiting a full delivery to top up. I did, however, have a very decent pint of Harvest Pale.
The pub is being run by that man with short black hair who used to work at the Tuns and the Punch Bowl previously. He had a name, but had taken a break when I left so didn't have chance to ask him what it was. It likely comprises of sounds. The man who has short black hair and whose name likely comprises of sounds is hoping to take the lease on long term but in the meantime is running the pub, quite successfully, based on the first five days evidence. I would therefore encourage you to get up there and support him and his colleagues and the pub. Alas the Closed Shop has yet to reopen for various reasons which I won't make up, so that changed my planned route slightly.
Down Crookes and Western Road is Slinn Street and the Princess Royal. I noticed on the way to Crookes that the Uni Arms does not open on a Bank Holiday Monday. That is interesting since I know they are forbade from Sunday opening without the permissionn of their would be demolishers but this is surely a Monday? It seems the mystery of Bank Holiday Mondays is always how pubs and transport will treat them re hours of service. Luckily the Prinny was open irrespective, and I had a pint of Stancil Stainless from a range of three or four. The Stancil was very well kept and tasted fantastic and I supped it sat in the bay window area to the left, in this wonderful and largely unspoilt back street pub.
Off down Fir Street next and then down to Daniel Hill and the Blake. I had a very tasty pint of Shiny Equinox from a slightly underwhelming range, but this was on excellent form so I didn't mind. I sat by myself in the room on the left and tried to recharge my phone whilst relaxing with my pint and some lobster crisps. Get me! On a trip to the loo I noticed a bin ends list so my next drink was a can of the Vocation Divide & Conquer, a 6% or more black IPA. This was a bargain at £3.50 and went down really well. Another excellent if less often visited boozer.
Down the hill next and through luck and guesswork I found my way through the housing estate to the Hillsborough Hotel. I haven't been to the Double H for some time and was relieved to find that Tom was behind the bar when I got in. A pint of Wild Weather Ales APA at 5% and £3.10 a pint was had and I went to sit in the conservatory and soak up the warmth whilst arranging to meet Matty for a quick drink. The Wild Weather was also on top form, continuing a theme of beers at the pubs thus far.
Off down the main road to the Wellington next. I sat in the room on the right supping and listening in on the numerous conversations in this excellent pub. I may well have had a pint of the Neepsend Amarillo but to be honest I stopped recording my drinks by this stage so its not clear what I had. To be fair, am willing to bet a slab of money that it was pale and hoppy - and delicious. Alas a lack of real funds meant I could only stay for one.
My mind tells me I also nipped into the Kelham Island Tavern. I am genuinely not sure if this is true. I know I needed the loo so would definitely have popped in somewhere first, and where I could have used a card terminal so the KIT fits the bill. In here, if I was, I would have had a drink from a pint glass and supped it down my throat.
My final stop was at Shakespeares. On my keg line, which I own, obviously, they had put on Firestone Walker American thingymadoodle or similar. I tried it but wasn't impressed. In the absence of any strong hoppy cask to tempt me I opted to buy myself and Meathouse a can of Magic Rock Psyhcokinesis IPA each in a 500ml can. We sat in the clock room and very much enjoyed our wares. An excellent way to finish a crawl of some excellent boozers between Crookes and town.
Huzzahs for the bars, in shiny, sunny, Sheffield.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Punchbowl reopens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Punchbowl reopens. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 May 2017
Friday, 18 September 2015
The Punchbowl, Crookes, reopens!
Hello,
I was in the Punchbowl last night, on Crookes here in sunny Sheffield. It reopens to the public on Saturday but in the meantime people were invited to try out the free food last night, and some to the VIP event tonight. This is the work of Andy Stephens and his Reet Ale Pubs company here in Sheffield. They took on the Punchbowl on Bank Holiday Monday and have refurbished it in under three weeks. So what is it like?
Well, the first thing is, its size. The three pubs already run by Andrew Inns, which is what I call them, are quite small in comparison - the Rutland is largest in terms of building size, but the seating areas are virtually the same - the Punchbowl is much larger. There are three different seating areas, one near the pizza oven, one on the left, and one split area near the back.
The pub is set out in a mix of traditional and modern styles - as a lover of pub architecture, I don't mind what has been done - the bar remains in the same place and following extensive brutal and clumsy remodeling previously, nothing remains of the 1930's roadhouse design other than the frontage. The bar has a simple tile floor in front of it and to the right is the pizza oven and preparation section - near this is further seating and, I understand, the opportunity to watch the pizzas being made. The raised section at the back is plain but comfortable and there are views from here over Sheffield. The rest of the furniture is a mix of high and low tables and chairs.
The food menu is mostly pizzas - and as last night was a free tasting night me and Tash had one each. She had Yorkshire Goats Cheese with beetroot and mushrooms and olives, and I had the pulled pork in cider pizza. It was, I have to say, delicious - I would happily pay £9.95 to eat that any day of the week. As long as that day was at the beginning of the month of course...
Beer wise there are 8 handpumps and 5 keg lines. There are also a number of interesting bottled ales from Kernel and Mikkeller and others. Last night I started on a pint of Shankar IPA from Great Heck, whilst Tash had the excellent Blue Bee Ginger Beer - after this, we both moved on to having pints of that. This was followed by a pint each of the Magic Rock Grapefruit High Wire on keg. Its 5.5% and £4.50 a pint - so basically a pound more than on cask. Which is what I would expect. We finished on a half of the excellent, hoppy, Shankar to share between us.
It will be interesting to see what the regulars make of the pub. It had a very long and sorry period as a Mr Q's. during which time I never went in, and then reopened following a refurbishment as a slightly more traditional pub with a couple of real ales. Tash thought it was a brave move - opening a pub relying so strongly on its pizza, across the road from a pizza shop, but that doesn't sell real ale and is fr take out. I don't think they will compete with each other (and I suspect the Punchbowl pizzas are better...?).
The pub also forms part of a slightly longer Crookes Valley Crawl - encompassing the Closed Shop, and depending on the route you take, potentially finishing at the Three Tuns.
Tonight is a VIP night by invite only and the pub reopens to the public fully on Saturday. I don't know if they have a website or FB page yet but am sure one will appear soon. Meanwhile, I wish Andy and his staff all the best for their latest pub venture in Sheffield.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
I was in the Punchbowl last night, on Crookes here in sunny Sheffield. It reopens to the public on Saturday but in the meantime people were invited to try out the free food last night, and some to the VIP event tonight. This is the work of Andy Stephens and his Reet Ale Pubs company here in Sheffield. They took on the Punchbowl on Bank Holiday Monday and have refurbished it in under three weeks. So what is it like?
Well, the first thing is, its size. The three pubs already run by Andrew Inns, which is what I call them, are quite small in comparison - the Rutland is largest in terms of building size, but the seating areas are virtually the same - the Punchbowl is much larger. There are three different seating areas, one near the pizza oven, one on the left, and one split area near the back.
The pub is set out in a mix of traditional and modern styles - as a lover of pub architecture, I don't mind what has been done - the bar remains in the same place and following extensive brutal and clumsy remodeling previously, nothing remains of the 1930's roadhouse design other than the frontage. The bar has a simple tile floor in front of it and to the right is the pizza oven and preparation section - near this is further seating and, I understand, the opportunity to watch the pizzas being made. The raised section at the back is plain but comfortable and there are views from here over Sheffield. The rest of the furniture is a mix of high and low tables and chairs.
The food menu is mostly pizzas - and as last night was a free tasting night me and Tash had one each. She had Yorkshire Goats Cheese with beetroot and mushrooms and olives, and I had the pulled pork in cider pizza. It was, I have to say, delicious - I would happily pay £9.95 to eat that any day of the week. As long as that day was at the beginning of the month of course...
Beer wise there are 8 handpumps and 5 keg lines. There are also a number of interesting bottled ales from Kernel and Mikkeller and others. Last night I started on a pint of Shankar IPA from Great Heck, whilst Tash had the excellent Blue Bee Ginger Beer - after this, we both moved on to having pints of that. This was followed by a pint each of the Magic Rock Grapefruit High Wire on keg. Its 5.5% and £4.50 a pint - so basically a pound more than on cask. Which is what I would expect. We finished on a half of the excellent, hoppy, Shankar to share between us.
It will be interesting to see what the regulars make of the pub. It had a very long and sorry period as a Mr Q's. during which time I never went in, and then reopened following a refurbishment as a slightly more traditional pub with a couple of real ales. Tash thought it was a brave move - opening a pub relying so strongly on its pizza, across the road from a pizza shop, but that doesn't sell real ale and is fr take out. I don't think they will compete with each other (and I suspect the Punchbowl pizzas are better...?).
The pub also forms part of a slightly longer Crookes Valley Crawl - encompassing the Closed Shop, and depending on the route you take, potentially finishing at the Three Tuns.
Tonight is a VIP night by invite only and the pub reopens to the public fully on Saturday. I don't know if they have a website or FB page yet but am sure one will appear soon. Meanwhile, I wish Andy and his staff all the best for their latest pub venture in Sheffield.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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