The Maltings, York

Located a short walk from the train station. 7 real ales, 2 "craft" keg and food served.

This is a welcoming, compact two room pub, just a short walk from York railway station. The interior is fairly dark, thanks to the predominance of dark wood panelling and the tile floor. Unusually, the ceiling appears to be constructed from old doors, which gives the place a bit of quirky charm. You enter into the bar area, with the servery on the rear wall and bench and low stool seating either side of the front door. Lots of nice old enamel advertisement signs decorate the walls, covering a range of products from years gone by. There is a fireplace on the left hand wall, which also serves the new second room – part of a much needed extension that opened recently. This room has a wooden floor with a fair bit more seating, mostly in the shape of low stools, and gives access to a small outdoor area to the side of the pub. There are menus on most tables and a quick flick through one suggested good, hearty pub grub at reasonable prices, with most main meals around the £6.50 mark. TV’s and music are notable for their absence and a sign outside rightly notes that this is the sort of pub where you can master the art of conversation. The beer range here is one of the pub’s great strengths with a well put together selection covering various styles and strengths. On my visit the choice was from Roosters Franklin (£3.10), Black Sheep Bitter, Peakstones Rock Oblivion, York Guzzler, Revolutions Fairytale, Milestone Donner & Blitzed and Downton Dark Delight. In addition, there is a decent keg range including the likes of Kozel and Brewdog Punk IPA. Boards detailed four ciders, twenty-five whiskies and a simple wine list, which should cover the needs of any discerning drinker. Should further evidence of the pub’s excellence be required, I should point out that opposite the bar there is a certificate declaring the Maltings to be the ‘AFC Bournemouth Exiles Pub of the Year – Season 1998/99’. As an avid Cherries fan myself, I can think of no finer recommendation. This is a nice, cosy drinker’s pub that focuses on the things that make pub-going a real pleasure. I can only agree with ROB about the success of the extension and would suggest that this should be one of the first pubs to consider for any crawl around York, which, in a city with such a great drinking scene, is no mean feat.

Popped in for a quick pint between the city and the railway station on a busy saturday early evening (14th Jan), the pub was nicely buzzing - busy but the staff were their usual professional and fast serving selves in spite of the usual ditherers who take an age to choose a beer off the blackboards, still given the wide range of ales available that may be understandable. I had Nook Cherry Stout which was a quite marvellous pint. I still managed to get a seat at a table that was thankfully clean and free of debris unlike in some popular pub chains I could mention. Trade doesn't seem to have suffered as a result of the York Tap opening up the road, there is obviously room for the eccentricity of the Maltings along side the metrosexual appeal of the York Tap in the beer mecca that is York.

My partner and I revisited this pub on Saturday January 7. We found staff reluctant to stop talking to their friends in order to serve us drinks.Found the beers to be mediocre. Staff seemed fanatical with clearing/cleaning the tables. The table in front of us was cleaned 3 times in 10 minutes! We only just put empty glasses on the table when they were removed and the table cleaned!! This delightful pub now seems to be more concerned with customers wanting food than those wanting a good pint or two of beer!