Portland House, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

Official site of The Portland House - www.theportlandhouse.co.uk

A new micro-pub in a converted baker's shop, it is owned by Welbeck Abbey brewery: their first venture into pub ownership. A longish bar occupies most of the right hand wall, and features six hand pumps centrally placed, with keg fonts either side (Black Jack, Pivo, Kozel and Pilsner Urquell). The real ales are mostly from Welbeck Abbey, with two guests. As with most micros, I find that once more than about eight people are gathered, it becomes pretty noisy. This is partly because of the confined space, but perhaps mainly because of the unrelenting hard surfaces, in this case bare floorboards, wooden tables and chairs, and a tiled wall behind the bar. Anyway, service was friendly and helpful, and the beers were in good condition, so this one fills a gap on Ecclesall Road very nicely.