ReviewBuilt in 1901, this is an enormous building originally built as a hotel but now operating solely as a pub in the front ground floor area. The pub is close to the Millfield Metro stop but can be easily reached on foot from the city centre within 15 minutes or so. The front door leads you into a relatively unspectacular main bar – a wide, bare boarded space served by a long, dark wood counter along the rear wall. Pew and standard chair seating has been arranged under the front windows, which have bright stained glass inserts, leaving a good amount of standing room in between. The walls have mostly been painted in plain colours or covered with dated striped wallpaper and miscellaneous paintings whilst a children’s toy grabber arcade machine stands incongruously on the front wall. The room extends to the rear right, into a space that was clearly a separate room in the past and still feels that way now to a degree. Nice exposed brick walls and dark wood flooring make it look quite appealing, but the space is dominated by a pool table and dartboard, with a juke box nearby, thereby reducing the space for seating. Several TV screens throughout were showing live football with the commentary competing against some piped music.
There is a door in the rear left corner leading into a side vestibule which used to house the off-sales hatch. From here you can access the pub’s undoubted highlight – the spectacular Buffet Bar. The room is usually kept locked, but the friendly guvnor was happy to open the room up for me and left me to explore. The room was designed by Craven Dunhill who are responsible for some of the finest pub ceramics in the country (see also: Golden Cross, Cardiff) and this room has been remarkably well preserved. To the right is an amazing curved, glazed tile bar counter with a marble effect top. The counter front has a yellow and green animal pattern. The walls are also tiled and incorporate a number of superb Craven Dunhill tile paintings (I recognised Tyne and Wearmouth Bridges and what I took to be Durham Cathedral), as well as a tile frieze. The windows have stained glass images of drinkers in various poses, the floor has a mosaic tile pattern with repeated leaf motif and there is a tiled fireplace with dark wood surround on the rear wall. Old padded benches with matching upholstered chairs fit in with the room’s traditional look and feel and the door into the room has an etched glass pane bearing the word ‘Buffet’. This really is an outstanding room and I was very pleased to be able to take a look round at my leisure.
The pub has recently reintroduced real ale on the bar, with a couple of handpulls now evident, one of which was in use, dispensing Maxim Swedish Blonde at a bargain £2.10 a pint. My pint was in good nick and I couldn’t fault the service from the genial couple who seemingly run the place.
This is a destination pub for anyone interested in pub architecture and heritage. If this pub was in the city centre, I suspect it would be doing a roaring trade, but its marginal location perhaps limits potential custom. The return of real ale may help encourage a few more people to visit and perhaps lead to a permanent reopening of the Buffet Bar, which would be fitting for such a magnificent space.
