Feeling too lazy for a long walk, I decided to tick off a few revisits in town, with the possibility of a new place as well. I started in Coopers:
What can I say about this gem that hasn't already been said? A tiny pub with a main room and a small snug at the back. There's not many traditional boozers left in the city centre, but this one continues unchanged.
Very nice decor with some lovely stained glass lampshades, and I like the dark green ceramic tiles below the dado.
At one on a Thursday it was quieter than I've ever seen it but still ticking over well. The kit is ready for Karaoke or a singer, but we only had background music. Often you can hear the singing from a good distance away!
All the customers seemed to know the staff and each other, except for me, of course.
I noticed they've got a "wheeltappers and shunters" style fire bell on the wall. I resisted the temptation to try it.
I headed round the corner, skipping the Globe because I've done it recently, and in to the Midland:
I was greeted by the sound of the Bonzos doing The Intro And The Outro, not a track you often hear in pubs. No real ale so I had another Guinness.
A beautiful traditional pub this, very well cared for and full of happy drinkers. The music was mostly drowned by chatter as I enjoyed my pint in a quiet-ish corner. As my previous notes record, the interior is not as impressive as the Central next door, but it's still good, with some historic-looking stained glass and ceiling plasterwork.
I skipped the Central, again because it's been recently ticked, and headed in to Lanigans:
One large open room with a small stage and a giant TV screen at one end. Only three customers when I arrived, although a lot more came in as I enjoyed another Guinness.
The decor features lots of black and white pictures of famous Irish people, sportsmen and women, actors, musicians etc. This, combined with some antique (and obviously brought in from somewhere else) woodwork creates a rather good interior.
Again, all the customers seemed to know each other, with me as the odd man out, as always! By the time I had finished my pint, there were enough customers for the chatter to down out the quiet background music.
Next door is the Irish House:
Another large one room place with attractive Irish decor, and another pint of the black stuff for me.
Quite a few customers, with chatter and music about equal in level. One was asleep, stretched out on a bench seat with a half finished pint of lager on the table beside him. That could be me any day soon!
Tellys all around were showing sports channels, not all the same one. But where's the cricket?
The background music moved on to a favourite of mine, Local Boy In The Photograph. What a wonderful poignant song.
Finally, on to a brand new tick, Lime Street Central:
Very well done modern decor in this place, which opened last December.
There's a wide selection of keg on the counter, but I just kept with the pattern and had another Guinness. "Take a seat and I'll bring it over when it's settled". Good grief, did he say £4.90? The previous ones have been £3.00 or £3.20. No wonder the enormous space is almost empty.
A few conversations were mostly drowned by the music.
I checked the menu. Fish and chips £11.29 puts it at the higher end of the range, and as for "crushed peas", words fail me. Is "mushy" too plebeian?
I sat by the window, watching the world go by on Lime Street. Here, they've got the cricket on, but I doubt anyone was watching it.
I gazed at the signage. I wonder what a bottomless brunch is? According to the website it's all you can drink in ninety minutes for 25 quid and I think you still have to pay for the food on top. Not so much of a bargain, then. On the other hand, 90 minutes of unlimited beer could be an interesting challenge...
As I neared the end of my pint, a bloke of about my age came in, and asked for a pint of bitter. "We don't really do bitter" said the barman, so he switched to Guinness. Why doesn't a bar like this, with twenty taps, put John Smith's on one of them, I wonder?
Time to head for home.
Well, this jaunt certainly brought back memories. I used to live on Guinness when I was in China and this is almost certainly the first time I've drunk five pints of the black stuff in one session since I was there in 2006. I recall my last night in Beijing where I set out intending to take it easy because I had an early flight back to the UK the following morning, and ending up downing eight pints. I made the flight OK. I wonder how the Goose and Duck Pub is doing without me?
Miles walked: 0.5
Maybe coming soon: Don't know yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment