The Inferno, Bournemouth

Student bar, as described below. I might have been unlucky, but the general atmosphere at a lunchtime was not good, while service was very poor. Draught ales on pump were two Ringwoods and Doom Bar, sadly only the latter was in fact available and not in very good condition despite Cask Marque listing.

Well-described below, this is a student/urban professionals place which is done out in a fairly modern and impersonal manner. Two levels inside in two-tone blue with over-loud piped music on a quiet weekday evening (presumably turns into a stag and hen venue at weekends?). However there’s salvation at the bar with Otter Bitter, DBC Tom Brown and Jurassic Smoulder on – a decent line-up and my DBC was in good shape too. Also a variety of craft keg, plus Old Rosie cider. Like the nearby Spoons, the availability of some interesting ale in decent shape helps make this worth seeking out if you’re in central Bournemouth. Despite saying ‘Brew House’ on the outside there was no evidence of brewing within.

This student friendly pub takes its name from the former fire station which stands next door and is now a student union bar and live music venue. The pub has a fairly deep but narrow layout, opening out slightly to the rear. You enter into a lower level space with a limited amount of seating. There are scuffed bare floorboards throughout the pub and a few steps lead up to the main bar area with the servery on the left and mixed seating, a juke box and air hockey table opposite. The walls are plastered with gig posters and old vinyl records and although I don’t recall watching gigs here in the past, I do remember attending many in the Old Fire Station next door where, ironically, it was common for performances to be interrupted by a dodgy fire alarm, resulting in the band and punters all traipsing outside before the all clear was given. The place is quite dimly lit and has a bit of that slightly uncared for feel that student bars tend to give off. Rather annoyingly, I somehow failed to miss four cask ales racked up behind the lower section of the bar and ended up with a half decent Guinness for £3.20. It was only as I was about to leave that I spotted casks containing DBC Durdle Door, Equinox and Flashman’s Clout plus Tiny Rebel Fubar. Adding insult to injury, as I left the pub I also noticed a huge A-board that I must have passed on my way in promoting the DBC ales. Oh well...next time. There were also four ‘box in a bag’ ciders and Magners Golden Draught on tap. I didn’t hold out much hope for this place but it turned out to be pretty decent and had attracted a fairly mixed crowd for somewhere so clearly geared up towards students. I’d definitely return to try some of the ale, especially as it’s only a short walk from the train station.

The Inferno was very quiet during my recent Saturday afternoon visit as there were more people sitting on the picnic tables out the front than inside the pub. The interior is long and thin and there are a couple of pool tables at the rear. Sky Sports is advertised and there was some background music playing off the jukebox at a reasonable volume. To the right of the entrance is a flight of stairs, but I didn’t venture up them to have a nose around. The bar runs along the left hand wall where standard draught products can be purchased. The barman was friendly, but my pint was served in a plastic vessel even though I said that I wouldn’t be drinking outside. Various drink promotions are available and cheap pub grub is served daily until 21:00. There is a quiz every Sunday from 20:00 and live music is advertised at the weekends. This pub has a late license until midnight/1am throughout the week. I’ve been in worse pubs, but I couldn’t spend an extended period in a pub where the customers cannot be trusted to use glasses.