R Bar, St. Ives

Blackthorn _ left this review about R Bar

Located in the heart of St Ives, the most prominent signage on the pub describes it as a jazz bar, with the “R” of the pub’s name relegated to a neon sign in the window. As such, we weren’t even sure when walking past during the day if it qualified as a pub, thinking there may be an admission charge perhaps, but we passed by again in the evening and found a pleasant and intimate little venue.

It’s down a few steps from street level, so is something of a cellar bar and pretty much everything was black, the walls, the ceiling, the air conditioning units, the speakers, the tables, the padded benches and even the electrical sockets. The only things to add a splash of colour were some rusty RSJ’s holding up the ceiling, and some tan leather arm chairs. Normally I would probably find that rather gloomy, but it seemed to work well enough here. A three piece jazz band were playing at one end of the pub, and they seemed pretty good.

There were no real ales unfortunately, and just Beavertown Lunar Haze on keg. They managed a local St Ives lager though, so I don’t know why they couldn’t have done something similar on the beer front. The solitary cider meanwhile was Weston’s Appleshed. Overall, despite the poor beer choice, I quite liked it here and opted for a cocktail, but if you’re after something a bit more “pubby” then it may not be for you.

On 20^th October 2026 - rating: 6
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