Upmarket tapas bar and dining room in a quiet area of the city centre.

The Venue
The Wig & Pen occupies two adjoining buildings, with multiple entrances on two different streets – fortunately all its myriad interiors can be reached through any entrance, so it doesn’t really matter which route you approach from. If you enter from Campo Lane, you’ll enter the bar and can follow the signs into the dining room/restaurant. There’s another, lower level entrance on Hartshead Square – if entering here you’ll have the choice of the door on the left, which opens onto stairs taking you up to the bar, or the door on the right taking you into the dining room. Both areas have benefited from a refurb and offer very modern, comfortable surroundings – tables surrounded by couches and square cushion-type stools sit opposite the bar and in two small, secluded areas to the rear.

The Atmosphere
The Wig & Pen is only a short distance from some very busy parts of Sheffield city centre, but it’s an altogether more relaxed place. It’s often busy, but thanks to its layout not particularly crowded – or at least it doesn’t feel that way. It’s clientele are a mix of ages and types: shoppers and workers from nearby offices in the daytime and during the early evening, diners and those heading into town later at night. Music plays only very quietly in the background, the lighting is low and the seating is generously spaced out amongst a number of small areas, all of which makes for refreshingly cosy, almost private surroundings.

The Food
While the dining room offers the full experience, the bar is virtually a restaurant in its own right. It serves a very good range of tapas, as well as sandwiches and more substantial dishes in the lunchtime period. Selections range from snacks as small and light as roasted and salted cashews (£2.25) or mixed olives (£2.50), to more substantial dishes such as 24-month aged Serrano ham (£3.95) or tiger prawns pan-fried with garlic and herbs (£3.50). For a larger offering still, there is the cured meat platter (£6.95) and the chef’s choice, a selection of tapas dishes, available as either a vegetarian option or with meat or fish (£8.25). The lunchtime menu includes, amongst others, the chef’s sandwich of the day, the Wig & Pen sirloin beef burger (£8.95), a cod fillet with parsley sauce, mash and garden peas (£12), or for a lighter option, a salad of chicken breast (£7.50). Similar dishes, from a larger menu, are available from the dining room in the evenings.

The Drink
A selection of continental lagers, such as Amstel, and local guest ales, Pale Rider or Moonshine may feature, are available on tap, priced at around £2.80 to £3 a pint. A very large selection of wines, with prices around £3 per glass, is available, as are spirits, soft drinks, teas and coffees. Prices, it must be said, are perhaps more akin to restaurant prices, but the price is worth paying if you’re looking for somewhere with a bit more quality and a more relaxed atmosphere than most pubs.

The Last Word
Both bar and restaurant are recommended – worthy of consideration for diners and drinkers alike.

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