I left home in drizzle but by the time my second train emerged from the tunnel in Birkenhead I was startled to see bright sunshine and blue sky.
I began a survey of New Brighton in the Seahorse:
This Hungry Horse place was very busy at one o'clock, in fact the guardian of the entrance was dubious about letting me in, but there was one free table in the bar area so she relented. The two barmaids were busy with complex orders but eventually I was able to purchase a Carling. Luckily that last table remained free.
I seem to recall mediocre real ale in here many years ago, today there were no clips on the two handpumps.
I wonder what the service is like on busy days like today. I could see lots of people but not many of them had any food yet. One large group had mostly empty beer glasses on their table, so I guess they've been waiting at least one pint. (The pint is a very inexact measure of time, could be five minutes or an hour!)
My pre-flight this morning turned up trumps: I've been in Fort Perch Rock a couple of times over the years, but now it has got a cafe/bar I didn't know about, called Mess:
Wow, what a fine interior occupying part of the fort, with arched ceilings. Slightly odd but very attractive decor.
On a sunny Saturday the place was doing well, the three, or was it four, staff were busy serving drinks and food to a steady stream of customers. Some of whom chose to sit outside.
The draft beers were, unusually, two Titanic brews, so for probably the first time in my life I had a pint of keg Plum Porter. Not a patch on the cask version - I enjoyed one in the Vines on Wednesday - but still very good. The other tap offered "Two:20 Lager", never heard of that one.
Where next? My pre-flight checks clearly weren't as good as I thought because as I headed along the main street under the continuing glorious weather, I found one I've never heard of, Riptide:
In this rather plain shop conversion there were no customers at all. I chose a pint of the house lager which was quite tasty - for a heavily chilled lager. It came in an Aspall's Cider goblet!
I don't know how much they pay for live Sky footie, but they aren't getting their money's worth with no one here at two o'clock to watch Leicester v Norwich. Maybe more will come in if they have the Liverpool match later?
Mind you, they aren't wasting any money on heating, it's freezing in here. The barmaid said it had been too warm earlier so she had left the door open. Once she closed it the temperature quickly rose to more comfortable levels, so I have to withdraw my grumble.
The decor seems to be music oriented, I think they have bands on in the back room or upstairs which I haven't seen yet (I mean the rooms, not the band.)
The next target has let me down on a number of occasions over the years, not being open when I expected (Or sometimes just wanted) it to be. So I haven't been in since 2012. Google says it will be OK today, so let's try the Harbour:
Ah, at last! It's open. Initially I got an inkling of a run down place - The fruit machine in the corner is out of order according to a rough paper sign stuck on it - But once I actually looked around it is beautifully decorated, everything is spotless, clean and tidy, and the armchair in the corner is extremely comfortable. So a rather fine little gem of a boozer. With a small clique of regulars chatting to the staff and each other.
I ended up in conversation with an equally inebriated regular who professed an interest in my guide, but I bet he doesn't buy one! Anyway, we wittered on about goodness knows what, until it was time for me to go.
Where next? There is one more required tick in the New Brighton area but the Pilot Boat is nearly a mile's walk away. To be honest, I'm tempted to take my four required ticks, two of which were first time visits, and go home. Even though it's only a little after three o'clock! ...And that's what I did.
Beer of the day: Keg Plum Porter!
Miles walked: 1.5
Maybe coming soon: Undecided.
No comments:
Post a Comment