Saturday 25 October 2008

Braving Micklegate (sort of)

Pub number 43: Montey's Rock Cafe

"It's a bit loud isn't it?"
"What?"
"I said IT'S A BIT LOUD ISN'T IT?"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"IT'S A BIT LOUD ISN'T IT????!!!"
"I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU. SHALL WE GO? IT'S A BIT LOUD."


Pub number 44: Priory

Although the rules of the pub crawl don't state that we're only allowed to have one drink in each pub, it is something that we've been making a habit of. So it made a nice change to stay in the same place for more than half an hour.

The pub itself was quite a pleasant surprise, an oasis of calm amongst the maelstrom of paralytic hen parties and staggering students that is Micklegate. Most of us had been here in the past, but none of us for a while. Decent beer, interesting cocktails and a good selection of tunes on the jukebox made for a good night.

Lynne was sick, but I'm not allowed to post that picture...!

Thursday 9 October 2008

Normal Services Will Be Resumed... Eventually

Well it seems that the blog will be quiet for the next few weeks, not because we're arguing about whose turn it is to post (there's no need - it's Paul's turn), but because we're all so damn busy:

Paul and I are in the middle of a weekends-in-October tour of the UK (St Helens, Manchester, Birmingham, Lichfield, Reading...), Lynne is on the African Leg of her own small world tour, and Neil's having a nose job (or something to that effect) which will render him out of action for a few days. And lets face it -James' attendence is intermittent at best.

Maybe we'll take a moment to comment on the pubs in Birmingham, and we should probably definitely comment on the pubs in Reading since we will all be there, visiting guest pub crawler, Comedy Jo.

Whatever happens over the next few weeks, don't worry about us, we'll be back crawiling along within the city wall limits in no time.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

A Jolly Romp

Pub number 42: HA! HA!

After sitting through the jolly romp that is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (five word review: "Should have been in German"), we decided that a couple of pints were in order to lift our spirits. Didn't really do the trick, leaving us to nurse our drinks morosely (including Neil's stella-in-a-wine-glass).

Monday 22 September 2008

Satur-Night (By Leanne)

After 4 hours sleep, a bit of food and a couple of episodes of Property Ladder, we were ready to hit the town again for the evening session of Pub Crawl:

Pub Number 38: Pivo
That afternoon, when we parted, the conversation went something like this:
Neil: so where are we meeting then?
Leanne: That new place near the market
N: Which one is that?
L: You know, the little one that we were going to go in once, but then didn't because it looked too busy. I think its near a travel agent. Near the market
N: What's it called?
L: I dunno
Lynne: Does it begin with a P? Peepo, peebon...
L: It doesn't matter - we all know where it is - let's just go there...

...Later that day...

Leanne's phone: Ring Ring
L:Hello
N: What's this pub called again? We're at the market near where we thought it was... but it's not here
L: It's just down an alley near the market. Begin's with a P
N: Ah - is it Pivo?
L Sounds right to me
N Found it. See you in a bit
Leanne's Phone: Click

So was it worth the effort?

In a word, Yes. It's a pub that seems rife with clients of our peer group (after much discussion, we decided that we were 'young professionals') and its a pub that sells beer called Bernard.

It sells raspberry Bernard for the girls and lager flavoured Bernard for the boys.

It is set in a wonderfully rickety and sloping tudor building. Neil thought that it was a bit too warm.

Pub Number 39: The Snickelway
A snickelway is northern dialect term for an alleyway and this small, but cosy pub suits it's name perfectly. Its a place you can take your grandad to warm his feet on the fire over a nice pint of bitter. It's a place where you might not get a seat if you turn up at the wrong time, but if you turn up at the right time you might get far too many seats. Its a place where you can never tell which is the right time and which it the wrong time...


Pub Number 40: The Golden Slipper
On the wall of one of the rooms in the Golden slipper is a list of all the pubs in York in 1888 and 1988. It turns out that there were loads more in the 19th century than in the 20th century and that we'd be better off living then as it is from these earlier times that the stories of a different pub in York for every day of the year emerged.... but I digress...

For a Saturday night the Golden Slipper was very empty. Since I have only visited this ale house once before on a weekday afternoon when it was a lot busier, I can't say whether this was the norm or a freak occurence, but no matter, we enjoyed the space and Lynne and I made use of a whole room by ourselves while Neil went to investigate the jukebox and Paul played with my
camera.



The jukebox, as far as I recall was quite old skool, but fared well enough to impress Neil into buying some tunes which we duly listened to before departing for the walk home.

Pub Number 41: 1331
Well, we were on our way home (honest) when we happened to walk by 1331 and popped in for a quick drink in the company of people who were mostly in the age-group below 'young professionals'. Still, it provided a nice stop off to warm our hands on the 'fire' with some reasonably priced drinks.

"If only it was a bit quieter" one of our number shouted into another's ear, "it would probably be quite good in here."

We'll just have to visit on a weekday to see if we were right.

Sunday 21 September 2008

Paul's POV

He doesn't have one (apparently)

Saturday 20 September 2008

Saturday by Lynne

Saturday afternoon + sunshine + boredom = Beer / friends

Long day at work = really tired = short blog

Saturday from Neil's (accurate) perspective

Whilst on a misson to find Lynne some shoes ("I'm not really in the mood for shoe shopping" exclaimed Lynne after wandering aimlessly around a couple of shops) we decided instead to check out the food festival.

After selecting some unusual cheeses we headed towards the pies. Having selected a nice pork, chicken and stuffing pork pie, I turned around to see Leanne homing in on yet another free sample. Before she could grab her next morsel I caught her attention and engaged her in some small talk. Since it was a fine sunny afternoon and I was quickly tiring of the small talk, I suggested going for a frosty cold beer. It took about half a second for Leanne and Lynne to agree, and a bit longer for Leanne to decide she'd better ring Paul so that we could cross a few more pubs off.

As we set off towards Judges Lodgings I decided I needed some food. Going for a quick fix I headed to the bakery for a steak slice and let the others go ahead to get the beers in. Upon tucking into the slice I managed to burn all the taste buds and skin from the inside of my mouth due to the steak being HOTTER THAN THE SUN!! By the time it had cooled down enough to finish, the others had made their way to Varsity due to overcrowding at Judges.

We made our way outside to the beer garden and because of the need to cool my mouth down I set about consuming my pint at a fairly speedy pace. When Paul showed up with his own pint, Leanne added some of the one she'd bought for him into each of our glasses (but due to Lynne being a slow drinker I had some of her share too). We then decided to head off to The Roman Bath since daytime means no live band, karaoke or scary drunk old people!

Since Leanne's blog entry describing the pubs is quite accurate I won't comment further on the establishments themselves, but I will say that the Roman Bath was quite pleasant on this saturday afternoon.

After drinking 2 and a half pints we decided to head home and line our stomach with some delicious cheese and pie before the evening's festivities.

Satur-Day ( Leanne's POV)

It was Saturday. It was a sunny day. I needed to get something to wear underneath my skirt so that I didn't flash my pants when spinning around on the dancefloor at the salsa event of York's year the following day, so I wandered into to town and found myself meandering the food stalls at the food festival, sampling the odd olive or bit of fudge. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Lynne and Neil pounced upon me. Neil twisted my arm behind my back until I screamed in pain, and noone in the crowded market took a blind bit of notice as Lynne held a blade to my throat and forced me to phone Paul and make him come to the pub...

Pub Number 36: Varsity
After I got over the shock of being kidnapped, and Neil had hypnotised me into believing that being in a sun-tickled beer garden on a Saturday afternoon, sipping lager was actually a good thing, I quite enjoyed Varsity.

From my past experiences of the place, I expect that on a Friday or Saturday night it is a place full of young people drinking caffeine loaded flourescent blue drinks and being obnoxious, but on a Saturday afternoon, it is quiet and pleasant. The sun streams through the windows and is absorbed into the newly carpeted floor, creating a warm glow in the room.

It was a bit cold sitting in the beer garden, but I suppose that's not the pub's fault.


The drinks are on the pricey side, unless you spend £2 on a V-card which gets you 25% off - and since I was buying 4 beers, I saved money by doing just that.

Paul turned up with another beer in his hand which meant that he got told off, and the 'spare' was shared between the remaining three drinkers.

Pub number 37: The Roman Bath
Since Lynne and Neil (or should that be Neil and Lynne?) had conspired to get me drunk, popping into a second pub on the way home didn't seem to be too much of a drain - especially since the pub of choice was the Roman Bath, which is more like an educational outing than a Saturday afternoon boozing because, true to it's name, the Roman Bath has a case full of Roman artefacts situated in the centre of the bar area. It also has a museum which can't be that good as it's only about £2.50 to get in - so we chose to sit in the bar drinking beer instead (well, it was either that or venture into the over-crowded beer garden.)

It was there that we reminisced about Lynne's Lager and Mint Sauce cocktail from a previous crawl whilst perusing the pub menu, and scared some tourists off by developing our very own pubcrawl 'handshake'...



Following the second lager of the day, I managed to escape my kidnappers and went home to bed for 4 hours.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Mardi Gras

Pub Number 34 - Vodka Revolution
A rare Sunday outing saw us turn up to the Mardi Gras party night being hosted by Vodka Revolution. Since it is not the sort of place that would be appealing to us on a Saturday night, we decided tonight would be a good chance to pop in. Upon entry we were generously welcomed with Hawaiian Leis and a complementary glass of Cava. With lots of salsa people present we spread ourselves over two tables. James opted to sit with his salsa friends rather than his pub crawl friends. Being a Mardi Gras party the bar staff were all dressed up VERY camp. Despite the vast array of Vodka and cocktails available, you can thankfully still opt for a pint of Becks if you so wish. Atmosphere was predictably lively but not too busy.


Pub Number 35 - Bobo Lobos
Due to the number of salsa people present this evening we headed towards Bobo Lobos next for salsa. They have salsa nights on Sundays and Tuesdays, and on Tuesday night they have beginners and intermediates salsa lessons with York's very best and only profesionally trained and qualified salsa teachers Lossie and Gareth. Check out their website http://www.encuentrolatino.co.uk/.

Small dance floor but still good for a salsa fix. Being a Cuban bar there are plenty of cocktails on offer and a good selection of beer. It is probably the only bar in York where you risk the onset of altitude sickness if you visit the toilet since you have to climb about a hundred flights of stairs - so plan ahead!

Saturday 6 September 2008

Outside In

The night started badly. James was absent, Paul had a headache and so only three of us arrived at the designated time in Harkers. This was against the rules.

The moment we did the math(s), we decided to go somewhere we like instead of continuing with a pub crawl of places we might not like, but as we wandered through the narrow cobbled streets in drizzle our minds began to rebel against city wall pub crawl and we sought a pub OUTSIDE the walls, which is why we found ourselves being stared at by the locals in the Gillygate. Which is actually a nice pub. Fast service and a bright and buzzing atmosphere on a Saturday night (but not in a Slug and Lettuce*/Pitcher and Piano way - more in a country pub way)

Following that we progressed to Keystones which is so nearly in the city walls it was accidentally added to our list at one point.

Thankfully, as we were nearing the end of our pint and our quiz machine tokens, Paul made it out to join us so we were permitted to venture back inside the walls:

Pub Number 32: The Royal Oak
This pub is on the CAMRA radar and, in my experience these pubs always make a good place for a nice sit down and a chat over a beer with friends. This was no exception.

The toilets were weird (but since I'm writing this several weeks (and pints) after the event, I can't recall why and I have a feeling it was more to do with the mens than the ladies), the atmosphere was warm and there were several condiment sachets on the table... so Lynne made a beer and Mint Sauce cocktail which 'made the beer taste nicer' and made Neil seriously reconsider their relationship.


Pub Number 33: The Lowther
The Lowther is full of young people who are trying to get wasted before heading to the Gallery night club (presumably to make it more bearable.) Despite this, the Lowther was also the only place that had a late licence in York back when I was a young person and so it does hold fond memories for me. The toilets were always horrible, and they seem to have gone some way to improving that. You used to be able to see up people's skirts when they walked up the stairs. They've put an end to that too. But enough of all this nostalgia - what's it like now?

Pretty much the same clientele - i.e. 5 - 10 years younger than us but in a very bearable way if you manage to get a seat. And we did.


There, Neil discovered his inner-old man:


Lynne discovered her inner child:


And we all discovered the joys of bluetooth:

Then we headed out over the makeshift bridge (I forgot to mention that the river views were 'closer than usual') for a romantic meal in Subway and a nice warm bed.


*Incidentally, Paul got searched on our vist to the Slug and Lettuce, Back Swinegate the other week - obviously when you're sporting a ginger beard, yellow t-shirt and Dr Who trainers, and you dare to enter the Slug and Lettuce, you look like a drug dealer

Wednesday 27 August 2008

We Are Scientists...(Well, Lynne is)

Pub Number 9: The Hansom Cab
We've been here before and it hasn't changed since that last visit - the drinks are still cheap and they still sell organic cherry beer. The toilets are pokey and not particularly pleasant, but they serve a purpose.

Lynne and I discovered that you can make your boyfriends go to the bar for you if you talk about periods.

I think that deep down, we probably always knew that.

Pub Number 31: The Duchess
Less of a pub this one, and more of a music venue - or that's what the rumous say and since We Are Scientists were playing that night, and Lynne IS a scientist, it seemed like the perfect night to check it out.

As soon as we got there, Lynne bumped into some of her scientist friends and we worried for a moment that it was a science convention of some sort rather than a cool and trendy music gig. It turned out that our worries were unfounded and the band did indeed make their way onto the stage to entertain us... it was a shame that we couldn't see them.


The Duchess used to be a low ceilinged snooker hall. It is now a low ceilinged music venue which means that you can't really see anything unless you're practically on stage with the band.

As we walked in Neil and I immediately identified it as a potentially good late licence pub or club (and it does turn into a club at the weekend after the gigs finish at about 10:30pm), but if you want to actually see any band there, you probably need to be on the front row, next to the speakers, as visibility from any further back is practically zero.

One word of warning though... your ears will hurt if you stand near the front - unless of course you pop into Ebor Hearing for a specially made set of ear plugs. And if you don't fancy shelling out for those, I'm sure you could get something from there to help fix your deafness in a few years time, but I digress...

Its a nice place - just not a particularly good music venue. It's new, so it doesn't smell funny and the toilets are respectable. Drinks are on the pricey side (and served in plastic cups) but not especially so, and even if it's not brilliant, a bigger capacity music venue does mean that York gets bands who you've actually heard of playing in it.

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Double Drink Pub Crawl

Pub 28: Hole in the Wall
On Saturday night we started the pub crawl with a visit to the hole in the wall to get some money out before venturing forth to the Hole in the Wall to get some imaginary drinks.

Then, since imaginary drinks didn't quench our thirst we got some real drinks. Lynne was wearing a grey top, which weirdly enough was the same colour as her 'purple' one.

In this traditional English pub, a pint costs £3.01, which everybody seems to think of as expensive, yet to me, it seems to be about average judging by many of the other pubs in York - unless you go to a Sam Smith's pub or a chain place like Wetherspoons or Yates'* I was more interested in the fact that it was £3 and one pence.

We were joined by special guest crawlers Jo and George who no doubt added some sort of something to the evening. Since Paul and I were half an hour late, everybody else had 2 pints on top of their imaginary ones in here.

The toilets had pretty curtains in them.

Pub 29: Three Legged Mare
The Three Legged Mare, or Wonkey Donkey as it is known (see what they did there) sells a variety of beers and ales likely to please the most hardened of real ale drinkers. One of them is called Dragon Slayer. Saying that, I think we all opted for lager or cider.

As well as being a decent pub for saturday night shennanigans (well we didn't get too many strange looks when we were all staring down at my camera which was on the floor), this is also a good pub to drink in the beer garden in the rain after a bit of horseriding.

Despite the lack of seating on our arrival, we actually stayed in this pub for a second pint which has been unheard of since the pub crawl began. By this time, we did acquire a table to sit around (or it could have been a barrel) and we also acquired two new guest pub crawlers - Steve and Maddy who were lucky enough to be there at the end of our very first crawl.

Pub 30: The Slug and Lettuce - Back Swinegate
Expensive and loud is what this place is - but at least by 11pm on a Saturday night all of the think-they-are-cool-and-trendy 20-30 somethings have pissed off to the gallery or Ziggys or some other such torture chamber, leaving us with a large table where we could just about have a conversation over the music. The toilets were clean enough and since we had a seat and we're all getting on a bit - we stayed for two drinks here too. The pink wine was nice, if a little expensive. If memory serves me right - this place is actually quite pleasant during the daytime for a spot of lunch.

The quiz machine boasted Raiders of the Lost Quiz which was kind enough to give us £7 in return for £1 and answering a few questions.


We made good use of George's hat:


After that, Lynne, Neil Jo, Steve and Maddy went back to Neil's Tavern for some rock band action and Leanne and Paul went home to bed, as Leanne was meant to be writing some sort of 3000 report the following day (she didn't), and Paul was meant to be walking from Leeds to York (He did).

*Oh my God - I've just realised that we have to go to Yates'

Thursday 21 August 2008

Why We Shouldn't Take the Pub Quiz on Tour

Pub 24- The Last Drop Inn
We controversially decided to take the pub quiz on tour this evenng, so instead of going to the usual Mason Arms we found ourselves in the Last Drop Inn. Despite a busy pub we managed to secure the last barrel table and two chairs ahead of some keen looking swots.


Unlike in the Masons where the quiz is free and you get free sandwiches after, here we had to pay a whole 50p each!! Luckily I found a dusty pound on the floor behind the pringle machine to pay for Neil and myself. Leanne and Paul conveniently turned up after the guy had been round collecting money. Perhaps this explains what happened next....

Now, we've been to a few quizzes in our time but this was the first one with personal table service. The quiz master came round to each team individually to ask two questions at a time. (We can only assume his microphone was broken). However, when he failed to visit our barrel not once, not twice, but thrice, we got a bit pissed off at being left out of the quiz. We marched out of there vowing to take our revenge through this blog. The Last Drop Inn is a stupid, unwelcoming pub! DO NOT EVER go there! (Unless you're out on a first date on a quiet Sunday evening and want a place to sit and snog!)

Pub 25 - The Old White Swan
We were aware of another quiz taking place here this evening so we thought we'd try our luck with that. However, this pub has a complicated lay out to it and we only managed to find seats in the area that the quiz was not happening in.

You can go into different parts of the pub depending on what mood you're in. There is a posh dining area one side, and a rowdy bar full of locals in the other side (which meant that this evening the quiz machine was inaccessible). The mens toilet, whilst impressing with the fine decor, is let down by the type of urinal which was difficult to access without stepping in a flood of p**s. Usually its not a bad pub, but with the disappointment of the previous establishment still fresh in our minds, it wasn't much fun in here tonight. We quietly sulked while downing our pints and made a quick exit.

Pub 26 - Ko Ko
Ko Ko was ok ok! This rather cosy bar had an extensive selection of international beers that were very expensive but its worth treating yourself once in a while. Paul's beer for the lads and strawberry beer for the girls.


It was very friendly, the kind of place where they would lend you an umbrella if it was raining. It was raining. Lots. And unfortunately for Paul, the mens toilets were outside. The girls toilets on the other hand, were situated next to a condemned building site!

Definitely one to visit for a quiet drink with friends.

Pub 27 - The Cross Keys
Our arrival coincided with last orders and we found ourselves in a fairly empty pub. Luckily that meant the best quiz machine ever was free to eat our money.

Had Neil not been distracted by the best Juke Box ever, perhaps we would have won some money. We did get to pull the barmaid but for Neil the experience was a tad disappointing after all the build up. Despite being the last people left in the pub, we didn't get told to drink up. Another friendly pub and in Neil's opinion you should head here if only for the vast array of Charlatans tracks on the Juke Box.

After a pleasant end to a somewhat disappointing evening earlier on, we merrily paddled home in the rain.

Sunday 17 August 2008

If somebody was producing a graph of "Distance travelled" vs "Alcohol consumed", tonight would give us a very efficient looking graph

Pub Number 19: The Yorkshire Terrier

A text message from Lynne, simply saying "Woof" was our only clue as to where the evening's frolics would begin. After delaying our departure slightly by spending ten minutes deciding exactly which of my identical looking brown shirts to wear, we arrived at The Yorkshire Terrier to find Lynne & Neil waiting for us. Leanne took a seat while I went to purchase a beer in a ridiculously shaped glass. On returning I decided to walk straight past our table and towards its reflection in the big mirror at the end of the room. Pubs shouldn't be allowed to have big mirrors, they're far too confusing to drunk people.



Being a York Brewery pub, there's an impressive array of ales on tap, but the fact that it's very brightly lit give it a slightly odd atmosphere. Probably better in the daylight.

Pub Number 20: The Punchbowl

All it took was a few short steps and we were in a very full Punchbowl. We obstructed a passageway for a while, all the time keeping our eagle-eyes peeled for a free seat. A quiz machine was spotted, but unfortunately it was at the far side of a very snug looking snug, so was rendered inaccessible. Luckily it wasn't long before a free table was spotted. Leanne's ability to fashion a makeshift tripod out of pint glass proved to impress the clientele, and the camera's self timer function even managed to get a small round of applause.



A very traditional pub, lots of dark wood panelling. A large board behind the bar boasts a huge selection of pies, which we'll have to come back and sample another time.

Pub Number 21: Ye Olde Starre Inne

Back across the road and into York's oldest pub, dating back to 1644. As usual it was busy, but we manage to grab a table right near the bar.



Doubts were raised over Lynne's abilities to tell different colours apart, when she began to refer to her obviously grey top as being purple. It took all three of us to convince her that it was grey (well I think we came to a compromise of "pale lilac").

Lynne's reaction to this revelation:



Nice pub, good atmosphere, good toilets.

Pub Number 22: Evil Eye

In sharp contrast to Ye Olde Starre Inne, the neighbouring Evil Eye is a very modern "cool" cocktail bar. It's usually packed to the rafters with Trendy Young People, but surprisingly for a Saturday night it was relatively quiet. On entering we were surprised to bump into James, who we thought was in Jersey.

Leanne, Lynne and James went for Singapore Slings. I opted for a Mojito (or Mr Freeze, as Neil put it), which the barman had decided to make mostly with lime. Neil wasn't swayed by the cocktails, nor was he impressed by the selection of beers available.



Pub Number 23: Kennedy's

Another short stroll and we were in Kennedy's.



It was straight down to the dance floor, where "all the salsa people in the world" were showing off their moves.

Neil appeared to emit laser beams from his eyes.



The highlight of any visit to Kennedy's is going to toilets to use the industrial stregth Dyson Airblade hand-driers.



After a bit of a dance we decided that it was time to find some provisions to give us enough energy for the long walk home, so we ended the night with a trip to the dubiously named "Yummy Chicken".

Friday 15 August 2008

Say No to Quiz Night

Traditionally, Wednesday night is Quiz night. Over the past few weeks, Wednesday night has been cinema night. This week, as a result of an overcrowded pub making for poor sandwich potential, Wednesday night is Pub Crawl night...

Pub Number 16: The Golden Lion

The last time I went to the Golden Lion, it was January, and I had given up drinking. As had Paul and James. So while James' friend drank his pints down, we sampled the extensive J2O collection and got surprisingly drunk on sugar. So as to continue with the tee-total connotations, I settled into a not particularly comfortable sofa with a pint of blackcurrant and soda, with a straw.

On Wednesday night, this pub lacks atmosphere - it felt empty and cold. On weekend nights, it's better but its the kind of place we never think of to go to. Maybe we should...

We lost £1.50 on the quiz machine

Pub Number 17: The Three Cranes
I have lived in York for almost 9 years and there aren't many pubs in the town centre that I've never been to. The Three Cranes is one of them. It is also one of the pubs that Neil refuses to go to on a Saturday night, so tonight, we swallowed our fear and walked through the doors, where we turned heads for a moment. They were probably all jealous of our relative youth.


The clientelle are generally men in their 50s who like their ale. There is a dartboard on the wall and a framed collage of what must be all the locals heads attached to other photos, making it look like they're standing next to various celebrities. There is a good selection of beers and ales and it's the kind of place that the barmaid will offer to top up your pint of bitter if the head spans more than 2mm from the top of the glass. The kind of place where you might find an abandoned housing benefit leaflet in the ladies toilets (which were a bit grimy and no hand dryers, but acceptable - unlike the mens which were apparently minging. A sure sign that not many women cross the threshold of this city centre old mens haven.)

This pub feels like someone's living room. Its cosy, and despite sticking out like sore thumbs, we weren' t made to feel uncomfortable there.

Will we return? Yes... when we're all 20 years older.

Pub Number 18: The Lendal Cellars
This pub is exactly what it says on the tin - an underground cellar (which used to operate as part of the Hogshead chain - not sure whether it still does but thought I'd throw in that historical fact anyway.)

This is another pub that its easy to forget about, but one which is actually not bad. If you want to hide away from the rest of the world, you can meander your way down to the back of the table lined tunnel, or if you fancy a bit of daylight (or moonlight), there's an ever expanding beer garden. If, like us you are looking for somewhere to empty your wallet on quiz machines, then there is a choice of two, and the one we chose gave us so much money that we didn't have the energy to put it all back in, and so everyone gained £1. (To compensate for the £2 each that we'd put in)

Saturday 2 August 2008

Have you got your IDs please?

Pub Number 10: Brigantes
This evenings crawl began in Brigantes on Micklegate. James was slightly late, since he was looking for the pub on the wrong side of the walls. But made up for it by drinking duvel (8.5%) and telling us the story about wearing a skirt. Apparently it was a lovely evening for wearing a skirt (?).


(The big white hand belongs to James)


Anyway, the pub itself was ok. Good choice of German and Belgian beer if you're in to that sort of thing. We're not. Toilets we're nice. Toilet roll available, always a bonus.

Pub Number 11: The Artful Dodger
The next pub on the list was The Nags Head as Leanne wanted to get it out of the way. However, it looked a bit scary so we went to The Artful Dodger instead.


Despite our initial reservations (and the intimidating Vikings) this turned out to be a good drinking place. Leanne spent her birthday Nuts money on the quiz machine. We lost.


Leanne then slapped Paul. Paul sulked. James wasn't overly impressed by the barstaff (too hairy and too male). Toilets were not good. Unbranded condom and tampon machine and wonky toilet seats.

Pub Number 12: The Yorkshire Hussar
Next we frequented The Yorksire Hussler (known to everyone who isn't James as The Yorkshire Hussar). Good atmosphere, connect four on the quiz machine, James broke a table so we can never go back there.



Pub Number 13: The Maltings
Next on our crawl was the Maltings. Good selection of fruit wines. James was talked into trying another strong beer (8.4%) by the barman. It came in an unusual glass with a wooden handle/holder. It was 'surprisingly light!'


Excellent decor.


Pub Number 14: The Corner Pin
At this point most of us were up for going home despite the fact it was only 11.15pm. Someone (we'll never know who, as they won't want to admit to it) suggested Flares. As there was a queue to get in we found ourselves in the pub opposite - the Corner Pin. Neil checked it was still serving (it was open til 1am) so we headed for the door, only for the nice lady bouncer to ask us for IDs. We excitedly reached for our driving licences and laughed our way in to the bar.


Clientelle left something to be desired and the men's toilets were rather cramped as if someone was washing/drying their hands at the same time as relieving oneself. James managed to get in several shorts in the time it took for others to consume their pints.

Pub Number 15: Flares
A queueless Flares then drew us in and surprisingly a good time was had by all! The fact that most of us (apart from 1 group member) were Flares virgins probably helped.


Again, clientelle were questionable and the mountain of broken glass on the floor was displeasing, but that was all forgotten once all 5 of us made it onto the dance floor.

James was busting some jaw dropping moves on the dancefloor and catching the attention of some local wenches. Just as he was going to make a move, we decided it was time to leave (sorry James!). Post-crawl munchies split the group in two.

The chicken lovers went via Yummy Chicken and the non-chicken lovers went to Vikings Kitchen for kebabs and burgers. The final stop on this evening's crawl was Neil's tavern where one last beer was enjoyed along with plenty of Rock Band action.


An early contender for best bar in York due to the good atmosphere, high class clientelle, quality beer, first class toilet facilities, on site accommodation available upon request and an AMAZING selection of music always available.
Lynne & Neil