please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
You'll never go on a real ale crawl in Solihull but this and the Assembly Rooms are the best of a very bad bunch. Well-kept beer, a reasonable clientele, service as good as the under-strength staff will allow. The old adage is proved once more - JDW are the best pubs in a bad town and the worst pubs in a good one.
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So this is where everyone is on a saturday afternoon. Having tried a couple of places and only had reasonable real ale (everywhere seems to think Hobgoblin is the answer) I decided to give this a go in the hope of a decent pint.
It was absolutely rammed solid. Football on with text. Range of beers but I played safe and went for an Abbott - which was fine.
Wetherspoons in a nutshell.
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Typical cavernous Wetherspoons that was half empty last night but livened up by the presence of one chap who walked in with his face fully covered by what seemed to be a woollen tea cosy wearing a tubular backpack device that looked as if it might be used for spraying weeds. Needless to say, he walked in unnoticed and proceeded to drink at the bar. The regular Abbot Ale and Ruddles Best were available as was the guest "The Hoard" from Walsall's Backyard Brewhouse but I tried Backyard's 6.8% Bad Santa, Purity's new Saddle Black, Jennings' Red Breast and the Old Hooky all of which were in good order and great value for their strengths at between £2.15-£2.30 per pint albeit a fraction cold for my taste.
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Nice friendly pub. great cider (Thatchers Gold) at a great price. Good staff make sure you don't wait to be served.
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Still a very decent JDWs. Have a manager that seems to have an enthusiasm for the beers which is a definite plus point..even had a free ale tasting session from local Midland breweries - all excellent.
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Couldn't agree more BB.
However The Swan "cider fest" last week. Afternoon sunshine, lovely out front, lovely later out back too.
Staff helpful, and service was prompt, v.tidy. Smart for a JDW pub. Sampled some apple sauces, Westons Medium Dry - is outstanding, followed by Thatchers Trad.
Anyone else try that Mont Saint Michel, extremely intense...
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Make`s some of the other JDW`s look like scabby dives. Bit of effort gone into this place, big open layout, wooden floors, large glass exterior, plenty of seating, range of ales.....some of the other pubs in this chain need a similar revamp...Square Peg anyone?
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My Saturday evening visit was very different to Roberttherailways'. The pub was extremely busy with the young pre-clubbing crowd and the noise of chatter in such a large space was a little annoying. The interior is fairly modern. But the beer range was good - Silhill 4.0 Pale Ale & 3.7 Premium Session Ale, Purity Mad Goose, Cains FA Formidable Ale, Springhead Maid Marian Blonde, Greene King Abbot Ale & Ruddles Best. Both Westons Old Rosie & Marcle Hill ciders were available. I found it a little strange that a Wetherspoons employee was sat at a table selling condoms outside the ladies toilets. A little too busy for my liking.
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Visited last night. Never been in this place before as i was just visiting Solihull. Quite relaxing and quiet for a Saturday evening. Staff were friendly and only took about a minute to be served. Ordered some food which only took about 10 minutes to be served to us. Reading some of the previous comments I didn't know what to expect, but i was pleasently surprised. If i find myself in Solihull again i would visit again for sure. I rated this pub 7/10. Cheers.
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Chav central. Well, Solihull's version of chavs... Service here is very poor. Expect to wait for quite awhile at the bar to get served. I've gone here a couple of times and its always the same: endless waits for pints. Service at Hogshead next door is much faster.
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Since the opening of The Assembly Rooms the White Swan has slipped into the shadow of the bigger more modern Lloyds Bar. But that isn't a bad thing because the White Swan was becoming to popular for its own good. I would often visit on a weekday night to find the place packed and few staff to handle the high number of customers. But now the strain has been taken by The Assembly Rooms The White Swan is now running at a more reasonable level of custom, in turn this means The Swan has a more relaxed environment. They have five guest ales on which are slightly over priced in my opinion but were all very good last time I visited. I didnt try the three house ales but didnt hear any complaints off people drinking them. I now find myself visiting The Swan more often they I once did.
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popped in here on a fri nite, totally totally wedged!
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Usual wetherspoons disgrace. What do you want for �1.50 though? No staff, who are utterly unknowledgeable and useless, the clientele are frightening and the whole place is liek drinking in a station waiting room. Food which you would dare not feed to your cat. The worst that Britain has to offer- and there will be more of them! Real ales are ok though- but do you REALLY want to drink out of those glasses????? for this it has to get a 3.
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Not your typical city Wetherspoons, A major mis-match of clientelle, from Glammed up MILF's to your Giro holding pikeys. Decent beer though, but a little 'clicky'.
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What can I say, the town was delighted when wetherspoons opened this pub but now 2 years down the line and it's become apparent that things are slipping. No longer the cheapest bar in town yet regularly attracts every chav around. The beer although wide in selection as per all wetherspoons lacks care and loses head almost immediately. The service leaves something to be desired as well. The staff seem more concerned with chatting to each other in the glass room than looking after the public. It's a shame to moan as this place had potential. Maybe if they turned it into a lloyds and motivated the staff we'd all be better off.
anonymous - 21 Nov 2006 13:10 |
pub is ok, have to wait ages before getting served though
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like every other weatherspoon pub, staff are miserable and you wait ages to get served. food is distictly average.
anonymous - 11 Sep 2006 16:47 |
the best pub in solihull, lively, cheap and the staff are great entertainment!
anonymous - 1 Nov 2005 11:33 |
best pub in solihull
amy - 8 Nov 2004 13:13 |
Not all that.
The beers cheap but it takes
20 mins to get served.
Very crowded.
Hogshead next door better
to be honest.
anonymous - 19 Aug 2004 16:35 |
