A lovely quirky pub that’s chock full of personality and encapsulates the old Humber dockside feel.

The Venue
One of Hull’s most characterful pubs, Minerva is perched on its own at the end of the quayside. Its sign hanging outside of an owl comes from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Minerva and its also how the ancient goddess of wisdom was often depicted.

The narrow front bar forces you to make friends or, at the very least, eye contact with fellow drinkers. In this higgledy piggeldy place there’s another room at the back and another out of sight of the bar down a few steps, called The Minerva Brewery in reference to its previous life.

Yet another room is the smallest snug bar in Hull, maybe in Britain, fitting no more than three people – an incredibly tight squeeze. Pictures of liners, steam ships and pairs of oars adorn the yellow wallpapered walls and beer bottles line the high-up ledges. There’s a large screen in the back room and a big pillar entwined from top to bottom in thick ship’s rope. Outside flower baskets hang and there’s plenty of seating on wooden benches from where you can gaze out to where local fishermen used to more profitably ply their trade.

The People
During the week it’s peopled with a smattering of regulars who have been sampling Minerva’s delights for a few years, including former old dock workers and fishermen. At the weekends in good weather it gets packed with all manner of folk attracted to the waterside - families, groups of friends and couples. Most sit outside and only come in to order drinks.

The Food and Drink
A great selection at the pumps includes Jennings Tom Fool, Dizzy Blonde from Manchester brewer Robinson’s, Guinness, Tetley’s, Strongbow, Fosters, Stella and Kronenbourg. In bottles you’ve got an equally inspired choice of Estrella, Corona, Michelob, Früli, Budweiser and Beck’s.

The menu is very reasonable indeed with sandwiches costing a mere £3.25 (for a bacon and brie for example) and an all-day breakfast coming out at £4.75. You can get fish’n‘chips for £5.25, a cheeseburger £5.45 and a chicken Caesar salad for £6.25. Finish it all off with an apple pie with cream or custard for just £2.95.

The Last Word
The latest news is that Minerva may be closing for the winter in order to regroup and open again fresh for 2009.

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