Head Of Steam

Not sure
when this pub is open because I tried to drop by a couple of times over the
weekend and found it closed. Finally caught it open on a Monday evening where I
was half of the customers. Turning the heating on might help with that mind
you! Massive place.
The beer I had was awesome though. Can’t remember what it was, just that it was
legenwait for itdary. Code for
the toilets, which are also a handy way into the train station.

A few nights ago, I was stranded in Liverpool Lime Street station whilst awaiting a train to Manchester. So, I decided to waste some time by sitting and enjoying a Gin and Tonic in the Head of Steam, the rather impressive looking pub attached to the side of the station.
Christ, what a horribly desolate looking pub this is. Like the last pub at the end of the world. Whilst the building it’s housed in is beautifully grandiose, the drinking establishment is anything but. Poorly lit, and with only one member of staff behind the bar, half of the real ale pumps were off, the ice in my drink melted as soon as it hit the glass, and the music being pumped through the stereo sounded like the kind of thing you’d hear at a particularly grim funeral. And that’s before we get to the horrifyingly chirpy, yet alarmingly misspelled quotes which appeared to have been written on the walls by a small and peculiarly illiterate child.
Thankfully, Liverpool Lime Street station is pretty central, and there are some great pubs within ten minutes walking distance. Which means I have no reason to ever go to the Head of Steam again. Thank goodness.

My wife and I have tried to get into here for a long time, after hearing good reports of the place. In the past, we have been unable to do so without missing our train home.
Yesterday, we had 35 minutes until our train, so we «groped» our way down the corridors, looking for the one bar where they were actually serving.
Eight hand-​pumps look really impressive, but are much less so when you spot that only three of them have anything on them. There was Titanic Stout, which neither of us felt like trying on an afternoon. The other two were both from the Liverpool Organic Brewery — William Roscoe, a good, solid bitter at 4.3% and Best Bitter, which was much lighter and a passable session bitter, even at 4.2%. Both seemed well-​kept and were in good fettle, but we left after the one each and waited for the train.
Oh, I have to reinforce the previous comments; If you need the toilet, make sure you ask for the door code! They are obviously trying to stop anyone using them from the station itself, where it costs 30p just to get into the loos.

The Head of Steam is incredibly popular as a student bar. This is random because it is located in Lime Street Station, so you would imagine it would be packed with whistle stop travellers moving from A to B.
But no, given that this pub is very close to the North Western Halls and Grand Central Halls, they’ve coined in on student offers and offer great discounts and offers to Liverpool’s student community.
There isn’t much atmosphere in the Head of Steam, but it’s ideal for a cheap pint and a game of pool. They offer a function room that students often rent for football team parties and such like and they have a range of draught beers, bottles and spirits.
So if you’re looking for a cheap pint and a game of pool when you arrive at Lime Street, pop your head round and have a look what’s going on!

«There is, for some reason, something especially grim about pubs near stations, a very particular kind of grubbiness, a special kind of pallor to the pork pies.»
So said the late, great Douglas Adams in the fourth Hitch Hiker’s Guide. If you tilted your head slightly and squinted, you could for a second believe he was talking about the Head of Steam.
Occupying a cavernous Victorian space next to Lime Street Station’s taxi rank, the pub does have the usual things you find in such a building. For example, a lot of the people there look like they’ve stopped between connecting trains, there’s puddles on the tables and there’s the strange sense that the whole place was insanely busy just minutes prior to your arrival.
Visit on an afternoon though and you can sit admiring the majesty of St George’s Hall across the road in gentle relaxation, perhaps pretending you have a vital train to catch, first class obviously… to Zurich! I know I do. The hours fly by.

This fairly traditional pub is situated across the street from the magnificent St. George’s Hall, and offers a quiet haven from the hub of the city in the early hours of the evening. Two of my friends and I went here recently to sort the world out over a couple of pints.
The walls of the main front room are decorated with large, colorful paintings depicting literary characters and famous people, with quotations from the greatest minds the world has known: from Shakespeare to Groucho Marks.
The staff are friendly and efficient, if a little professionally harried when it gets busy. On this particular evening, around 9:30 a large group of mainly middle aged people invaded the previously peaceful atmosphere– perhaps the theatre crowd letting out from the Everyman Playhouse?
If the place becomes overcrowded, and you prefer your peace and quiet, as did we, you can vacate to the back room, and enjoy a game of pool or sit in one of the American-​Diner-​style booths beside the windows.
All in all, not a bad place to enjoy a pint of Brothers strawberry pear cider.

Found inside Lime Street station concourse (turn right as you exit the platforms), this was a first port of call for me and a few mates on a beery visit to Liverpool on 12 September. Disappointed by the range of beers on offer (there was only one — Phoenix — it was just average). The pub itself has character and a lofty ceiling, with plenty of artefacts and memorabilia around, but it has plainly seen better days, a point that my mate from Southport (a beer afficianado) confirmed. If you need to use the loos, beware that you will need to ask for the door code (punch button access only).