Burlington Tavern, Hull

As recounted in my reviews of the Clarendon and the Punch Hotel, I had been in the process of bidding farewell to Hull after a weekend of cycling, camping, rugby league and non-league football, but had been delayed by the cancellation of my train. With a further 20 minutes before the next train, having killed time in looking for a different pub but finding it closed, I ended up here, within easy cycling distance of Paragon station. This was another central Hull pub that I had always ignored because of an absence of real ale, but having already broken the ice, so to speak, by drinking Theakstons Dark and John Smiths Smooth in my first two pubs, I was going to go for the trifecta with a Worthington Creamflow here. This is a busy street-corner local, even on a Sunday afternoon, and once I'd been served I went to find a seat in the quieter part of the pub, to the rear relative to the door on Alfred Gelder Street, but in a corner by the door leading onto Manor Street if going by the official address. The bar counter and the cupboards on the wall near where I was sitting looked interesting, but I had no way of knowing how old they might be. And they were only interesting when compared to what was in my glass, which was cold, lacking in flavour and not very interesting at all. Date of visit: 14th August 2022

Two handpumps - unclipped, I didn’t stay, it had bouncers and unsavoury punters so I wouldn’t have stayed long anyway.

On the Northern fringe of Hull's Old town, the Burlington Tavern is a simple street corner local's pub that was doing a brisk trade on my Saturday evening visit. The pub has a simple staple shaped layout, probably opened out from a former two-bar configuration, but now with the servery along one wall and two similarly sized expanded areas at either end. The area opposite the bar sees comfy banquettes run under windows which bear the pub's name, whilst the servery itself sports a nice dark wood counter and part tiled, part mirrored bar back, but the star of the show has to be the decorative rail adorned with elephant head carvings which runs around the counter. There is a good deal of standard seating in the relatively spacious area to the right of the bar, with old drawings, a few mirrors, a juke box and a TV screen showing a repeat of a football match from earlier in the day to distract the eye. Over on the left hand side of the bar, beyond a few small screens at the end of the counter, there is a modest space with limited seating, decorative mirrors, cabinets full of books and another TV screen showing the same match. Music played fairly loudly throughout my visit and although I was able to get a seat opposite the bar, the place was only a couple of people short of being uncomfortably busy, which at least suggests it is doing something right in the eyes of the locals. There are four handpulls on the bar and these were dispensing Sharps Doom Bar and Atlantic and Wells A Good Stuffing, with the final pump out of action. I tried a pint of the Atlantic, which set me back £3.20 and was in reasonably good shape. It seemed that quite a few customers were giving the ale a try, which I thought was an encouraging sign. The bar staff were functional enough but not particularly friendly or welcoming and even seemed a bit distant with their regulars. This is a reasonably functional city centre pub that has a few nice little touches and worked quite well in a bustling Saturday night environment. The ale range might benefit from something local, rather than beers from Cornwall and Bedford, but the unadventurous selection seemed to suit the locals well enough. I quite liked the feel of this place whilst I was there but it didn't really leave much of an impression beyond that. A reliable, no frills option.

A small L shaped one roomer with a decent firplace, but not much else of note. It was quite busy on my Thursday, late afternoon visit with the post work crowd. Definitely a locals pub, but more of the office worker type than some of the other pubs just outside the city centre. Four handpumps on the bar with three beers available. My pint of Saltaire Pride was in OK nick, but a bit expensive at £3.40 for what it is.