Number Twenty 2, Darlington

Facebook page of Number Twenty 2 - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Number Twenty 2 - www.facebook.com

Upmarket middle-class place with smartly turned-out staff. Surprised it closes at 10pm on a Thursday as it was very busy and could have easily kept going for another hour. Unsure how much of the elegant and characterful interior is recent but suspect it has mostly been bussed-in from reclamations. Someone needs to give the place a spring clean as they still had a sign up for NYE 2024! Vast amount of ale pumps (and an inevitable GBG listing), too many for this tired correspondent to try and count (16, says the review below). There were three on from Village Brewer who were new to me so I plumped for Bull Premium which felt a bit aged/low turnover (NBSS 2.5) but that’s what vast cask offering can end-up doing to the laggard pump(s). Also available were a fair range of offbeat Euro keg and a couple of ciders. Overall it’s an oddity – I rather liked the pub but clearly there were too many ales on and just little things like the long-gone events sign made me wonder. Felt like it should be the best all-rounder in Darlo but missed the mark for me on this occasion. 7.5

Visited here earlier in the week. It had only been open for half an hour at most and there were already a few customers in by the time I arrived. There are 16 hand pulls in total but several of these are duplicated in a seemingly random fashion, which due to the spread of the pumps makes it a bit difficult to take them all in and make a decision. I did notice later there is a chalk board at one end of the bar listing the available beers. Some beers were mainstream nationals, others were more local. A real cider was also available (on the separate bank of four hand pulls at the far end of the bar near the toilets). I suspect this hasn't always been a pub, and despite the presence of pub like fixtures and fittings that have presumably been reclaimed from elsewhere, it has more of a wine bar vibe with its plinky plonky piano music. This is clearly Darlington's sophisticated real ale venue. My White Boar by Village Brewer was OK, and set me back £1.60 for a half, so the prices are reasonable. The presence of other customers gave this place a bit of atmosphere. I'd probably return here.

A laid-back bar on the edge of town which acts as the brewery tap for the Village Brewery, but has other interesting beers on the 10 handpumps. A nice comfortable feel to the place and will be happy to return

Very good pub with a fine selection of ales and ciders. Muted background music. Definitely worth a revisit.