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The Borough, Lancaster
Lancaster
LA1 1PP
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Borough
Upmarket bar / restaurant in one of many fine old buildings on Dalton Square. There are various seating and dining areas around the side servery, plus a patio beer garden at the back. I did eat, and the food was good, and despite the prices it was doing good business on a Tuesday evening so place definitely has its own market. Four (or possibly five, if the clipless modern Sharps Atlantic pull was operational) of the eight handpumps were in use, with the Dales Way (£4.00) being one of the three Dent beers available.
On 10th October 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8480 recommendations about 8480 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The Borough
they now take cash payments again, or at least they took my £5 note tonight, so looks like that one backfired on them. the in house brewery has also now ceased, so Lancaster’s premier brewpub is no more. However, this has made more space for other beers, of which four were from the ‘Westgate’ brewery, one from the rebooted Higsons and a further bitter from a vague handwritten clip. Nice pub, nice beer, still pretentious.
On 9th February 2020
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1126 recommendations about 1091 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Borough
I can remember this place from the 1970s when it was called the Borough Club, so it would have been a club for council employees. The steward used to call in at the betting shop where I worked on the opposite side of Dalton Square, with his bets and those of several of the club members too. I only went in once or twice, and it wasn't anything like as smart as the present pub, which is modelled on an idea of a gentlemen's club rather than a council employees'. The bar is to the rear and placed sideways, with two groups of four hand pumps, and eight beers allegedly on, though my half of Horner Brothers Pavilion Pale was in fact off, as I discovered when I started to drink. It was replaced promptly, but this was the only real ale from the house brewery on the bar at the time of my visit, though two or three keg versions were available, so I had the Kirkby Lonsdale Stanleys, which was in good condition. (See photos for other beers.) I'm not sure this pub has the through-put to sustain eight real ales, and if they don't even taste or check the beers on pulling through first thing...
Date of visit: 23rd July 2019
On 16th August 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 4069 recommendations about 3766 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The Borough
does absolutely nothing for me. majestic building and location... but ultimately it's a stately home selling overpriced food and beer to posers. there are enough good pubs in Lancaster to avoid this place...
On 16th April 2018
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1126 recommendations about 1091 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Borough
Took some time for a bar staff member to arrive at the bar to the right hand side. There were eight hand pumps, three of which were not on and the rest were weak in strength. One big room, very elegant.
On 15th July 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about The Borough
A bit posh this one, being an elegant building with portico the front part is described as like a gentlemen's club which is true up to a point given the décor and furnishing, including the chandeliers. Beyond the stained glass and wood dividing wall is the servery to one side and more seating to the other with the stairs up to the services in between. The pulls are split between the beers from the on-site brewery, at a rather large and most welcome £1 a pint Camra discount, and those of other small breweries. The beer quality and service are fine and it's in the GBG 2016.
On 6th March 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3445 recommendations about 3133 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Borough
I turned up here in the dark on a Friday night wondering if I was at the right place as I could see no illuminated identification and it looked like a restaurant or hotel. Once inside it was the right place and was packed. It was difficult getting to see the beers on offer but I did get to see that there were three of their own beers on and also spotted Well's Bombardier. I went for one of their own called Kilimanjaro (£3.60) which turned out to be in good condition but very undistinguished and expensive (I missed the CAMRA discount). I wasn't too keen on this place and thought it was very poncy, it might be better at a quieter time.
On 30th November 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about The Borough
Another lovely pub in Lancaster. The reviews below describe the place so nothing for me to add about that. The beer is quite good. As with real ale its either good or foul and you take your chances. Oh and Mr Camra was spot on about some of the knobs and knobesses that can be in.
On 4th March 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Borough
Occupying a corner position on Lancaster’s tree lined historic Dalton Square is The Borough, a pub which occupies two floors of a Grade 2 listed Georgian town house that has previously seen service as the Mayor of Lancaster’s house and also, perhaps unusually, a working men’s club. Formerly “The Blob Shop” (oh dear !) according to the CAMRA Whatpub website, it’s now a family owned and run upmarket pub/restaurant.
A Victorian style frontage leads into a front drinking area which is, indeed, reminiscent of a gentlemans club, with deep red leather buttoned padded armchairs in the bay windows, chandeliers, oak panelled walls, tall black and white photos and a number of table lamps incorporating nude figurines. On the right hand wall, a rather imposing framed certificate tells us that one Thomas Taylor was admitted to membership of The British Institute of Embalmers in 1937.
Passing under some etched frosted screens high up, one enters the rear part, which extends back a surprising long way. This area is much larger than the front area and, with subdued lighting and individually sectioned booths down the side, has a distinctly upmarket and aspirational ambience to it.
The toilets are upstairs, as is a separate function room which, I gather, houses a Sunday night Comedy Club. The polished wood bar counter is on the right hand side, in what is effectively a narrowish corridor leading through to the restaurant area. There’s an outside yard at the back ( one hesitates to call it a “garden” ).
The on site micobrewery, which commenced production in 2013, is situated in the cellar, directly under the bar. On my recent mid – September visit, three Borough beers ( Pale, Bitter and Summertime Dark ) were on alongside 2 beers from OSB Brewery plus one from Kirkby Lonsdale. Notably, also on were Wells Eagle IPA and Bombardier. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an establishment before where a CAMRA discount of as much as £1 is applied, although, even after that, my pint of Summertime Dark still came to £ 2.45p, not as cheap as one might expect. I ‘m not sure that I would have been desperately impressed at paying £ 3.45p for a 4% beer brewed virtually under where I was standing. For some reason, which I didn’t pursue, a prominent notice advised that the £1 CAMRA discount did not extend to the Wells Eagle IPA.
Borough beers sampled were enjoyable and the engaging and friendly staff, who were also very knowledgeable about the beers, contrasted quite markedly with those at The Water Witch earlier in the day.
I’d definitely want to come here again next time I’m in Lancaster.
On 6th October 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Borough
A large converted townhouse on one of Lancaster's squares. It's got a fairly narrow frontage, but goes back a long way. The rear of the pub was totally given over to food with many tables taken and the rest with reserved signs on them on our Thursday late afternoon/early evening visit. The front area has deep, leather, buttoned armchairs and feels like a waiting room for the restaurant area. The clentele in this area all acted as if they owned the place and it was mainly full of suits & suitesses, who were all rather up their own arses. The pub has its own 2 barrel microbrewery and only their beers were on the bar. My pint was in good condition and there is a £1 per pint CAMRA discount. There needs to be, even with the discount the round was still more than it would have been in my CAMRA National Pub Of The Year winning local. I didn't take to this pub at all, although we may have caught it at a bad time, it's difficult to know.
On 6th June 2014
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3259 recommendations about 3169 pubs]