The Dolphin Hotel is a pub

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 on the Barbican

Barbican, Plymouth

The Barbican is the name now given to the western and northern sides of the old harbour area of Plymouth, Devon, England. It was one of the few parts of the city to escape most of the destruction of The Blitz during the Second World War...

 in Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, England, notable as the setting of several of the artist Beryl Cook

Beryl Cook

Beryl Cook, OBE was an English artist best known for comical paintings of people she encountered in her home city. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until middle age.- Early life :...

's paintings. It is a no-frills unmodernised pub famous for its cask ale

Cask ale

Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...

, draught Bass

Bass (beer)

The Bass Brewery was founded as a brewery in 1777 by William Bass in Burton upon Trent, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, which was once the highest selling beer in the UK...

 served straight from the barrel. It is listed in the Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation based in St Albans, England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...

 (CAMRA)'s Good Beer Guide

Good Beer Guide

The Good Beer Guide is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale listing what they consider to be the best cask ale outlets in the United Kingdom.-Details:...

and the 2008 Good Pub Guide. The sign on the front of the building has always called the pub the 'Dolphin Hotel'.

The pub also provided the setting for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's poorly reviewed animated Janner

Janner

Janner is a British regional nickname associated with people from Plymouth or people who live in areas near the sea, both as a noun and as an adjective for the local accent and colloquialisms...

 comedy series Bosom Pals, which was based on some of the characters in Cook's paintings and featured the voices of Dawn French as the lead character Stella, Alison Steadman

Alison Steadman

Alison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...

 as her best friend Joan, and Timothy Spall

Timothy Spall

Timothy Leonard Spall, OBE is an English character actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, the third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. , was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker...

as the Dolphin's real-life landlord Billy Holmes.