HallPass Bar, Bristol

Since my previous review this has had a couple of name changes with a fairly brief spell as the Faraway Cocktail Club prior to it’s current iteration. Externally little seems to have changed, with very little in the way of signage to even indicate the pub’s name. Perhaps it’s appearance is listed in some way. Internally though it’s a different matter and now has the feel of some sort of late night bar rather than your traditional pub, with the music being far too loud despite the fact that there were only one or two other punters in there. To be honest it was a bit difficult to work out who was staff and who wasn’t, with many of them milling around on both sides of the bar, and a couple of them seeming to be engaged in some sort of fashion photo shoot. Parquet wood flooring has presumably been down for some time, but other than that there was little of any note. The ceilings had been painted black as well as much of the walls, which made for a rather gloomy atmosphere, although there was also some wallpaper elsewhere printed with green foliage. The front part of the pub was probably the most pleasant, with high banquette seating and large windows to the street outside. The large TV screens on the wall rather detracted from any potential ambience though, and there were several more of these scattered throughout the pub. There were further rooms off to the side and possibly the rear, although we did not investigate these. A number of games machines were dotted around, including some sort of police chase and a boxing machine. Unfortunately there were no real ales on tap, despite two handpumps on the bar, these both appeared unused. I think there were one or two keg options including Meantime IPA. Ciders fared a little better though with Old Mout Berries & Cherries and Inch’s Medium Apple, which was very pleasant and somewhat more imaginative than I would have expected from a venue of this type.

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