Pub 167, Day 61 – Centre Spot

Ever since writing a blog about The Sherwood a few years back, my youngest sister – Reanna – has badgered, bullied, bribed, and blackmailed me into letting her write another guest post. Since I’m generous by nature, and as her original foray into the world of Pubquest wasn’t a complete disastrophe, I’ve graciously allowed her to write the following post.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as she, undoubtedly, did writing it.

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By Reanna

It was late August and we (I) had spent all day arranging our dad’s surprise 60th birthday party, which we were holding in the function room of the Centre Spot pub, in Base Green. There, at the buffet table, while he cut up cold pizza with scissors in a deliberately messy fashion, Robert thought to himself, I know what tonight should really be about: Pubquest!

Selfish as he is, when Robert told me of his plan, I was shocked. But it was then, as I was going blue from blowing up balloons, that Andrew Wilson arrived. Together, they proceeded to overshadow our dad’s surprise 60th birthday party with constant references to their blog that nobody reads, making all of our guests extremely uncomfortable.

Later, once they had ruined the party, they threatened me with plastic knives from the cheeseboard and told me that I had to write this blogpost, or else they would make me eat the squashed grapes off the dancefloor. Helpless, I agreed.

Now, I want to begin my review by saying that the Centre Spot is, by far, the best pub in Sheffield. I would also like to say that I have been a barmaid there for over a year (this does not mean that I am biased). I began working there in March of 2019, a couple of months after the pub reopened under new management. The locals, the landlady, and my fellow barmaids have become a strange sort of second family and I can recommend nowhere in Sheffield more highly.

There is no place quite like the Centre Spot. Sure, from the outside it looks like your typical estate pub. The pub is a 1950s building, with a large function room, a taproom with a 50p pool table, and a kids' room around the back. It has a big car park and plenty of seating outside for those rare days of sunshine.

But it is the sense of community and the friendly, open atmosphere that makes the pub so special. The bar staff, I must say, are exceptional. The landlady, Lynzi, is a woman like no other. Upon arrival, you will be instantly welcomed into the Centre Spot family by both the staff and the locals. The pints are perfect and a game of pool is rarely turned down, although you’ll probably lose to Lynzi.

The pub had been closed for around 18 months until the owners of the nearby, and previously reviewed New Inn decided to take it on. The whole pub has been given a new lease of life and is once again the heart of the Base Green community. With beer at a good price, sport on the TV, monthly open mic nights, pool tournaments, and a gin selection to rival most pubs, you need never be bored or thirsty at the Centre Spot. 

So regardless of what the “official” Pubquest rating is, I would like to award my own personal rating of 100/10 for the Centre Spot pub. It has the best beer, the best barmaids, the best landlady, and the best barstools in Sheffield, if not the world. 

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What is it with guest bloggers thinking they can award their own scores? Give them an inch, they take a mile.

Pub: Centre Spot (56 Jaunty Lane, S12 3DN)

Rating: 6.5/10

Pint: Birra Moretti

Brewery: Birra Moretti (based in Udine, Italy)

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