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The Town Wall Tavern, Coventry

Town Wall Tavern
Mutton and rabbit are rarities on country pub menus in the 21st century. All the more remarkable, therefore, that they should reappear in the middle of Coventry. Mutton cobbler and even spicy Moroccan mutton are regulars on the specials board at The Town Wall Tavern.

A "cobbler", since you ask, is a scone-like topping with the density of suet pudding. "It takes the flavour of the meat and the accompanying capers so well," says Lesley Jackson, a local hotelier whose recent venture into the pub trade coincided with the reopening of the nearby Belgrade Theatre after extensive renovations.

Among the pre-show and lunchtime offerings is rabbit crumble (�5.95), with a deliciously cloying crust liberally dusted with Parmesan. Gamey meat is cooked with slivers of carrot and prune and a dash of Deuchars bitter.

That ubiquitous Scottish brew is one of six hand-pulled beers with the cask marque stamp of consistency. Adnams Best and Broadside are also regulars, along with Bass, the long-standing stalwart.

An original Bass mirror shimmers in the heat from an open fire in the public bar. Another welcome blaze warms a lounge filled with alcoves. One of them harbours a piano that bursts into life occasionally when actors or musicians want to carry on performing long after the curtain has come down at the theatre next door.

The Town Wall has traditionally been a haven for thespians, journalists and rugby lovers. Not that too many Coventry prop forwards, past or present, could fit into one of the country's most intimate snugs.

The "Donkey Box" measures 7ft 8in by 5ft 5in: standing room only, apart from two high stools. One carries a brass plaque to mark the last perching place of the late editor of The Coventry Citizen, a popular figure with a prodigious capacity for Bass and a squawking laugh that threatened to shatter glass.

The pub he loved remains a Victorian gem, currently hemmed in by building work for a new "plaza" of restaurants, caf�s and bars. Mutton and rabbit are unlikely to feature in any of them.

The Town Wall Tavern, Bond Street, Coventry (02476 220963)



30 Jan 2008 15:36

The Town Wall Tavern, Coventry

Just for the record, the Wall has recently been awarded the "CASK-MARQUE" seal of approval. Speaks for itself.

16 Dec 2007 11:47

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