Before I start, I should sympathise with the folk who didn’t get a drink on Friday night. Some of Mrs RM’s Scottish colleagues have apparently found pubs round Edinbugh Waverley shut entirely, denting shares in Tennents.
No such trauma in Newcastle, though the centre looked a little less crowded as folk decided not to rely too much on an already reduced metro service.
The pubs between St James and the station looked their usual splendid selves, but obviously I was on a strict schedule and resisted this gem.
The council had kindly provided skis at the top of Pink Lane which meant I beat the Google Maps estimate by a whole 3 minutes. These things matter.
I’m not saying Tyneside CAMRA rotate their GBG entries, but Tyneside CAMRA rotate their GBG entries, so this year the Victoria Comet gets its day in the sun. And very good it is too, albeit the quietest station pub I’ve seen for a while.
It’s very Newcastle. And very Nicholsons.
You know my thoughts on pubs with home nations flags. But at least the beer range included beers you’ve heard of.
And I do like those chunky Nicholsons hand pumps.
As with most Nicholsons pubs, I have very little to say. Pleasant dark furnishings, big windows, well-presented pint of Tyneside Blonde (NBSS 3.5), and very little drama, I could have been in Pizza Express.
I shouldn’t have savoured that pint quite so much; I missed the metro by one minute. That is really annoying as it kept Mrs RM waiting for her noodles.
So I popped next door to the new Newcastle Tap, to see if craft can usurp Carlsberg in the Toon.
It wasn’t heaving, which at least made it more pleasant than on the BRAPA visit recently, but I’m giving it the big thumbs-up, if only because I could actually read the beer list.
More Beermoth than Euston Tap, with some interesting local stuff on cask.
As you know I’d always go for the Bass or Theakston over the homebrew, but the Gamma Leonis Stout was a corker (NBSS 4). Newcastle beer quality rarely disappoints.
OK, mostly folk 25-35, and not much hilarious drunkenness, but sometimes you go in a pub for a nice drink rather than a photo of an Old Boy. This was great.
As Si said at the time “Just how many bars does Newcastle Central Station need ?”. More to the point, where is it dragging the business away from ?
retiredmartin 
“Pink Lane”
If you needed skis for that they should rename it Pansy Lane. (j/k) 🙂
“Rare quiet Newcastle pub”
Good Lord. That photo looks like what you’d see when the local gunslinger comes into town for a drink. 😉
“I shouldn’t have savoured that pint quite so much;”
It must have been good (?), as in a recent post you’d downed two pints in 20 minutes!
“but the Gamma Leonis Stout was a corker”:
Sign; I know I’ve said this before but I wish I could find a decent stout (or porter) near me. 😦
Cheers
PS – “it more pleasant that on the BRAPA visit recently,”
Than (or then?) vice that methinks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By jove, you’re right.👏
LikeLike
I reckon Nicholson’s has one of the all-time great pump clips. But do they have one of the all-time great pale ales? I wouldn’t be able to say, sadly, as I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of sampling it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brewed by St Austell. I quite like it..
LikeLiked by 1 person
(Meaning it is now brewed by St Austell). I too never had the original..
LikeLike
There never was an original – Nicholson’s is just a pub-owning company, and it’s a house beer brewed for them.
LikeLike
Drinkable and consistent, better than Doom Bar !
LikeLike
No Get Carter references for your V&C visit?!
LikeLike
Yes, I’ve had many a pint of Beer Line Cleaning in Progress over the years 😂🤢
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beer with unusual ingredients are all the rage these days, Mudgie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not sure if it’s Tyneside or North Northumberland/wider Northumberland CAMRA – I’ve got a copy of it somewhere long with other methods in use by various branches. Anyhow, one of the branches up there ask for GBG nominations and then they hire a coach and go out and visit all the nominated pubs unannounced and score them accordingly (the coach bit makes me think it’s the rural Northumbria area). I read it takes them a couple of weekends, and of course, the last couple of pubs they visit are always a shoe in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good approach, and they do have a good geographical spread up there (I’d intended doing a few near Alnwick this weekend but they’re inaccessible).
LikeLike
They’re probably closed too, at least during the day, apart from every third Wednesday of the month, second Wednesday when there’s no ‘r’ in the month, unless there’s a bank holiday. Oh and not during school holidays.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Alnwick – “this is a local town. Our pubs aren’t for the likes of you”.
LikeLike
(I can`t reply to Peter`s comment directly below it for some reason, but), I read somewhere that Nicholsons were a brewery in Maidenhead, Berks, operational from 1840 – 1960, and so I presumed, like so many other brands that are bought and carried on by others, that this was what had happened with their Pale Ale ? Are they also something to do with M&B ? Mergers and takeovers – a veritable minefield for the beer purist ! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t keep up either; always assumed Nicholsons were M&B, though their pubs have a touch of Scottish & Newcastle for me.
LikeLike
A photo of an old boy drunk surely tops everything?! That made me laugh out loud …top posting
LikeLiked by 1 person