The Phoenix
What's it good for?
Great beer, jazz, and bar billiards.
Where is it?
Tucked just inside the bar walls through Fishergate Bar, just far enough from town that the people who come here are either locals, or have made the trip especially to visit The Phoenix.
What's it all about?
Saying "I don't like jazz music" would be an overstatement—an aside to a huge swathe of popular music—a generalisation ignoring Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, and so many more artists I can't pretend to not enjoy.
I can say, however, that listening to jazz all night over a pub stereo was a chore, an unnecessary and unrelenting bore that ended up distracting me from what is a fantastic boozer. I'm told they host the best jazz nights in York and I might have preferred it had it been live, as it was I suffered through.
Don't let my lack of appetite for muted trumpet affect your decision to seek out The Phoenix though for it holds a trove of other goodies that more than compensate. The beer garden is one of the nicest in York, sat beside the bar walls it is bathed in sunlight throughout summer and heated in the winter months.
The beer is stunning, The Phoenix certainly has one of the best kept cellars in York and each and every pint I've tried there has been exemplary, this extends to the beer festivals hosted in summer and at Christmas.
I'm a big fan of the resurgence in bar billiards in York and The Phoenix has a lovely red baize table tucked away round the back of the bar. If The Phoenix was a little closer to home I'd be in here all the time.
What's on the bar?
5 pumps of exceptional real ale, Golden Pippin, Landlord, and Wold Top Bitter the regulars with one pale and one dark local guests.
Do they serve food?
There is no food served at The Phoenix, just the usual bar snacks.
Is it accessible / allow kids / dogs?
Small step at the front door, but then flat throughout. I've seen kids and dogs in there at various points but always in the beer garden. If you know the rules let me know and I'll update them.
Will you go again?
Of course, It's a wonderful pub in a fantastic location with great beer, nice regulars, and a bar billiards table; I'll just have to put up with the jazz.
UPDATE: Deserved of their 5* review The Phoenix have been lovely and let me know I don't have to put up with the jazz. Out of pure British awkwardness I obviously wouldn't ever dare ask them to change it, but it's nice to know I could.
@puboholic cheers for the review. We do have other music genres on the I player just ask the staff member to change, happy to oblige.
— The Phoenix Inn (@phoenixinnyork) January 13, 2015
1 Comment
Absolutey ace!