August 2023. Sheffield.
I woke up this morning in a cold sweat. Mrs RM has been taking pictures of our garden, no doubt to attempt to shame me into doing something about it. What, I know not what.
After the frantic ticking of last August, we had allocated this summer for finally exploring the bits of Sheffield not on the tram network aka the posh south-west.
Sadly, Mrs RM opted not to join me on a 5 mile walk back from Dore & Totley Station (first stop out of town) back home to the Blind Monkey.
As you’d note from the aerial view, Sheffield is very green, and you can walk 2 miles from the Indian restaurant at Dore station along an unfussy route through Ecclesall woods.
I think this is the only arty touch en-route.
Pleasant but hardly calf-stretching, and after 40 minutes a man’s thoughts naturally turn to a pre-emptive tick along Ecclesall Road, the road out of Sheffield towards the Peak filled with estate agents, bridal shops and chartered accountants, which sounds a lot of fun.
Not a lot; either closed Tuesdays or opening at 16:00. Thank goodness for the Prince of Wales (said no-one ever), a self-proclaimed “Premium Country Dining Pub“.
“Set for dining” is the best description I can give,
and while What Pub threatens “changing beers” and “third pint tasting racks“, the reality is more cheery.
Well, the Doom Bar is, a dryish tasty half that I immediately score NBSS 3.5 on What Pub so that future tickers might come here rather than the Kelham Island Tavern. And perhaps local CAMRA will put Doom Bar forward to the next Champion Beer of Britain contest. We can but hope.
The price is more disappointing, £2.65 a half. That’s a half ! In a nightmare thin glass too.
It’s actually a sunny day in Sheffield, and I don’t want to sit at the lone (high) table not set with serviette and large wine glass, so I take the last table overlooking the car park, and order my bellwether starter.
A couple of quid dearer than at the Loxley chain pub, though undeniably made of real squid, as opposed to the plastic that makes up the lanyards of the groups of office workers all standing around drinking Madri.
Still, a (pre-emptive) tick’s a tick.
retiredmartin 
It’s funny you should mention Doom Bar because last evening was the first time in years I’d seen other customers, yes in the plural, drinking it in my nearest pub.
Then during my three minute walk home I realised it was the first time in years I’d been there mid evening rather than soon after opening time. And then this morning I realised what a popular beer Doom Bar must be.
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I think you’re right, pubs are very different at different times. Some rural Welsh pubs filled with retiree diners it lunchtime fill up with Old Boys drinking 4 pints of Bass by 9pm.
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Popular is popular.
Notable is notable.
The two words aren’t interdependent.
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Doom Bar is a decent beer. Nice backstory to it, too 😀
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Yes, a lot of people drink and like Doom Bar. Sometimes it’s better than other times, just like Chicken Pad Thai or a cup of tea varies.
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“Yes, a lot of people drink and like Doom Bar” but I’ve just read on Discourse that “it is a beer for people who don’t know about beer”!
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Are they really selling Doom Bar at £5.30 a pint, or is it one of those places that whacks a hefty mark up on halves?
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My guess is it’s over a fiver a pint, even if there is a small mark-up on halves. Goodness knows what the continental lager costs.
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Surprisingly cheap still. Just back from Canary Islands and a “large beer” can still be bought for under 3 euro in most bars.
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