House of the Trembling Madness, York

Certainly something different and treat yourself to something out of the ordinary. A bottle shop downstairs with a bar upstairs.

I like to pop into this bar as the guest beerare not the usual run of the mill. Wonderful, they had Great Yorkshire Chocolate Orange on, but 50p more than I had been paying for it elsewhere. It was in good condition though. The other beer available was Revolution Arctic Blonde. The room itself is decorated with many heads, feet and other bits of animals adorning the walls like an old baronial hall.

From the street, this place just looks like a bottle shop, with two ground floor rooms packed full of interesting bottled ales and foreign beers. But the staircase midway into the shop leads up to a pleasant bar in what appears to be a very old building. The room has white walls with plenty of dark wood beams, many of which are reputed to be old ships beams dating back hundreds of years, although I have no way of verifying this. There is a good mix of seating, including pews, banquettes, benches, standard chairs and a couple of low seats made from old barrels. A semi partitioned snug type area can be found near the top of the stairs, inside which there is a TV screen (turned off during my stay) and an animal skin stretched across one wall. This is a precursor to the amazing array of animal heads that dominate one wall, all of which seem to been given a fierce appearance by the taxidermist, which is fine for the lion’s head over the servery, but a bit unnecessary for the rabbit. The dead animal theme stands alongside a music theme, with various musical instruments tucked away in just about every nook and cranny going. It’s a slightly odd mix, but I thought it showed a bit of British eccentricity and gave the place plenty of character. Some plinky Spanish-style music was playing over the speakers, which got a bit annoying after a while, but aside from that, the pub has a good, relaxed vibe to it and even on a mid-week afternoon, there were quite a few customers in. There were only two hand pumps in operation, dispensing Red Willow Wreckless (£3.20) and Hop Studio XS. A strong keg range included Brooklyn Lager, Jever, Westmalle and Kwak, whilst a blackboard explained that three of Brewdog’s super strength bottles are available here (Tokyo, Sink the Bismarck and Tactical Nuclear Penguin). Red Willow beers are always a welcome sight and I enjoyed a lovely pint of the Wreckless, served to me by a very chatty barmaid. Food is available as well and the menu includes a few interesting dishes – not your typical pub fayre. Most main meals came in around the £9.00 mark. I always enjoy taking a look around the bottle shop downstairs, but this was my first time in the bar and I think the two compliment each other nicely. It might not be top of everyone’s list of pubs to visit in York, but I would certainly consider a re-visit if I was doing a crawl around the city centre.

Where do I start with this little diamond? The first thing I noticed when I entered the place was the ceiling. It was full of supporting wooden beams and arches. Then I noticed the many stuffed animal artefacts dotted around the room. It was a really cosy and intimate. Apparently it has only recently just opened, but by the amount of customers I’m sure it will be a huge success. The food what they was cooking looked really tasty and offered European cuisine. The Bratwurst sausages and burgers smelt terrific. Again the bar served European beers along with a fridge full of Belgian and German delights. I opted for the Schneider Weisse wheat beer which was divine but quite costly. My only minor gripe regarding the place was it’s limited handpumps. It only had two both being from the Buxton Brewery. I did sample one of them and they were very well kept. Aladdin’s cave it certainly was as a trip to the gents revealed a mass collection of various spirits including some very rare single malt whiskies. An absolute must when in York!

Official site of the House of the Trembling Madness - www.tremblingmadness.co.uk

Official site of the House of the Trembling Madness - www.tremblingmadness.co.uk

Reputed to be a medieval drinking hall, in reality it could have been anything, but the building is undoubtably very old. One main room with a small side room as you enter at the top of the stairs, which is where we sat. There's a box on the wall in here that says "Giant Spider, Do Not Open". Who knows what's really in there as you can't see in, but we didn't risk opening it either :-)) Lot's of old chunky furniture, stuffed animals and furs aroud the wall. I'm pleased to report that there is now a newly installed handpump on the bar. This was serving Thornbridge Ashford when we called in which was well kept. It must be a hell of a pull up from the cellar in the basement. It's a quirky little place, typical of York. We called late afternoon, I think we'll call in when it's dark outside next time as I suspect it's very atmospheric in the evening. A great addition to the York real ale scene.