The Borough, Lancaster

A bit posh this one, being an elegant building with portico the front part is described as like a gentlemen's club which is true up to a point given the décor and furnishing, including the chandeliers. Beyond the stained glass and wood dividing wall is the servery to one side and more seating to the other with the stairs up to the services in between. The pulls are split between the beers from the on-site brewery, at a rather large and most welcome £1 a pint Camra discount, and those of other small breweries. The beer quality and service are fine and it's in the GBG 2016.

I turned up here in the dark on a Friday night wondering if I was at the right place as I could see no illuminated identification and it looked like a restaurant or hotel. Once inside it was the right place and was packed. It was difficult getting to see the beers on offer but I did get to see that there were three of their own beers on and also spotted Well's Bombardier. I went for one of their own called Kilimanjaro (£3.60) which turned out to be in good condition but very undistinguished and expensive (I missed the CAMRA discount). I wasn't too keen on this place and thought it was very poncy, it might be better at a quieter time.

Occupying a corner position on Lancaster’s tree lined historic Dalton Square is The Borough, a pub which occupies two floors of a Grade 2 listed Georgian town house that has previously seen service as the Mayor of Lancaster’s house and also, perhaps unusually, a working men’s club. Formerly “The Blob Shop” (oh dear !) according to the CAMRA Whatpub website, it’s now a family owned and run upmarket pub/restaurant. A Victorian style frontage leads into a front drinking area which is, indeed, reminiscent of a gentlemans club, with deep red leather buttoned padded armchairs in the bay windows, chandeliers, oak panelled walls, tall black and white photos and a number of table lamps incorporating nude figurines. On the right hand wall, a rather imposing framed certificate tells us that one Thomas Taylor was admitted to membership of The British Institute of Embalmers in 1937. Passing under some etched frosted screens high up, one enters the rear part, which extends back a surprising long way. This area is much larger than the front area and, with subdued lighting and individually sectioned booths down the side, has a distinctly upmarket and aspirational ambience to it. The toilets are upstairs, as is a separate function room which, I gather, houses a Sunday night Comedy Club. The polished wood bar counter is on the right hand side, in what is effectively a narrowish corridor leading through to the restaurant area. There’s an outside yard at the back ( one hesitates to call it a “garden” ). The on site micobrewery, which commenced production in 2013, is situated in the cellar, directly under the bar. On my recent mid – September visit, three Borough beers ( Pale, Bitter and Summertime Dark ) were on alongside 2 beers from OSB Brewery plus one from Kirkby Lonsdale. Notably, also on were Wells Eagle IPA and Bombardier. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an establishment before where a CAMRA discount of as much as £1 is applied, although, even after that, my pint of Summertime Dark still came to £ 2.45p, not as cheap as one might expect. I ‘m not sure that I would have been desperately impressed at paying £ 3.45p for a 4% beer brewed virtually under where I was standing. For some reason, which I didn’t pursue, a prominent notice advised that the £1 CAMRA discount did not extend to the Wells Eagle IPA. Borough beers sampled were enjoyable and the engaging and friendly staff, who were also very knowledgeable about the beers, contrasted quite markedly with those at The Water Witch earlier in the day. I’d definitely want to come here again next time I’m in Lancaster.

A large converted townhouse on one of Lancaster's squares. It's got a fairly narrow frontage, but goes back a long way. The rear of the pub was totally given over to food with many tables taken and the rest with reserved signs on them on our Thursday late afternoon/early evening visit. The front area has deep, leather, buttoned armchairs and feels like a waiting room for the restaurant area. The clentele in this area all acted as if they owned the place and it was mainly full of suits & suitesses, who were all rather up their own arses. The pub has its own 2 barrel microbrewery and only their beers were on the bar. My pint was in good condition and there is a £1 per pint CAMRA discount. There needs to be, even with the discount the round was still more than it would have been in my CAMRA National Pub Of The Year winning local. I didn't take to this pub at all, although we may have caught it at a bad time, it's difficult to know.