The Black Swan, York

Peter Forster left this review about The Black Swan

In the middle of Kirkbymoorside, a small Yorkshire town, two Swans stare at each other across the Market Place. At 14:45 on a Friday the White Swan was closed so, leaving that for another day I ventured to the dark side and visited the Black Swan. The pub is very old. Inside there are two large bar areas. What might be described as the lounge to the left. This was set out for food which is available from 17:00. To the right the public bar. This had modern wood floorboards and banquette seating running beneath the front windows. The sizeable wood bar had a bit of age but the general feeling was that the place had been a little unsympathetically done up in the last few decades. However beams were still exposed and the fairly low ceiling contributed to a comfortable atmosphere. The only really negative was the wide screen TV permanently showing sports guff. But that is a positive for many people so I shouldn’t complain. To the back a separate area housed a pool table. Beer wise Timothy Taylor’s Golden Best and Landlord were on hand pump and the usual Guinness/Eurofizz selection on a bridge font. With trepidation I ordered a half of the Landlord (£2.20). Once my favourite beer I fear it has dropped in quality this century. I was therefore pleasantly surprised that it was a nice pint, well looked after and a glimpse of its glory days (NBSS 3.5). The bar staff were very friendly, chatty and welcoming. I was the only customer when I arrived but around 15:15 locals started to drift in. This is the sort of place that I could easily spend a few hours, chatting and drinking good if unimaginative beer. I would happily return but probably not for the karaoke which I was informed was on Saturday. I give it a 7/10 but with a more interesting beer selection it could graduate to an 8/10.

On 7^th March 2026 - rating: 7
[User has posted 20 recommendations about 20 pubs]