Pub 104, Day 39 – The Ball

By Andy

We left The Punch Bowl and crossed Crookes towards The Ball, a fellow Greene King establishment. Quite why Greene King felt they needed two pubs virtually across the road from each other was anyone’s guess, but I suppose there must be a sizeable local market for microwaved pub meals.

The pub was much busier than its neighbour, with a lively buzz that can only be caused by mixing alcohol with politics. It was the night of the EU Referendum, although I’m not sure why everyone was getting so animated – it’s not like we were actually going to leave the EU.

We selected two pints of Rooney Juice – Euro 2016 was ongoing, and there seemed no better pint to drink while looking forward to England’s inevitable win over Iceland in a few days’ time.

However, after paying with a £10 note, the barmaid promptly disappeared, never returning with my change. After standing around like a lemon for a while, I decided to enquire.

“Erm excuse me, I’m still waiting for my change,” I timidly told a member of staff.

“Oh, we’ll have to check the till to make sure,” came the curt response. “Find a table and we’ll bring it over.”

I have to say this was a new one on me – although receiving the wrong change was a fairly common occurence, receiving no change at all seemed a novel way of increasing profit margins. Perhaps they were stockpiling cash in case of Brexit, but they needn’t have worried: Remain was clearly going to win.

Little did they know they had upset the wrong person. I vowed there and then to include this turn of events in my Pubquest blog, thereby exposing their shoddy customer service to our legions of fans. Give it a month, two months tops, and The Ball would be out of business, its reputation in tatters.

Locating a table as instructed, I took in my surroundings. The pub was a chain pub, but a good one: tables of regulars were dotted all around, and the central bar and numerous corners created an illusion of seclusion in what was clearly a large venue.

Rooney Juice was a pleasant pint which managed to disguise its 5.8% by being extremely drinkable – or, as ‘Chris’ from beer-review site Untappd puts it: “surprisingly good given the man’s a bellend.”

We finished our pints, and the manager eventually brought my change over, just as Rob’s girlfriend Hannah arrived to pick us up.

“The first referendum results have just come in,” she exclaimed, “and it was a massive vote for Remain.” 

Just as we expected.

“Where was it?” we asked, intrigued.

“Gibraltar.”

Postscript: I’m sure this part doesn’t need saying, but Leave won the referendum, Iceland knocked England out of Euro 2016, and several months later The Ball is still a thriving and profitable venue whose reputation took no damage from Pubquest’s exposé.

Pub: The Ball (171-173 Crookes, S10 1UD)
Rating: 6.5/10
Pint: Rooney Juice
Brewery: Naylor’s Brewery (Cross Hills, North Yorkshire)

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