Pub 19, Day 6 – The Punch Bowl

By Andy

Once again Rob’s laziness strikes, and the blog has fallen behind schedule. This from a guy who spends his spare time dropping out of university courses, yet can’t even rouse himself to pen the blog which he alone chose to undertake.

Having ran out of grandparents to kill off (his go-to excuse whenever his motivation runs dry), he has opted to shame me into contributing – a fairer division of labour will inspire him to blog once more, he claims.

And let’s not kid ourselves, the story of Pubquest needs telling.

So it is that you, our loyal readers (ha) will be blessed with two narrators.

Hence why I find myself dredging the depths of my memory in order to produce a review of a pub that I attended once, for one pint, over six months ago. Like a university essay the night before deadline day, this will require coffee, Haribo, and ample quotations from Wikipedia.

The aptly-named Punch Bowl was to be our next visit, the first in a run of Gleadless pubs we had lined up for the day.

Although the pub once had a reputation for being a bit of a rough’un, it had clearly undergone somewhat of a transformation and had a friendlier feel than expected. However, our worst fears were confirmed when we were greeted by the same predictable pints which plague our Pubquest nightmares. After a deep discussion, we opted to go for John Smith’s Extra Smooth, “the best-selling bitter in the UK.”^[1] When John Smith’s is the most exotic beer on offer, you know the landlord could do with being a touch more adventurous.

Is there any point in me reviewing John Smith’s? It was John Smith’s, the arse-end of beers. On a cold winter’s evening, just before pay-day, in a pub which has ran out of nigh-on every other available drink, it may be an option worth turning to – but on a summer’s afternoon it was all wrong.

Still, the World Cup was on, and the pub was showing the football, so it was an enjoyable visit. Australia vs Holland accompanied our pint – with hindsight, Foster's or Heineken would have been more appropriate.

Halfway through our drink, the pub’s noise level, which until this point consisted of a low murmur, was suddenly cranked up to a slightly higher-pitched murmur – Tim Cahill had just scored the goal which would go on to be voted the 4^th-best goal of 2014 by anyone, anywhere. You know the one, “an unstoppable left-foot volley off the underside of the bar.”^[2] One man pointed at the TV screen. Another raised his eyebrows in appreciation. Rob, whose sole football-viewing experience consisted of a Sheffield United v Colchester United League One match, probably said something along the lines of “that’s nothing compared to what Chris Porter can produce.”

At half time, I made us down our drinks, so that we could get to the next pub for the second half.

Rather predictably, the next pub wasn’t showing the match.

Pub: The Punch Bowl (95 Hurlfield Road, S12 2SF)

Rating: 4.5/10

Pint: John Smith’s Extra Smooth      

Brewery: John Smith's Brewery (Tadcaster, North Yorkshire)

NEXT UP: A trip to Rob's local, at The New Inn...

References:

[1] Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith%27s_Brewery accessed March 2015

[2] Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_B accessed March 2015