By
Rob
It's
time to name and shame: this post was supposed to have been written
by Lucy, who has previously penned a blog for us. However, because she's a total flake with
the stamina of a woman four times her age, she went home before we
ever reached The Wick at Both Ends. The blog has therefore fallen
into the trusted hands of me, Rob.
***
By
bringing various people along with us on our journey, and by securing
contributions from a number of generous guest-bloggers, Andy and I
have sought to demonstrate that we do, in fact, have other friends
outside of our dynamic duo. Being sociable chaps, we often like
to go out boozing with these friends and, believe it or not, while
every Pubquest session involves drinking, not every drinking session
involves Pubquest.
As
such, we were out in town one Saturday night with a cadre of
compatriots, hopping gracefully from one bar to the next, with no
intention of indulging in our elaborate hobby. Moving effortlessly
down the alcohol-soaked stretch of West Street, we suddenly found
ourselves standing outside The Wick at Both Ends.
"Is
this a pub?" asked Andy, looking over at me.
A
collective groan emitted from our fellow comrades, who'd clearly been
harbouring under the illusion that they were safe from any
Pubquest-related talk, on account of us not actually going to any
pubs.
Andy's
question was a good one, but thankfully it was a quandary we were
familiar with, having been confronted with this same conundrum twice
before, both times on the same stretch of road (at The Cavendish
and West Street Live). Therefore, we knew the drill: if there was even the
slightest sliver of doubt as to whether the venue was a pub, we had
to assume it was.
"I'm
not sure, but I think we have to go in," I announced to the irritated
assembly.
Once
inside, we fought our way through the tightly packed crowd of
revellers until we managed to get to the bar. There, the menus
displayed an impressive range of fancy cocktails, some of which
sounded amazing. Looking around us, we watched with fascination as
the bartenders produced some astounding concoctions. Shots of
indeterminate liquors were set ablaze with a match as the flames flew
up into the air, while elegant glasses of varying shapes and sizes
were filled with vibrantly coloured liquids. The smell of spirits,
fruit and mint leaves filled the air.
We
watched on as our friends ordered weird and wonderful drinks, each
more exotic than the last; this one pink, that one green, this one
with a wedge of grapefruit, that one with a strawberry on top. When
it finally came to our turn, it was with a heavy heart that we made
yet another sacrifice in service to our quest and ordered two pints
of Lactose Tolerant.
Yes,
that's right, while everyone around us drank mojitos and
cosmopolitans and Long Island iced teas, we were forced to slurp our
way through a pint of milk stout.
I
honestly can't think of any drink that is further away from a
colourful, fruity cocktail than milk stout. After all, stout alone is
already pretty far removed, being jet black in colour and made from
roasted malt/barley. But add the extra ingredient of unfermentable
lactose and you've got a truly unsatisfying pint.
Now,
maybe a milk stout is nice on a cold winter's night when you're sat
by a fire, and maybe it's nice when served in small measures or mixed
with another beer, but a full pint of the stuff is too much to handle – especially in the hot interior of The Wick at Both Ends, while your
mates are sipping on some of Sheffield's finest cocktails.
Feeling
left out, we decided that we would quickly down our drinks, head back
to the bar, and join the rest of our friends in drinking cocktails.
However, downing a full pint of a drink so heavy that it used to be
given to nursing mothers proved to be difficult, and there were
several points along the way at which I thought I might regurgitate
the dairy-laden soup.
 |
| Me and Andy, with good old Danny in the middle |
We
eventually managed to consume the whole pint and, feeling like we'd
just polished off a roast dinner, went and got ourselves some
cocktails for dessert. I treated myself to a Seven Hills, which to
this day is still my favourite drink to be offered at The Wick.
As
for the bar pub itself, The Wick was a really smart
venue in a great location. In addition to the cocktails, the line-up
of ales was pretty good. The entire place was festooned with fairy
lights and, although it gets very busy at the weekends, there was
still somewhere to sit down. I can also confidently state that, from
previous experience, The Wick has been known to make fantastic burgers.
Of
course, you could just order a milk stout, thereby consuming the same
amount of calories for a fraction of the price...
Pub:
The Wick at Both Ends (149-151 West Street, S1 4EW)
Rating:
7.5/10
Pint:
Lactose Tolerant
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