Red Deer, Sheffield

The Red Deer is a tidy little back street pub in a handy location for many of the University buildings. You enter into an L-shaped carpeted bar area with dark wood panelling and white walls. There are a couple of fireplaces, suggesting previous partitioning and the room is fitted out with some functional banquette and low stool seating. The place feels a bit bare, with a couple of plain mirrors on the walls and a row of pump clips on one of the beams, which means that it all feels a bit characterless, although it’s also fair to say that it looked spotless on my visit as well, so they clearly take pride in their pub. At the rear of the room, beyond the servery, there is a raised seating area which was full with diners during my late-lunchtime visit. The menu looked like good value, with main meals of the standard pub grub variety around the £6-8 mark. Music seems to be a big part of the pub’s identity from the soundtrack playing quietly in the background to the various posters advertising live music performances in the pub’s function room, as well as the latest music magazines alongside the daily papers on the bar counter. There is also a movie lounge that shows a sci-fi movie each Sunday. The pub is GBG listed and there was a healthy number of hand pumps, albeit dispensing what might be deemed a fairly mainstream line-up – St Austell Tribute, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Bath Gem, Kelham Island Easy Rider, Adnams Broadside and Moorhouse Pride of Pendle. The Bath Gem was a decent drop and I was served by a cheery young barmaid who was enjoying some good banter with a couple of scousers who were propping up the bar. This might not be Sheffield’s most exciting pub and the bland decor means it won’t live long in the memory, but I thought it was a welcoming place and therefore a decent enough spot to retreat to for a quiet pint.

This is my favourite Sheffield pub, hands down. The quality of the ale is unparalleled, and they serve a wide variety of interesting local and regional ales from 9 handpumps. There's an excellent whisky selection as well. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, with friendly bar staff always willing to provide a recommendation or have a chat. There's a nice beer garden out back with graffiti from local artists. The function room upstairs is home to a wide variety of events, including comedy nights, folk music, university seminars, and meetings. The 8:30 Tuesday quiz is a popular event that I particularly enjoy--rounds cover all sorts of interesting topics, and there's always a creative component. I've been coming here for over a year, and I've never been disappointed by the quality of the products or the service provided. Highly recommended!