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The Punch Bowl, Crookes, Sheffield
Sheffield
S10 1TH
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Punch Bowl
Since my previous review this pub has been in the hands of Greene King but has now been taken over by local True North brewing and pub company. It reopened in autumn 2019 after a refurbishment, and now features six hand pumps on the bar: three with their own beers (brewed behind the Forum Cafe Bar on the corner of Devonshire Green in the city centre), plus two from Bradfield and one from Blue Bee, so three local breweries represented. I went for the True North Best Bitter, which I have had before at the York down the road in Broomhill, where in my opinion their beers are seldom in very good nick; or perhaps it's just not a very good beer, as today's experience would suggest. Does this pub sell enough cask beer to justify six on the bar? A quiet Monday afternoon visit does not provide enough evidence one way or the other. Am I likely to come back at a busier time of week? The jury's out on that one too.
On 9th December 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3724 recommendations about 3461 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Punchbowl
Now in the same ownership as the Rutland Arms, the Closed Shop and the Three Tuns, the Punchbowl has had an extensive refurbishment and now specialises in pizza. This is not to say that you can't get a beer here - in fact the previous incarnation as a Friday night lager palace just seems like a bad dream, as there are eight hand pumps now lining the bar.
The new owners, Reet Ale Pubs, have also bought local Blue Bee Brewery, and three of their beers were available at the time of our visit: Lustin for Stout, Reet Pale and Golden Equinox. In addition there were Greene King London Glory, Brains SA, Sharps Doom Bar and two others whose names I am unable to decipher from my contemporaneous notes (hic). A slight criticism would be how bland and similar the beers I tasted were to each other - maybe the selection will change over time.
The apparent bare brick wall in the corner turned out to be trompe l'oeil wallpaper, but elsewhere there were mostly plain walls with subdued grey paint. It certainly seemed an improvement from my recollection of a previous visit under the former owners, when this was a fairly rowdy sports bar. Now there are no TVs showing sport at all, and children are welcome. The pizzas gained the approval of my Italian partner and apart from the occasional intrusion of loud music, this was a pleasant pub visit for us. In truth, we have not been back since, mostly because I was not particularly impressed by any of the beers on offer. Perhaps we'll try again soon.
Date of visit: 3rd March 2016
On 26th May 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3724 recommendations about 3461 pubs]