Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: George Hotel

  • Keswick – George Hotel

    Keswick – George Hotel

    [I originally posted this in September 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links. I can’t remember why I didn’t take a photo of the food….]

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    The location for this evening’s meal was the George Hotel in Keswick.

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    The pub’s menu was quite large, indeed probably too large for them to cope with, but the idea of the George Gigantic Pies was a rather good one. Unfortunately none of our group went for this option to take a photo of it, but looking at pictures on-line, it looks pretty impressive.

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    Getting ready for the meal. One of the highlights of the evening, other than the rather unusually intellectual chat, was how Dave managed to introduce himself to nearly everyone in the pub. All that sociability would give me a headache, but Dave absolutely loves it.

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    The pub is one of the most historic in the town.

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    The inside of the pub was atmospheric and just a little dark, which suited the building’s historic nature.

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    The Sneck Lifter, from the local Jenning’s Brewery (who also operate the pub) tasted well-kept and was of a good quality. It has a slight chocolately taste and it’s got a strong taste, although it does have an ABV of just over 5%.

    I had the fish and chips, which was reasonably priced given the location and the popularity of the pub. It was well presented, but the batter lacked any depth of taste, the mushy peas were generic and the chips were average. And there was no tartare sauce, or indeed black pepper, to try and add some flavour to the meal. But, I spend enough time writing about food, so I won’t drone on further. And I sound like Bev if I keep on with this criticising 🙂

    The pub environment was though really pleasant and the 1665 building has numerous little interesting areas. There was rooms to let, although I wonder if they’re haunted…

  • Hull – George Hotel (Second Visit)

    Hull – George Hotel (Second Visit)

    This is my second visit to the George in Hull, I first visited late last year. This was what I considered the pub most fortunate to be in the Good Beer Guide, with a rather generic selection of beers. It’s a Craft Union pub, which seem to me to be on a downwards trajectory to say the least, with the ‘craft’ in their name being a complete mystery to me.

    Social distancing was being enforced and the staff member was helpful and engaging. The beer selection was similar to that last year in terms of there being little of interest. The Wainwright from Marston’s Brewery was well-kept, but I didn’t find much of interest with the beer. I’m guessing the problem here is the Craft Union selection of beers is limiting the pub from offering anything innovative, local or unusual. Another customer called the Wainwright “rubbish” when the member of bar staff offered it to him, he went with the Brain’s Bitter instead, with Adnams Ghost Ship being the other choice. There were no dark beers available.

    It’s a fascinating building though, especially with their smallest window in the UK claim to fame I mentioned last time I posted.

    I think it’s fair to say that this isn’t a pub for me.

  • Hull – George Hotel

    Hull – George Hotel

    Continuing on my trail around Hull pubs which are featured in the Good Beer Guide, this one is located on the intriguingly named street, the Land of Green Ginger. It’s one large room, which I assume was once two rooms, and the welcome was friendly and authentic.

    Not meant as a complaint as this is clearly a successful pub, but it is quite challenging for a customer when pubs let their customers sit in front of the pump fronts. This was a pub with plenty of space, including at other points along the bar, and my view of the beers was nearly entirely obscured.

    I decided against trying to poke my head between customers to examine the beer options and just ask what dark beers they had on. The staff member was apologetic that they didn’t have any, although he mentioned that some were coming in, so I think that I was just a little unlucky. I can’t help thinking that seven real ales and no darker choices isn’t ideal though, with the darkest available being Abbot Ale from Greene King, which isn’t something I’d particularly want to ever actually pay for.

    Of course, this left me in a position of not knowing what alternative to have since I couldn’t see half the pump fronts (although I was able to take a photo after to zoom in on the choices). I opted for Mad Goose from Purity since I hadn’t heard of it and it sounded appealing, although I then discovered that the reviews for it aren’t great. I rated it better than the reviews, it was quite a crisp taste with flavours that I couldn’t identify, but it was worth the £1.70 for a half pint.

    A nice interior, although I can’t help but notice that lovely space they could plonk the customers at, away from the pump fronts. Or, as a compromise, they could get blackboards and chalk the beer options up on that, which seems the usual alternative when pub customers can’t easily otherwise see the bar.

    Anyway, it was a friendly environment and the member of staff seemed to be knowledgeable and competent, so I suspect he might have been the landlord. I’d come here again because it had that nice calm environment that I like in a pub, but hopefully there will be some delicious darker options on next time. It gives the impression of being a Craft Union pub and some of these are clearly working, although I hope they don’t do one of their dodgy refurbishments on this place, as the interior is full of character.

    This is another claim to fame for the pub, which is the smallest pub window in the country. It’s apparently a throwback to when a porter would look out to know if he (or perhaps she) should let people in, but the pub has made something of a thing of it which is good. This is another one that deserves to be in the Good Beer Guide.