Dry Dock

A feeder pub into the neighbouring large venues, the rough-’n’-ready Dry Dock has seen its fair share of brawls and skirmishes. This makes sense when you think about it: it is a rather large ship after all, and attracts tattooed gangs of students and alternative-scene locals who flock to the lively iron tanker for reliably cheap drinks and unpredictable jukebox selections.

God knows how this solid metal boat got plonked down by a ring road overpass, but the Dock is the natural first port (sorry) of call when it comes to spending a night out in Yorkshire’s largest city. Unashamedly unclassy with week-long drink deals on varsity favourites such as Jägerbombs and Strongbow (no grog, unfortunately), the hull gets pretty packed on term-time weeknights and weekends. As well as recently upgraded retro diner-style booth seating, there is a handy top deck smoking area where you can bellow a tipsy cry of ‘Merrion Centre ahoy!’ while slugging down snakebite. As the night wears on and revellers are ferried (send help) off to join the plethora of nearby clubs, there are inevitable scuffles by the aforementioned jukebox as last orders are placed at the bar and 90s classics are queued up.

The Dock is definitely not an impress-on-the-first-date kind of venue, but more of a place to gather with close friends to try out the popular weekly pub quiz or play pool, or even scarf down a cheap and cheerful Scream pub burger-and-beer deal in between lectures. Food-wise, there’s enough on the menu to keep end of term carb cravings sated, with pub classics such as jacket potatoes, curry, chips, bangers and mash and full English breakfasts regularly being bussed out of the galley. During the summer, patrons spill out on to the grassy knoll that in reality may overlook a busy A-road, but after a few JD ’n’ cokes may as well be your very own desert island paradise.