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Beer of the Week (w/e 7th August 2022) with Bucking Fastard
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Sunday, 30th January 2022
With picture contributions to 4292 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (6 more images)
Detail Pages
Sunflower, Belfast
Belfast
BT1 2JG
Served areas
Sunflower pub
"I left my ID in the house" https://t.co/oJd9AdDSJc
about 16 hours ago from Twitter for Android
Reviews of Sunflower (Average Rating: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about Sunflower
Backstreet pub in a quiet, run-down backstreet. Seeing the cage in front of the entrance would have put the willies up me as well if I hadn’t done my research (it was deliberately left there after the cessation of The Troubles). It’s a staple-shaped interior with a flagstone floor and banquette seating along the perimeter. Was bustling on my Sunday evening visit and we bagged the last available table. Décor is the usual collection of brewerania which is standard in most Norn pubs alongside some framed album covers. The main reason to come here is that it’s one of the few pubs in the city to offer a more varied selection of wares and also a cask ale, in this case a suspect Hilden’s Halt (NBSS 2), plus 40 or so craft (almost all Irish – the missus went for a Heaney’s Gingerbread Imperial Stout) and some foreign beers. Friendly staff and plenty of them too, unlike many other places. Despite the less-than-stellar cask (I was its only imbiber in the hour or so) I enjoyed the place and would recommend you place it towards the upper-end of your Belfast list.
On 17th February 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 4422 recommendations about 4408 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Sunflower
This is a cracking little backstreet boozer which, despite its somewhat foreboding external appearance, has a very inclusive feel to it. The exterior boasts some nice etched glass windows with the pub’s name cut into them, but this look is tempered by the large metal security cage around the entrance, which was apparently erected during the troubles following a shooting in the pub and has since been retained due to its popularity with tourists. You enter into a simple quarry stone floored room with the servery along the left hand wall. Banquette and hard pew seating runs around the perimeter of the room, supplemented by low stools and chairs. The bar has a dark wood panelled counter with a cheap Formica top, and a smart, part tile, part mirror bar back, decorated with lots of pump clips and a few cuddly toys. A unplayable dartboard has been hung from a far too high height near the front door and the rest of the walls have been decorated with brewery mirrors, enamel signs, black and white photos, cartoons, framed LP covers, road signs and all sorts of other random bits. A couple of high windows have been filled with beer bottle collections and an acoustic guitar hangs on the front wall, hinting at the pub’s live music policy. A door next to the bar leads out to a decent sized garden area, partly covered and with a concrete floor, corrugated iron walls and long tables. The whole garden seemed to be bigger than the interior and plenty of people had gone outside to take advantage of the extra space. There may well have been a further room to the back of the main bar, as a few people were coming and going through a door here, but I failed to explore myself.
There was just the one handpull in operation, dispensing Hilden’s Barney’s Blow for £3.90. This wasn’t the best pint I’ve ever had, but the conditioning was at least very good. There are a few craft keg beers available and one very friendly chap gave me a pint of one of these that he’d just bought and decided wasn’t to his taste!
I really liked the feel of this place, with its mixed crowd, friendly staff and punters, interesting decor and comfortable seating options. This felt more like the kind of pub I’d hope to spend time in than the more tourist-oriented Crown and McHughes and I think the next time I’m in Belfast, this will be my first port of call.
On 25th January 2019
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2813 recommendations about 2813 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Sunflower
Attractive, if compact, backstreet pub in the Cathedral Quarter. Simply furnished, with some breweriana on the walls. Well known for live music; with a folk club, Friday residencies and other weekend gigs. Also has a comedy club, and discrete signage indicates a gay-friendly venue. One handpump on the bar, offering the local Hilden Twisted Hop (£3.50), plus (more surprisingly) a good selection of Shepherd Neame bottled beers in the fridge. Quiet when I visited on a Saturday lunchtime, but there is obviously lots going on in the evenings.
On 27th July 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 7108 recommendations about 7108 pubs]
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- Official site of Sunflower - www.sunflowerbelfast.com
- Facebook - Sunflower Public House & Live Music
- Twitter - Sunflower pub
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Sunflower - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Function Room : Yes last updated 25 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes - Friday & Saturday lunch only - last updated 20 March 2014 by ROB Camra
- Karaoke : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 17 February 2022 by Quinno _
