Pub 95, Day 35 – Tap & Tankard

By Andy

We rounded off the evening with a visit to the Tap & Tankard, a venue I was rather excited about. The pub had recently replaced The Sportsman (which let's face it, needed replacing), and was now owned by Kelham Island Brewery. My heartbeat quickened as I imagined The Fat Cat only bigger, a range of beers so varied that no two customers ever drank the same.

However, I was slightly disappointed to find the Tap & Tankard was just like any other pub – a nice haven from the city centre but far less pioneering than its older brother. Where The Fat Cat has guest beers from all over the world, the T&T mostly just stuck to its brewery's line-up, with a couple of fruit beers thrown in for variety.

Don't get me wrong, I could quite happily drink Kelham Island beers all evening, but it felt like the pub was a watered-down version of The Fat Cat – for part-time, city-centre drinkers.

It was an enjoyable place to end the night though – Festive Reserve was our drink of choice (it's important to tick the Christmas beers off before they're removed from the menu in mid-January). The pint was surprisingly decent, and not overpowered by cinnamon or nutmeg or whatever other shite breweries chuck in their December offerings.

The pub was empty by this time, so the three of us (me, Rob and Cowboy Keith) sat in the corner trading anecdotes. Had there been a crackling fireplace it would have been the perfect winter setting, the sort you only see in low-budget Christmas movies.

The toilets soon brought us back to reality though – I once attended a football match at York City's stadium where the toilets were literally a wall to piss on. The facilities at the Tap & Tankard were a tiny, miniscule improvement on that.

One final plus point: the Tap & Tankard is literally next-door to Chubby's, a standard-bearer for greasy late-night takeaways. If I hadn't already eaten a curry at Wetherspoons, I would have ended the night with a doner kebab.

(I'm lying: I did get a doner kebab.) (With chips.)

(Cheesy chips.)

Pub: Tap & Tankard (24 Cambridge Street, S1 4HP) (now closed)

Rating: 7/10

Pint: Festive Reserve
Brewery: Kelham Island Brewery (Sheffield)

NEXT UP: Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, at Arena Square...

In case you were in any doubt: he really does wear a cowboy hat. And purple leather gloves. (To match
his purple shirt and waistcoat). Everyone else may as well give up, because Keith has just won fashion.