The Riverside, Kelham Island, Sheffield

The Riverside official site - www.riversidesheffield.co.uk

The Riverside official site - www.riversidesheffield.co.uk

The Riverside Inn has more of a modern feel than a lot of the other pubs in the Kelham Island part of town and is aimed perhaps more at those who live in the student digs on the other side of the river. The pub has a broad L-shaped interior with dark wood flooring and half panelled walls which are painted a dark red above creating a warm ambiance. There’s a good mix of standard seating towards the front of the pub where a number of people were enjoying food, and big sofas and chairs at the rear, mainly clustered around the grand fireplace. I found it difficult to find a seat as there were quite a few tables reserved for diners on my early evening visit so I had to take my pint out to the pleasant riverside terrace, which has a number of benches and a sofa. A small room at the front of the pub with banquette seating and exposed brick walls was full of people watching football on the muted TV screen whilst a classic indie soundtrack played and added to the student vibe. There aren’t too many interesting features in the pub, but I did like the stained glass windows at the front of the room. The pub has a function room upstairs and I had a quick peek only to find it full of balloons, presumably in readiness for a private party that evening. I counted six ales on my visit – house brews Riverside Pale and Kraken Bitter plus Evil Genius, all from Brew Co, White Rose Best Bitter, Blue Bee Rugbee and Acorn Yorkshire Pride. My pint of evil Genius was lovely and shows that these guys know how to keep their beer, possibly meriting a GBG listing. Other options on the bar included Old Rosie Cloudy Scrumpy, Leffe, Belle Vue Kriek and Stowford Press Cider. As others have mentioned, the pub is well positioned to include on any crawl of the area’s best known pubs and it certainly doesn’t let itself down in such esteemed company. If the traditional ale house isn’t your thing, this is a great option for this part of town.

More like a modern bar than a pub but still comfortable and the bar staff were friendly. Brew Company Riverside Pale, White Rose Platinum Blonde, Empire Dog Days, Sheffield Tramlines, Kraken Bitter. There is some stiff competition around these parts, it wasn't one of our original must do pubs but still worth dropping in if time allows.