The Golden Ball, Scarborough

Sam Smith’s pub with the bar on the first floor and giving a great view of the harbour. Panelled interior with the counter at one end, obviously just the one pull with OBB in good condition plus the usual little boxes. Classic barmaid and normal Sam’s type customers.

Peculiar-looking building, with a mock-Tudor second storey perched above the plainer façade of the lower two levels. Excellent views from the Harbour Bar (if you can get a seat), or more space available in the rather dour Mariner's Lounge further back. Traditional furniture and restrained decor throughout, but lots of bossy notices about this, that and the other. Also has a patio area to the rear. As a Sam Smiths house, only OBB was available on handpump, so I opted for the bottled Taddy Porter (£3.80). Great location, but all a bit odd.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a half timbered tudor style pub, but this appears to be one. Unusually you have to go upstairs to the bar and the pubs two rooms. The rear room is nicely decorated with wooden panelling and padded seating. The front room (the habour bar) is similar, but smaller with some bar stools as well. Children are not allowed in the front room, so the choice was obvious. It's a Sam Smiths pub, so the cask ale is limited to OBB, which was served much too cold, by the friendly barmaid. There are great views of the harbour from this room, hence the name I guess. I've been in this pub many times and it's the only possible option on the seafront unless you want to sing karaoke. There are much better pubs up in the town, but it's OK for one.

Date of visit - September 2013 Occupying a prominent street corner position on Scarborough’s seafront, amongst a plethora of amusement arcades and rather tacky souvenir / discount shops is The Golden Ball, an attractive looking pub with an black and white Tudor style frontage, unusually only at the upper level. Outside, we are greeted by a whole multitude of off putting notices laying out the ground rules and telling us what we can and can’t do – dogs in beer garden only, no prams or buggies, children in Mariners Lounge – must be off premises by 7pm, toilets for customers use only … etc, etc ( there’s quite a few more that I couldn’t be bothered to record ) The bars are at first floor level with the Mariners Lounge on the left at the back of the pub and the Harbour Bar at the front with the window seats affording fine views of the lighthouse and of the South Bay. The Harbour Bar is a cosy pleasant lounge style bar with light pine wood panelling, comfortable padded seating and bar stools and decorated with nautical prints and photos. The Mariners Lounge is in similar style and is somewhat larger, but has no separate servery. There’s apparently a large garden at the back, which I didn’t get to visit. Several old photos on the staircase leading up to the bar reveal that it was formerly a Bass pub, but it’s now a Sam Smiths house – the only one in Scarborough, apparently, - with the OBB being, predictably, the only real ale available. In true Sam’s style, it’s a music and TV free zone. The pub has a good local following and seems to appeal also to the more discerning holidaymaker, who is not particularly well catered for by the other various sea front drinking establishments. This is a good spot for a quiet relaxing pint in a welcoming and convivial atmosphere.

made a visit on wednesday lunchtime and was not dissapointed friendly atmosphere great beer.had a couple of samuel smith old brewery bitter 4.0% also been served old brewery mild, well worth a another visit

Visited Tuesday lunchtime, late October. The pub is as described by others, but all the bars, and toilets are up a couple of flights of stairs, so those unable to manage stairs are out of luck. There seems to be a lower, ground floor, but door was locked & it seems to be used for storage, see comment by Harry Russell Luckily I can manage stairs, so up I went. The back, upper floor, room has comfy armchairs, a couple playing Connect 4, others reading papers etc, more like a gentleman's club, but you have to get drinks from lower bar & carry up. There was space at the lower bar, so pulled up a bar stool, and following Soup Dragon advice, had a pint of Mild, and very nice it was too Others have described the friendly atmosphere, staff, view etc, I just want to confirm this still stands

Charming Sam Smith's pub with superb views over the seafront and harbour. As you'd expect, the usual supply of SS produce, (including their cold and nasty real ale OBB) but given the stupidly low prices, it becomes a rather more palatable proposition. The interior is all wood panelling, maritime themed and comfy seating, as well as having a real fire on the go during the colder months - if you bag a seat next to it I can guarantee you won't be leaving there in a hurry. It's pretty small for the location, so it probably isn't worth visiting on the weekend during summer but out of season it comes into its own.