The Barge, Grimsby

Yes, it's a barge with a list as mentioned below, but I soon got used to that. Toilets to the rear, bar on the right. Two hand pumps, bombardier which I hate and an Axholme brew which wasn't too bad. Doubt I'll return though.

I’ve drunk on a couple of permanently moored ships before but never a barge, until my visit here late on a recent Wednesday afternoon. A small ramp leads up to the entrance and a small seating area at the top of the stairs that lead down to the bar area. The bar, along the right-hand wall, faces seating along the left. More seating is found under the stairs from the entrance. I didn’t spot any televisions but there was a jukebox playing some background music. I noted that a weekly quiz is held here on Mondays. The bar is stocked with standard keg and the two hand pumps were drawing Wells Bombardier and Axholme Brewery’s Cleethorpes Pale Ale. Pub grub is available, the burger is priced at £10.95. I found the service to be polite, but the floor was on the piss. It is only a slight list to the right, but it made me feel queasy, I was glad to leave even though this barge was quite pleasant. If I find myself here again, I think I will stick to one of the many picnic tables on terra firma out the front.

Curious set-up here - mostly conventional, with a permanently moored barge in the original town-centre port, some seating as you enter, and the main bar area below - but the whole thing has a slightly disconcerting 10° list which no-one else seemed to notice (apart, perhaps, from the few hardy souls sitting at one of the many quayside tables). Anyway, it does do real ale, with my pint of Hobgoblin (£3.10) being in good form, with the other one being Bombardier.