User name:

Password:

Login

Sign in with Facebook

Not already a member?
Join our community and - Rate & review pubs - Upload pictures - Add events JOIN for free NOW

Chat about:
Random news of the day with Tris39 on the Pub Forum

The Blind Monkey, Walkley, Sheffield

279 Whitehouse Lane
Sheffield
S6 2WA

Return to pub summary

Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Blind Monkey

With a 4pm opening on weekdays, we arrived shortly after this pub had opened for the day. As such, there was just ourselves and the landlady throughout the duration of our visit. However, she was able to give us a potted history of the pub and a bit of a guided tour.

The pub has a very traditional feel with multiple rooms. Although much of it is new. The attention to detail is impressive and just when we thought we'd seen it all, the landlady showed us a large outdoor area to the side, much of it covered and with large TV screens for showing live sporting events and the like.

The pub is a Don Valley one. So Atomic Blonde & Gongoozler are regular beers. They also had their Best of You and a couple of guests from Nightjar - Easy Does It & Don't Overthink Your Socks. Craft beers were Tiny Rebel Cali Pale, Salt Huckaback, Brewdog Hazy Jane & Don Valley Zest For Life. There's a 10% discount for CAMRA card holders.

I have to say that I was left impressed by this backstreet pub. It's a strange mix of old and new, but you can tell that a lot of thought, effort and money has gone into making this into a pub with a traditional feel. I hope they can continue to make it a going concern.

On 1st February 2024 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Bucking Fastard left this review about The Blind Monkey

Not too far from the Blake Hotel and a good double header in these elevated locations above the Don Valley.The exterior is in heavy dark stone all very traditional so I was suprised by the modern sounding name.The interior is very impressive with two front snugs either side of the entrance door with lots of wood panelling to the left,leather bench seating and a whisky emporium glass display with art deco ornaments dotted about.The right snug is small but does have its own servery.
The bar is further back while opposite is a lovely ornate lounge with rich leather bound benches and lots of character and ornaments.There is a cellar bar ,not open on my trip but described by the barmaid as basic.There is Sky Sports but on mute on my Sunday lunchtime visit.The muzak was a little loud and the array of wall mounted keg taps on the bar back hint at a younger drinker focus when busy.There is a very decent beer garden at the rear,money has been spent here to create a positive vibe.
The ale options on my trip were Don Valley Back in Black,Go Your Own Way and Atomic Blonde (NBSS 4) along with Settle Marmalade Bitter and Ashover Font.
Deserves it's GBG listing and worth making the effort to get here,it might appeal to a younger crowd but still a decent pub.

On 6th February 2023 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Blind Monkey

Detached pub away from the main roads, with quite a shop-like frontage and a multi-room interior featuring lots of dark wood, low-level lighting and all sorts of this and that. Several real ales on offer, including Poets' Tipple from Ashover (£4.00) and at least one from Don valley Brewery..

On 6th April 2022 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Will Larter left this review about The Blind Monkey

Now reopened as the Blind Monkey, with a complete reorganisation of the interior of the pub. A lot of money has been spent on wood panelling and glass screens, on reproduction mirrors and light fittings (lots of them), and a kitchen and a garden. I was there tonight, and it was packed. I don't want to judge the place too harshly on its opening night, but I have to say that the beer was not in the right condition to be served - it was far too lively, and the very friendly and overworked bar staff were struggling to pour a pint properly. I'll come back another time when they have settled in; maybe a quiet weekday afternoon when I can get an appreciation of what the interior looks like without a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.

Date of visit: 27th April 2018

On 27th April 2018 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Will Larter left this review about The Firwood Cottage

This is a basic street corner local, the only one left of several that used to line Walkley Road and Whitehouse Lane. There's a dressed stone exterior and rough plastered walls inside, where a small corner bar is the first thing to be seen on entering. The bar does extend to the rear, but that has the look of an overspill room which was not in use on the Sunday afternoon when I called in. There's no real ale - just keg or smooth Tetleys, Magnet, Stones and John Smiths Crap, as well as various lagers.

There was a friendly atmosphere with lively conversations in local dialect about football and fishing, and other subjects beginning with F, or requiring liberal use of adjectives starting with that letter. On the walls are 1930s film posters, on the CD player 1980s pop music. This was my first time in here although I've lived just over a mile away for more than fifteen years. The absence of real ale doesn't encourage me to return very soon.

On 26th January 2014 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]