The Brown Cow, York

The brown Cow is located in the back streets between Walmagte Bar and and Fishergate Bar. This is a Sam Smith tied house that attracts a lot of the local riff raff from the surrounding estate. once inside there are two rooms, a Comfy lounge with soft seating or the more open plan bar with less seating and pools and darts. This pub has very strange opening times and has been closed on three previous attempts to visit, all on different days at different times. I finally got in one Saturday evening and the place was absolutely dead, not a sole in bar me and my friend. We were informed by the bar girl that the pub is more popular to the daytime drinkers. A few very shady characters joined the pub while we were there and we did get some unwanted attention. It was clear to us this was a locals pub and visitors are not encouraged. This along with the Kings Arms is the only Sam Smiths pub in York not to sell Cask Old Brewery Bitter, only the keg option. I opted for this and it seemed like this had not been used in a very long time (the locals all drink lager) and the taste supported this, not a nice drink in here. This is a really rough and ready pub for the rough er type of people off the estate, not the sort of place to go in search of, apart from the always good Sam smiths prices avoid this pub like the plague, bad beer, intimidating clientele and a stone cold atmosphere all contribute to this dire establishment.

The Brown Cow is a Sam Smiths local that smelt of old fart during a recent Friday afternoon visit. I began my visit in the small right hand bar that houses some seating before moving to the larger left hand bar. In here more seating can be found alongside a pool table that was being used by some locals. The bar is stocked with the usual array of SS draught products and there are no hand pumps. Unsurprisingly there was no music or sign of a television, but enough entertainment was reaped from a couple of inebriated old Yorkshire down and out folk. This is not a pub I will be revisiting on my next visit to York.