Friday, 1 May 2015

Pub 40, Day 15 – The Globe

By Rob

Izzy, a friend from the days when I was a full-time student with long hair and acne, was visiting Sheffield for a few nights. We'd decided to meet up for a drink and a catch-up. After all, I was excited to see her reaction when she realised that, five years later, I was still a full-time student with long hair and acne.

Given that Andy and Izzy are also friends, and that any occasion involving drinks is just waiting to be hijacked by Pubquest, I picked up the phone to extend an invitation to my fellow adventurer. He was, of course, delighted.

Unable to convince Izzy to meet us on the fringes of the city and stroll around a series of obscure pubs, we agreed to restrict ourselves to the centre of Sheffield. Her unreasonable refusal was centred around having to pay in excess of £20 for a taxi to take her somewhere she didn't want to go, in order to indulge us in what she thought was merely a hobby.

(Oh, how foolish she will feel when our readership reaches double digits.)

We all met up at The Globe. Like The Cavendish, this venue is owned by Stonegate Pubs and is clearly geared towards the more youthful customer. Unlike The Cavendish, however, this pub is also part of the Scream chain and, as a result, it's not just marketed at a younger clientele but is aimed almost entirely at students. This is perfectly natural, given its location directly opposite Sheffield Hallam University's largest building.

Inside the pub, the decor was a bit of a mishmash. For instance, I really liked the huge, eighteenth-century-esque picture of the globe (the planet, not the pub) on the wall. However, I was somewhat less impressed by the furniture, which appeared to have been procured from an 'everything must go' auction at a recently liquidated Wacky Warehouse. The chairs were all different colours and, without exception, each layer of the rainbow was represented in its brightest possible variant. The effect, upon entering the pub, was not unlike having your eyes pricked.

As usual, both mine and Andy's timekeeping was impeccable and, consequently, Izzy had been sat there nursing a drink for about ten minutes by the time we arrived.

We each ordered a pint of Cotton Tail, an ale from the Sheffield-based Fuggle Bunny brewery. A sweet drink with somewhat citrus undertones, it went down a treat.

Glasses in hand, seated on chairs of almost incandescent pigmentation, we immersed ourselves in conversation. Izzy, it soon transpired, had followed Andy into the real world and now worked in a proper job, like a fully functioning adult member of the human race. Pursuing my astonishingly relevant and vocational MA in Medieval History, I thanked my lucky stars that I could count on the inevitable success of Pubquest to set me up in later life.

After some time had passed I found myself being won over by The Globe. Although the upholstery had scarred my corneas, the pub had a nice warm atmosphere and a reasonably good selection of ales. A pleasant vibe and a decent drink count for much more than the finer points of interior design, however bad they might be.

We finished our rabbit-themed ale (which was a little less hoppy than might have been expected) and headed over to the next place.

Pub: The Globe (54 Howard Street, S1 2LX)
Rating: 6.5/10
Brewery: Fuggle Bunny Brewhouse (Sheffield)

NEXT UP: Smoky beers, at The Howard...

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