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Image posted by Just a quick pint, then I'm off
Submitted on Saturday, 8th September 2018
With picture contributions to 9888 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (14 more images)
Detail Pages
Poetic License, Sunderland
Roker
Postal town: Sunderland
SR6 9ND
Served areas
Reviews of Poetic License (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Poetic License
With time for one last pub in the North East, we headed to Sunderland to try this hotel bar which looks out over the beach and the North Sea.
You enter through the Roker Hotel lobby and have to wait at a podium to be greeted. You wait and wait and wait.
Eventually a chirpy waitress arrived to show us to a table. There are 5 handpulls. But none were clipped. After another wait, I asked what real ale they served. She started listing some beers. But alarm bells started ringing when Beavertown Neck Oil was mentioned. I'm not aware of that being sold in cask.
Nevertheless, I plumped for the S43 Trail Blazer, which arrived as a cold keg beer, as I'd anticipated.
Service in this place was clearly very stretched, with a severe shortage of staff. Those that were there were very accommodating. But we witnessed a number of customers come and go without being served due to the lengthy delays.
The entrance from the hotel into the bar leads into a nice area overlooking the coast. Beyond that is a darker area with much more seating. There was also a popular covered area outdoors, jutting into the car park.
A little disappointing. It would certainly benefit from a real ale or two.
On 1st November 2020
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about Poetic License
Visited again yesterday lunchtime. Five hand pulls, all on, all offering Sonnet 43 beers. Pricing was between £3.88 and £4.58 a pint. On the keg taps were two Sonnet 43 beers plus Beavertown Neck Oil.
On this visit I discovered that Poetic License has its own toilets towards past the bar, so I needn't have unwittingly ventured into the lobby of the Roker Hotel on my previous visit.
Nice beer and I'm sure I will pay another visit at some point.
On 22nd January 2020
- rating: 8
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about Poetic License
Visited last week, early afternoon. There were two Sonnet 43 ales on cask plus Double Maxim, and a couple of blank pumps if memory serves me correctly. There were a couple of keg options too, though I didn't pay much attention to those.
It's a nice modern feeling place, bare brick feature walls, a big bar area. As the previous reviewer has noted, it appears to be attached to the Roker Hotel - something I only discovered on nipping to the loo and finding myself in the hotel lobby to get to the gents.
I didn't make a note of the prices but my Newton's Lowdown (Tafelbier) by Sonnet 43 was a decent beer in good nick. I noticed they also had on The Raven Bourbon Milk Stout which I have had before and found to be very enjoyable.
I'd happily visit again.
On 20th February 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
View more reviews of Poetic License (5)
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- Official site of Poetic License - poeticlicensebar.co.uk
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Poetic License - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : Yes last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 25 June 2015 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Beer Garden : Yes - some front terrace seating - last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - 20p per pint on Sonnet43 beers only - last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : Yes last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 25 June 2015 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 25 June 2015 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Jukebox : No last updated 25 June 2015 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 25 June 2015 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Micropub : No last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Real Ale : No last updated 01 November 2020 by Blue Scrumpy
- Real Cider : No last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 06 February 2017 by ROB Camra
