Good Pub guide in Ulverston + Manchester

(and Amberley)


Hmmm lovely......

Ulverston


  • The Farmers Arms


    • Yes, a very nice pub this, recently refurbished, and a good job they did too, nice friendly atmosphere, quality selection of bitters and lagers (Fosters is my personal favourite and not too expensive either), and some very comfy seats. Prone to get busy on weekends and weekdays though. Does barmeals and has a cracking beer garden looking out onto Ulverston town centre. (You too can see this pub in all it's glory by clicking here).
    Right next to Natwest (which is handy for cash) and has a real fire. Also has a barman who is permanently surprised. This pub is a must for anybody doing an Ulverston pubcrawl and a must even if they're not. Shear class. 8/10

  • The Sun Inn


    • Had a reputation for violence a few years ago but has transformed somewhat since then. I have a suspiscion that they don't clean their pipes out too often as the beer there often tastes like shit. When it doesn't though, it is very nice. Approx. ?.85 per pint. Big screen T.V for sport lovers, often has the boxing on at the weekend, hence it is quite popular with skinheads and nutters alike. The landlord has silver hair but is a real wanker. Quite an old crowd in there but the average age has also tumbled in recent years. Tends to attract the 'rougher' women as well but a good place to start early on as it is less busy and you have a better chance of making it out alive. Not too bad. 4/10

  • The Rose + Crown


    • A quality pub about 40 yards down the road is The R+C. Old styling but tasty beer, I'd go for carling if you're a lager man. It's about ? per pint. I've been told that the bitter tastes like piss, but I cannot substantiate this with hard evidence. It does have a massive real fire and a good selection of newspapers to choose from though. It also serves top notch fodder, I would argue that it's one of the best pubs in Ulverston for food because as well as being unhealthily tasty, the portions are also huge. It does have the drawback of getting so packed it's difficult to breath, but if you can cope with no air supply, it's well worth a visit. It's got a beer garden, but it looks out onto a carpark and can therefore not compare with that of the Farmers Arms.Very good. 7/10

  • The Piel Castle


    • Just down market street is The Piel Castle. It tends to get an older crowd, average age maybe about 25-30. They do carling and it's quite well priced. Huge real fire and very comfy seats. Doesn't tend to get too busy except on special occasions (i.e. footie) which is good. It has what can only be described as a beer 'ginnel' out the back which looks out upon the very same car park as the Rose + Crown. The bar staff can get a bit shitty, but once they know you they're alright. Worth a look in. 5/10

  • The Hope + Anchor


    • At the entrance to Daltongate is The Hope and Anchor. Once a favourite of mine but not any more. It was a quality pub, very small, good atmosphere, selection of papers to read, etc. But we got barred after a misunderstanding with a lamp. The landlord then was a real twat and when it got taken over, we were very happy. Unfortunately, it is now run by two lesbians and we have never returned. Bag of wank. 1/10

  • The Bradylls Arms


    • The Bradyll's is a very under-rated place. Very compact, fairly difficult to reach the bar within say...an hour, but it does serve quality beer (Labatts) and has a pool table (taken out on the weekend). Very few seats means you will have to stand but this is counteracted by the karaoke on Fridays which is a good laugh. Don't sing though, or you WILL get laughed at. It also has a couple of picnic tables outside, which, like the Farmers, has an excellent view of the market cross. There's worse places. 5/10

  • The Bird in Hand


    • Sixth form hang-out, where you can get served at 14 but get asked for ID at 20. Barman is a nutter and his 'daughter' is worse. The pool table is a very reasonable 30p but the beer (although cheap) tastes like shite. Has a dart board but it is almost always busy with the locals (old men). Sometimes have bands on but more often than not, they are shit. Never again. 2/10

  • The Globe


    • On Queens street, 20 yards from the Farmers Arms is The Globe. Again, quite pokey, although it never gets too busy. Has a monopoly machine, a pool table (with restricted space), and a real fire (small). It serves bar meals and usually has plenty of up to date papers. XXXX is nice and over all it is an excellent place to start any type of crawl. 6/10

  • The Kings Arms


    • Situated at the bottom of King street (handy) is a massive (for Ulverston) pub. Has a full size pool table and a dart board. Old crowd, and generally full of mingers an an old drunken English teacher of mine. Beer isn't anything special although it's reasonably priced. There is also a nasty slope in the floor which can (has) catch you out if you have had a few. Decent barstaff and quite a good laugh all round. Run of the mill. 5/10

  • The Swan


    • Another sixth form place this and a bit out of town with it which doesn't help. Next to a nice chinese though which is obviously a bonus. Has a pool table and a darts board, both decent quality. The landlord / barman use to be good with lockins, etc. But after he got caught, I think he may have moved on to bigger and better things. The seating is 'well used' to put it nicely, or 'knacked' if I were to tell the truth. Very comfy though. Bit shit now. 3/10

    Manchester


  • The GROT bar


    • What can I say about the GROT bar (Grosvenor Residence Old Tavern) that hasn't been said before ? LOADS. It is THE quintisential student bar, 1.20 a pint (Carling), 4 (four) pool tables at a reasonable 30p a dig, (they're free if you find a broken one). Big screen T.V for all those vital moments, table football, a tasty barstaff, the friendliest atmosphere (bar one miserable bitch) you'll find anywhere, a cluedo machine, a pinball machine, a dartboard, cheap spirits nights, happy hours, toilets, etc. What more could you possibly ask for from a pub. Nothing. 10/10 {Since this report, I'm sorry to say the Grot has been shot down in flames in a big way, the main problem being that it is always empty 6/10 (for the memories)}

  • McNally's Green


    • (Formal name 'next door'). Didn't use to rate this as it is next to the GROT and didn't really stand a fair chance. It is however open later than the GROT and to be fair, it does a nice pint of XXXX. Apparently it has nicer Guinness as well (but I've not tried it). It has a very fast pool table which is spoiled somewhat by the lack of space around it. The big screen T.V is shit but there are five other tele's to make up for it. There is a 'club' downstairs and although I've only been there twice, it has real possibilities. Quite nice bar meals with the opportunity to sit outside on sunny days. The toilets are a problem though as they are often up to a foot deep in piss and you may well get started on by a mad Derby lad whose obsession with Man Utd fans has often led to trouble. McNally's Green also has it's own resident stargazer in the one and only Patrick Moore, who can often be seen learing at cleavage there on a Friday / Saturday night (much the same as me). Getting better all the time. 7/10 (Changed out of all recognition into a 'trendies' pub called "Scubar", and hence not quite what it once was - 4/10)

  • The Sand Bar


    • Approximately over the road from both the GROT and McNally's Green is The Sand Bar. This used to be a Georgian house and you can tell. Very light, with lots of wooden furniture (no comfy seats in here) and a mixed crowd of locals and (older) students. The beer is expensive, and the Sand bar can get very crowded. Nothing special to look at and the toilets are small. The one feature that saves the Sand bar is it's fantastic variety of beers. True, most of them are German or Belgian, but we can't hold that against them (well, we could if we tried). It serves six British cask ale's, stella on tap (I know it's Belgian but it is very tasty) and it has one of the best beer's I've tasted in a long time, namely Tusker export from Kenya. Jinal's Tusker appreciation page It comes in a bottle with an elephant on but it tastes great even though it is also relatively expensive (The Sand Bar no longer serves Tusker beer - "Can't get the supplies" - My arse). This place is kicking. All in all, the Sand bar could do better if it wasn't so poncey and served Tusker on tap (for free). 6/10

  • Robinski's


    • Down in Fallowfield this so I've only been once or twice. As far as I can tell, it's not up to much seeing as how the pool is 1.00 per game and it's winner stays on. Can't remember what sort of beer they serve (it's carling) but it didn't taste that bad even though it was very pricey compared to normal student gaffs. A little beer garden that looks out onto the road but nothing of any real interest. Overall, it's a bit too 'southern' for me. 7/10 (Have now been in many more times and it is worse than previously thought 3/10)

  • Revolution


    • If you like vodka, this is the place for you. Over fifty different flavours and a whole host of different brands. I personally recommend the chili vodka, but have a pint at the ready when you down it. Lots of tasty women about and very nicely decked out. It is however expensive but there's a midland bank cash machine just over the road. There is also a 'blue' film club next door (if the 'need' arises). Very good pub (for vodka). 5/10

  • Edwards


    • Shit name, nice pub. Packed at the weekend, this posh gaff is chocka with suits. Does a VERY nice pint of carling although it spoils it's good work by putting it into what can only be described as a vase. Massive place with a huge glass front offering great views onto Piccadily gardens and the pissheads that come with it. You have to look smart to get in and definately NO trainers. Also does a good TGV, (tequila, gin, vodka), but this costs a bomb. Quality place, if not a bit pretentious. 5/10

  • Scruffy Murphy's


    • Decent attempt at an Irish pub situated in the 'Grosvenor triangle'. Bar staff are cool. Beer is good. They have a big screen T.V and they sell proper guinness. Not much to say really. 6/10

  • Footage and Firkin


    • Again on Grosvenor street. This place is just a very big, old, converted cinema. Does a quality XXXX, which I could happily drink all day, spew, and still come back for more. TWO big screen T.V's is helpful, but they are situated at such a height that you usually need a neck brace once the game has finished. Bar staff are pretty good and they do serve excellent scran. They have a ladies night on Thursday's (?), and a karaoke on Sunday's (?), they also have good nights on Friday's and Saturday's when everybody gets on the tables and dances (it freaks you out the first time you go). This does have a downside however, the tables and chairs are always shitup and they can scratch your arms. Like it, like it. 6/10

  • The Beer Trading Company


    • This is a bit nearer the city centre and you can tell. It's suppose to run on a stock market system, with the prices of drinks fixed to their popularity. The idea being that the popular one's will go up in prices and the less popular one's will go down, hence, evening out the number of different drinks sold. BULLSHIT. All the drinks started off at an extortionate price to begin with and only ever went up about a penny every five minutes. The prices seemed totally unrelated to the popularity of each drink, and when (eventually) the prices did 'crash', they did so to normal pub prices. But still, so eager was everybody to buy while cheap, there was a surge to the bar. Big fat con. There is also a shit nightclub downstairs and the bar itself doubles as a cafe during the day time. You won't see me there again. 1/10

  • Moon Under Water


    • This is the biggest pub in Europe (and you can check it if you don't believe me). It's up Deansgate in West Manchester and looks like a hotel from the outside. It is truly huge, on two floors and extending at least 100 yards back. A huge bar and plenty of well trained staff, so not that hard to get served quickly. The (nice) Fosters is also surprisingly cheap at about 1.80 for a pint. No students here, and the likelyhood of a beating is increased, but perfectly safe for anybody with even the tinyest bit of nouse. Not half bad for the city centre. 6/10

  • Copper Faced Jack's


    • Weird name, but a quality pub. Just up Oxford road towards the city centre. Real nice furnishings, a barstaff that know the difference between beer and shit and a good, mixed crowd. It kinda looks like a distillery, with lots of copper plating everywhere. Lots of seats and plenty of space to stand. The one drawback is the prices. It cost me 2.20 for a pint of stella, and although it's (marginally) cheaper for heineken (2.00), there is the fact that heineken tastes like last weeks vomit to contend with. Good place to stop for one or two, but too expensive to stay for long. 5/10

  • Sofa


    • Weird name, (formally The Shed). Not a bad pub mind. Very Sourthern gaff (again), pretentious, expensive, no real character etc. Does a nice pint though and the glass front of the pub does open during spells of warm weather (if we ever had any). 4/10

  • The Queen of Hearts (a.k.a. 'Tarts')


    • THE quintisential student pub in Fallowfield. Arsehole doormen come as standard. Massive high ceilings give away it's previous incarnation of a church (is it just me or is there something extremely gratifiying about getting pissed up in a house of god ?). Nice pint of Carlsberg, ok barstaff, excellent beer garden ideal for Summer afternoons when you're supposed to be revising. But as was quite rightly pointed out to me, needs people in order to fulfill it's potential because when it's empty they just crank up the volume of the music, which is shit. 4/10

  • The Friendship


    • Bit of a local's pub this one, which probably accounts for it's better than average atmosphere. I personally never used to rate it but since then I've grown to know and love it. It has also recently been refurbished, but not overly so, so that it retains it's original character. Has a nice little beer 'patio' as well which has an excellent view right up Fallowfield. The best thing about this pub however is the beer. Harp is better than it's reputation and they also have Hydes 'Gold' on at the moment which is fucking gorgeous. This is a top place to start any Fallowfield pub crawl, but you may like it so much that you'll stay all night. 6/10

  • Glass


    • Formally Yo Yo's, (both shit names if you ask me). Again, a relatively nice Fallowfield pub is let down by it's pretentiousness (in this case it is also let down by shit beer and high prices as well). It's one saving grace is the novel beer 'terrace' on which you can spend a very pleasent Summer evening in prime ogling position. 5/10

  • The Orange Grove


    • Formally Buchanans. It was a much different pub a few years back when it concentrated on the sporting crowd by showing live premiership football on a Saturday direct from Norway. Since then though it has gone through a large revamp and is now probably more aimed at the pre-club crowd. They've swapped Labatts for GB which I think personally is a mistake on their part, but they have vastly improved the beer 'palazzo', although it now reminds me of Mr Miaggi's garden from "Karate kid", not that that's a bad thing, it was a very nice garden. 6/10

  • Bar XS


    • Haven't been in here for ages. not because it's a shit pub, just because there's plenty of other spots to try first. From what I can remember, it's quite a good pub in fact, open till 2am on weekends, big screen, plenty of drinks offers, serves Labatts, tasty barstaff etc. Might have to give it another try one of these days. 4/10

  • Clynes Wine Bar


    • What can I say about this little establishment. I can't even remember if that is what it was called. Came to our rescue recently when every single 'normal' pub was chokka and we had to watch the England vs Germany game somewhere. But Christ, I would not go there again unless I was forced at gunpoint (which is a distinct possibility considering where it is. HULME. And calling itself a wine bar in the first place is either a stroke of ironic genius or a vastly misplaced faith. Saying that though, we did get seats to watch the game in a quiet and quite restrained atmosphere and the Carlsberg wasn't that bad. But I do recommend that if you ever feel the need to do a Hulme pub crawl, either get tattoo's done before you go, be hard as nails with a psychotic nature or be black. 2/10

  • Rain Bar


    • Been there twice now and it's a really nice pub (City Life pub of the year 1999 no less). Just out of town a bit towards the G-Mex means that I haven't seen it really busy yet which is good cos it means you can get served. Looks like it could be an ideal Summer venue because it has a nice looking veranda overlooking a canal. One word of warning though, the beer isn't up to much - 'Lees' mings. But you can always resort to bottles, which we did and enjoy the relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. 6/10

  • BaaBar


    • Way too many mirror balls for my liking (we think they've got about 70-odd). Situated in Deansgate locks, this very trendy bar is the in place to go for Manchester's 'nouveou riche', i.e. builders, Corrie 'stars', and wannabe students. Which makes for a shit night out in my book. Quite expensive as well, and they don't serve pints at all which is a bit weird. Good selection of shooters though which is a bonus. The mirrors on both sides makes it look a lot bigger than it actually is as well and could well confuse me on a less sober night. 3/10

  • Revolution


    • Another Revolution rears it's head in Manchester to go with the two that already dominate the vodka scene on Oxford Road. This was also on Deansgate locks but unlike Baabar, this pub (not really a pub to be honest) is actually quite good. The main differences are that: -
    Although it was possibly marginally more expensive than Baabar, it was well worth it in the long run. 7/10

  • The Phoenix


    • Right under the Precinct Centre, you'd have thought this was a prime position for a pub but personally, I don't think that it does itself justice. Never really liked it when it was 'Barney Magrews' and since it's been taken over by the 'It's a Scream' chain, it's gone downhill in my estimation. Perhaps it's something to do with the use of yellow as the main paint, a bright, putrid yellow at that. The beer generally isn't of the highest quality either (especially the Caffrey's, which was rank). To it's credit though, it does do quite good food and is reasonably priced and the last time I was in there, there was a stripper (5-30pm on a Friday) which can't be all bad. 3/10

    The 'Southwest'


  • The Black Horse


    • Situated on top of a hill (aren't all the best pubs ?) in Amberley (which is nice) near Stroud (which is a shithole). What can I say ? This pub is tremendous. Probably sneaks into my alltime top three along with 'Chesters' in Sunderland and the 'GROT bar' in Manchester. Serves a good selection of real ales, a wide variety of ciders (come on, this is cider-central) and has Carlsberg on tap, which is too gorgeous. Real fires all round, truly magnificent scenery, huge beer garden, seperate pool room with jukebox, serves food, affiliated with Minchinhampton Rugby Club, fuck me..........you want more ?

    Ok then. it has a very high proportion of gorgeous barmaids, it's quiet and therefore doesn't attract tossers, it's reasonably priced, you can buy beer to take away, you can leave your switch card behind the bar and set up a tab (usually not advisable but good to know), everybody plays drinking games, the landlord is the world spoofing champion.

    Enough said I think. Possibly the finest drinking establishment in the Western World. The Black Horse now comes complete with it's own web page so you to can marvel at it's quality. 9/10

  • The Pelican


    • SHIT HOLE. 0/10

  • The Shunters


    • Should really be called the 'Munters' due to the average age and beauty of some of it's nicer custom. 1/10

  • The Lord John


    • Not too bad actually (bear in mind that this is Stroud). This is a pretty big pub and usually needs to be because it's often packed. Quite handy seating area though down the bottom which is often empty because the good townfolk of Stroud haven't realised that it's easier to sit rather than stand (I don't suppose it affects them much what with their knuckles there as an extra support). As usual down here there's more cider than anything else and if you're normal (i.e. come from above Birmingham) you should keep your voice down as low as possible in order to prevent the natives from overhearing as they seem quite keen on kicking the shit out of 'foriegn' things (like light bulbs). 4/10

    2000

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