Monarchs, Southwell

An unusual combination of barber shop and bar, it’s well located in the middle of the High Street, and both parts of the business do operate independently, at least in terms of opening times. When I was in there on a Saturday evening, the two barber’s chairs had been turned around so they were facing away from the mirrors, and were presumably intended to be used by drinkers, as there was a small table between them with a couple of beer mats on. Décor wise it does seem more like a bar than a barber’s, with attractive slate style tiling on the floor and much distressed wood cladding on the walls. The bar counter, also wood clad, ran along the back, whilst the seating, besides the two barber’s chairs, were padded and comfy chairs. A couple of TV screens were on opposite walls which seemed rather overbearing I thought, although at least the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. Fairly predictably there were no real ales on tap, and indeed little in the way of any keg either, with Neck Oil being the only option. Ciders fared no better with just Inch’s Medium Apple being available. On one hand I guess that the landlord should be applauded for diversifying his business model, but this place really didn’t do it for me, not that it was in any way unpleasant. Indeed the barman and other punters seemed quite friendly, but the dominance of the TV’s and the lack of any decent beer options mean that it’s not somewhere I’d be likely to return to.