Hillsborough Tap, Hillsborough, Sheffield

A slightly false start in that they had removed all naming and branding from the outside, what looked like the main door proved to be the fire escape and what look like the fire escape was the main door. Anyway, once having gained entry, this proved to be larger than most shop conversions and more salubrious, with tasteful decor and lighting and even a carpet. No industrial tat at all! Alewise it had two from Little Critters and Abbeydale Moonshine. Not unpleasant on the whole.

Visited here yesterday. I have been once before, back in 2017, so thought it was time to refresh my memory while I was in the area. At the bar are five hand pulls, at the time of my visit offering Wainwright Altitude (labelled as coming soon), Little Critters Raspberry Blonde, Kelham Island Easy Rider, Rosie's Pig Rhubarb and one pump unclipped. I haven't seen Wainwright Altitude before, but apparently it is a chilled cask ale served at 5° C. I went for the Raspberry Blonde, which had a nice raspberry taste to it. Both Little Critters and Kelham Island are based in Sheffield, so good to see a couple of local ales on. At the time of my visit, which was around 3:30pm on a Tuesday, the place had a few customers in at the more mature end of the spectrum. One chap seemed almost zombie like as he stared at a TV playing "funny vines" while nursing what was left of his pint of Carling. Other TVs were showing Sky News but muted. Music was playing at a slighter louder volume than you would expect during the daytime but in the sunshine it felt like a British bar abroad. The bar itself is quite smart, the rest of the place looks like it had a quick paint job during its last refurb. Not unpleasant but not high end - but then you could argue that the décor matches the customers. There is a motorbike in the ceiling recess in front of the bar, complete with fake rider wearing flippers. All in all, nice enough at the time of my visit though I can imagine it gets a bit lively when it has any sports events showing.

Official site of Hillsborough Tap - www.hillsboroughtap.co.uk

Official site of Hillsborough Tap - www.hillsboroughtap.co.uk