Pubs then

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Couple more to consider if you venture South: John Leslie's Bar and the Old Bell.

Cheers

[steve98]

Are there any cat-pubs yet? Like there are cat-cafes? I'd gladly visit a pub with lots of resident cats.

[steve98]

"Fuckin' service here's shite."

[steve98]

Can't find any cat-cafes. but lookin' at "Cats in pubs," is a nice way to kill some time.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Are there any cat-pubs yet? Like there are cat-cafes? I'd gladly visit a pub with lots of resident cats.

Yep, upthread. Bag O Nails, Bristol.

[purlieu]

The Chemic  7.7

Oh yes, always a favourite. It's so sad that The Bricklayers Arms went, it was an incredibly cosy pub in Woodhouse, all low ceilings and good beer and a totally comfortable mix of older locals and students. There's a block of flats in its place now and it's almost impossible to find pictures of the interior online.

The Victoria is another Leeds favourite of mine, it's the kind of pub I thought I'd be going to more often when living in a city, the kind of big, open place but with booths and corner tables to allow for some cosiness that is what a city pub should feel like.


Birmingham! The Wellington is a great city centre pub, always got five times as many appealing cask pumps than you can get through in an evening. Nice big main downstairs room with some smaller rooms upstairs, and the kind of place that feels totally right in the after-work buzz.
The Old Joint Stock is an old bank and a very fancy pub with a theatre in the building, complete with island bar and glass roof. It's not quite the sort of place I'd choose for a local, but it's got heaps of character and is really memorable.
The Post Office Vaults is a little downstairs pub which has a hint of dinginess and a ludicrously excessive European bottled beer menu (more than 300).
Was going to mention the Wagon & Horses but it appears it's closed and turned into a "beer, pizza and vinyl bar" called Dead Wax who offer craft beer from the likes of Beavertown and live music. A proper city boozer with an old fashioned rock fan clientele and incredibly cheap decent cask beer. I suppose Digbeth's gentrification was only a matter of time.

[shiftwork2]

A pub should ideally have a frank and fearless cat.  Just strides about like it owns the place.  Not sure about on the bar though.

[king_tubby]

Oh yes, always a favourite. It's so sad that The Bricklayers Arms went, it was an incredibly cosy pub in Woodhouse, all low ceilings and good beer and a totally comfortable mix of older locals and students. There's a block of flats in its place now and it's almost impossible to find pictures of the interior online.

The only good thing about when I lived in Woodhouse was the Chemic being around the corner. The Brickies was an odd one, drank there occasionally but wouldn't have recommended it.

[steve98]

A pub should ideally have a frank and fearless cat.  Just strides about like it owns the place.  Not sure about on the bar[/i] though.

Depends. Certainly not, if they can't handle their drink.

[shiftwork2]

Down with that.  'Pint for me and whatever the cat expects'

[The Crumb]

A pub should ideally have a frank and fearless cat.  Just strides about like it owns the place.  Not sure about on the bar though.

The Charlotte Despard in Archway has a 3 legged cat just like this. Nice pub, too.

[shiftwork2]

That's cat porn frankly, put it away.

[idunnosomename]

The Seven Stars has a great kitchen too, and really for London prices it's not bad at all. but the cat with the fuckin ruff. it can be rammed full of lawyers though, but it's still very civilised and some lovely casks. my fav round there was the Edgar Wallace. I mean if you like paying a fiver for a pint

it was quite funny when are graham was at the Fair Cop case at the Royal Courts they went to the Knights Templar Wetherspoons. i mean it's ok but you only go there when everything else has shut, unless you're a load of transphobic cunts

[purlieu]

I mean if you like paying a fiver for a pint

Pretty standard anywhere in the country these days, paid a fiver for a Punk IPA in my own small midlands town about three years ago, £5.50 for a Camden Hells in Birmingham last week. By London standards, that's really pretty good.

[kalowski]

Not drunk in London much but I really liked the Lamb on Conduit Street.

[mr. logic]

Yay! This means I get to return to Moscow, wherein reside at least * three* Her Who Plays Milly/ Molotov Girl In That Film lookalikes! I might even get to have a beer with Mr. Logic (from CaB, not " Viz")!  :)

Shame about the getting killed thing, though :(

Nice one, lad. There's a few good'uns in Moscow. Had a pleasant month or so alternating the Euros between Sous Sol, Pig and Clover, and Liga Pap.

Shoulders, how's your Newcastle list looking?

[seepage]

The Vine, on Dove Street, just off Pottergate.

Thanks, but I remember it being even smaller than that and at the end of a block, maybe on St. Benedicts, but I'm probably misremembering.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Shoulders, how's your Newcastle list looking?

Crap. Need to explore more. Really enjoyed Free Trade & Crown Posada.

Bodega was ok. Kind of puzzling as the raw materials are all great so not sure why it didn't all feel right somehow.

That slightly craft beer focused pub near the bridge (edit: Redhouse!) which I went to for the CaB meet was ok, though I wouldn't go over the top about it. The furniture in the nice cellar backroom doesn't quite work and it feels like an overflow area whereas that should be the best bit.

Need to get to Town Mouse, Cumberland, Heaton Tap & The Schooner in Gateshead, according to my map. Oh and The Carriage looks alright if a bit foody.

A bit like Leeds there are also good bars (Mean Eyed Cat was one) which I wouldn't really call pubs as such and lots of ok but interchangeable 6 or 7/10 city pubs.

[buttgammon]

Admittedly, I used to go there for the architecture as much as anything, but The Bear and Billet is one of those nice old Chester pubs in a rickety-looking half-timbered building. It's just down the road from the similarly lovely Falcon.

A nice - and really tiny - one in Liverpool is The Belvedere, which is up by the cathedrals. It was one of my favourite pubs in my university days, but I'd always get there too late in the evening when it was already full and would head on to The Pilgrim, The Fly in the Loaf or The Phil instead. The Grapes is in the same part of town and is great too.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The Bear and Billet had turned into a quite upscale gastro place when I was there in April. Fabulous building though. Not sure if the Falcon has reopened yet (Sam Smiths).

Chester has an absurd density of pubs even by normal English city centre standards.

[buttgammon]

The Bear and Billet had turned into a quite upscale gastro place when I was there in April. Fabulous building though. Not sure if the Falcon has reopened yet (Sam Smiths).

Chester has an absurd density of pubs even by normal English city centre standards.

It's a few years since I've been in the Bear and Billet, I didn't know that!

Speaking of Sam Smiths, there's another one in Chester but I can't remember which and feel like I need to offer a warning!

Up the River Dee in Llangollen, there's the Corn Mill, which offered some really nice beers last time I was there and also has the benefit of great views on the terrace and a lovely interior.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Speaking of Sam Smiths, there's another one in Chester but I can't remember which and feel like I need to offer a warning!

The Old Boot on the Rows. That is annoyingly quite nice too, very quirky due to the location.

Corn Mill inside looks like somewhere to take your old folks for Sunday lunch, but nice stone building and the views do look stunning.

[buttgammon]

Corn Mill is very much a daytime pub rather than somewhere you'd spend an evening in. The people who own it also own the Pant your Ochain near Wrexham, which is where I go for Sunday lunch with my family when I'm back home, so it does also have that vibe.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

We should probably get on to Dublin pubs at some point even though it'll be a really long list.

Despite 3 visits I've not really covered as much as I'd like, but I'll start with ones I've been to then ones I have down to visit.

Visited (and rated)

Grogans
Mulligans
Dawson Lounge (well, i liked it!)
McNeills
Briody's (gloriously normal, low-key and local given the location)
Stags Head (wasn't wowed but it was pretty decent)
Gin Palace

Down to visit:

Toners
Doheny & Nesbit
O'Donoghues
The Confession Box
Bowes
Kehoes
Mary's Bar & Hardware
Swan Bar
Lord Edward
Long Hall (probably overly touristy)
Darkey Kelleys
The Capstan Bar
Frank Ryan's (Smithfield)
The Cobblestone (Smithfield)
Walshs (Stoneybatter)
The Glimmer Man (Stoneybatter)
Gaffney's (Fairview)
John Kavanagh (Glasnevin)
Martin Slattery (Rathmines)

Please tell me where to go to not be stabbed or have an other form of shit time. Also further suggestions not on this list (not Madigans)?

[kalowski]

Any decent pubs or bars in Hull? I'm going soon.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Any decent pubs or bars in Hull? I'm going soon.

Very much so. Depends what sort of thing you like but the old town has several extremely good historic classic English pubs. Referring to my list:

Ye Olde Black Boy   Hull   8.8
Lion & Key   Hull   8.7
Fretwell's   Hull   8.7
WM Hawkes   Hull   8.6
Ye Olde White Harte   Hull   8.5
The Whalebone   Hull   7.9
Hop & Vine   Hull   7.9
Ye Olde Blue Bell   Hull   7.6 (Sam Smiths tho)

The Minerva is also a good choice with river views and 'the smallest snug room in the country'. I find some of the interior very drab and the food smell and noise spoils it, but some people love it.

Bonny Boat, Old English Gentleman and The George are OK backups. Vintage Bar is pubby enough to count as well.

The Punch Hotel and Empress in the centre look really, really nice from the outside but I wouldn't recommend either, sadly, and not even for prissy reasons. They're drab and sometimes a bit grim.

If you are solely after the best drinks and not fussed about owt else then Corn Exchange/Atom Brewing, BREW, Hop&Vine, 80daysbierhaus, Vittles & Co, Taphouse, Head of Steam.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Edit, dp cunt

[buttgammon]

We should probably get on to Dublin pubs at some point even though it'll be a really long list.

Despite 3 visits I've not really covered as much as I'd like, but I'll start with ones I've been to then ones I have down to visit.

Visited (and rated)

Grogans
Mulligans
Dawson Lounge (well, i liked it!)
McNeills
Briody's (gloriously normal, low-key and local given the location)
Stags Head (wasn't wowed but it was pretty decent)
Gin Palace

Down to visit:

Toners
Doheny & Nesbit
O'Donoghues
The Confession Box
Bowes
Kehoes
Mary's Bar & Hardware
Swan Bar
Lord Edward
Long Hall (probably overly touristy)
Darkey Kelleys
The Capstan Bar
Frank Ryan's (Smithfield)
The Cobblestone (Smithfield)
Walshs (Stoneybatter)
The Glimmer Man (Stoneybatter)
Gaffney's (Fairview)
John Kavanagh (Glasnevin)
Martin Slattery (Rathmines)

Please tell me where to go to not be stabbed or have an other form of shit time. Also further suggestions not on this list (not Madigans)?

I think you've hit all the best ones here. The Bleeding Horse has a great whiskey selection, to the extent that I'd go there purely for that, but it's not great otherwise. I like O'Neills near the Molly Malone statue, but I'm not sure if it has reopened and it can be too touristy at times, especially when they're serving food. The snug is nice though. Kennedy's on Westland Row is nice; it's a bit of a Trinity College pub and can also be quite touristy depending on when you go. I spent enough time there during my Masters that when I brought my family there afterwards, the staff recognised me, which was quite nice but also embarrassing.

If you're going to Stoneybatter, Brennan's is a nice pub in Phibsboro which is just next door. There's a nice atmosphere and some good whiskeys, as well as a nice little smoking area that's good for a sunny day.

Blackbird in Rathmines is nice but it's years since I've been there.

The Gravediggers by Glasnevin Cemetery is highly regarded but I've never actually been there, as I live on the Southside and it's just outside my radius.

[TrenterPercenter]

Forget Dublin and them highfalutin Guinness drinking types Southwest coast of Éire is where you want to be;

Maccarthy's in Castletownbere



O'Neil's and The Lighthouse in Allihies (Where the fam is from I can walk to these from my grandads house when I'm over there)



Ma Murphys, Bantry



O'Sullivans, Crookhaven (the most southerly pint in Éire)

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Ah, looks like John Kavanagh I listed is a.k.a The Gravediggers!

Brennan's down as Permanently Closed (though may just be Covid and not properly updated)