Bar 1857 @ The Cutlers Hotel, Sheffield

Official site of Best Western Cutlers Hotel - www.bestwestern.co.uk

Official site of Best Western Cutlers Hotel - www.bestwestern.co.uk

A hotel bar with a twist - a recent makeover involving Thornbridge Brewery that, on closer examination, consists of not much more than a couple of windows featuring their name and logo, plus a commemoration of Sheffield FC, the oldest football club in the world. The Jaipur Bar is up a few steps to the left of the hotel reception, and is a fairly small room filled with ordinary dining tables and chairs, with a few high chairs at the bar the only concession to drinkers. The A-board outside promises beers at £2.50 a pint on "Thirsty Thursday" and "Fun Friday" (between 5pm and 9.30 both days), so I thought I'd give it a try even though Thornbridge is far from being a favourite of mine. On the bar are three glass-dome covered plates, with flapjack, cake and scones to tempt anyone who's popped in for a coffee. Once you've dragged your eyes away from these goodies, it's apparent that the beer offering is limited to three fonts, serving Beck's Vier and two beers from Thornbridge: Jaipur and the even more lagerish Tzara. I negotiated a half each of Jaipur and Tzara for the price of a pint (normal price around £3.90, so the reduction to £2.50 is quite a saving). As I contemplated them I was thinking about renewing my Camra membership and remembering what it was like in the bad old days of cold, fizzy keg beers. I was the only customer in the place in all the time it took to wait for my beers to reach a temperature at which it would be safe to drink them without cracking my tooth enamel, which was quite a long time. It'll be an even longer time before I consider another visit to the Jaipur Bar. Anyone staying at the hotel would do much better to venture out to some of the many excellent pubs in Sheffield's city centre if they want a drink.