The Lowther, York

Despite being in a rather splendid period building, the interior has been totally rebuilt in a corporate lounge bar/restaurant style with little sign of age. There are several separate areas, generally floored with modern stone, and with a removable carvery section to the rear. The main draw is the large outdoor area on the river quayside but be warned that this is table service only to meet licensing requirements and drinks cannot be taken out from the bar. Draught ales were Theakston's Bitter, Bombardier and Doom Bar and condition was not great, despite Cask Marque listing. One for the masses and not a first choice for me.

Located adjacent to the River Ouse is the Lowther. The exterior suggest a traditional Victorian boozer, but the interior has been ripped out and replaced by contemporary furnishings. At the front of the pub is the bar that supports standard draught products and three hand pumps. During my recent Saturday afternoon visit one of these pumps was unused leaving Theakston’s Best and XB as the cask ale options. Food is available with pub grub mains coming in at around £8.50. At the rear of the pub is a seating area and flight of stairs that leads up to more seating, and maybe another bar (I didn’t investigate too much). The pub was half full and it was in here that I decided it was time to go home because I had enough of the drunken stag and hen parties that seemed to be in the majority of the Central York pubs. In a vain attempt to calm the drunks some soothing background music was playing, but this was countered by a plethora of drink deals being advertised on the plasma screen. My pint had an aftertaste of detergent and I was glad to escape.