The Church Tavern, Perry Barr - pub details
Address: Church Road, Perry Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, B42 2LA [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 26456) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Perry Barr (0.8 miles), Witton (1.2 miles), Hamstead (1.4 miles)
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> Current user rating: 4.0/10 (rated by 9 users)
other pubs nearby:
Tennis Court, Perry Barr (0.3 miles), Boars Head, Perry Barr (0.3 miles), Kingstanding, Kingstanding (0.5 miles), Hare of the Dog, Perry Barr (0.6 miles), Golden Hind, Kingstanding (0.7 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the Church Tavern, Perry Barr
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
| Not the sort of place I or my compadres would ordinarily have chosen to pitch up to, but unfortunately choice was severely restricted, having been forced moor up our narrowboat nearby and take some lunch. Even when a canal holiday is planned meticulously, there isn't ALWAYS a convenient Beer-Guide-listed boozer in the vicinity of every stop-off to satiate a thirst for decent ale! So we ended up here as it was a) open and b) served meals. It was a 1930s roadside sort of pub; many of the like are now closed but this one seems to be going strong and was full of local families on a Sunday afternoon. Some people complained that the grub wasn't up to scratch, although those of us who opted for the "chicken specials" which came in a variety of configurations were not disappointed. Guilty pleasure though it may have been, my food was tasty, filling, and not the plasticated microwaved mush that one tends to expect from these kind of pubs - or should that be restaurants with a bar in them. Perhaps the previous comment is correct in saying that there's been an improvement in food quality. And nobody could argue the "2 for 1" deals represented excellent value for what we got. The bad news? Well, you guessed it, the ale. In that there wasn't any. Well, no cask; only bland over-chilled creamy ersatz keg Olde Speckled Hen. I can no longer entertain keg bitter so opted for coke and in truth was happy to have a break from what was an 8-pint day every day for 7! There were the usual gaggles of poorly-behaved and rowdy young children in evidence; admittedly most were outdoors although I suspect this was not out of consideration to others, but to allow their bovine parents to smoke numerous cigarettes in between courses. Sorry, but I find I am less and less able to tolerate this sort of thing and it does spoil the environment of any pub. Then again, I am not criticising the management for this, as large food-driven value outlets will attract large families and that's business. As a footnote I should say the service was good, and all staff we dealt with seemed pleasant and at least had the appearance of being pleased to serve. As a committed real ale lover I feel I should grade this as 2 or 3 for having no cask options at all, but maybe they've tried and the local market just aren't interested. In recognition of the fact that there is more to a pub than just beer (gasp!) I shall bump up to 4 as t he food was okay and it served its purpose. TWG - 29 Sep 2010 17:14 |
| I would strongly urge people to ignore the old reviews for the Church tavern. This year (2010) has seen a 100% improvement, both in quality of service and the food on offer (which is still the excellent two for one deals). I take my disabled mother every other Friday and have not been let down yet this year. I even had friends over from Ireland who were amazed at the quickness of the food arriving and the quality of the food. It could do with making sure that the rule of no kids past the line is adhered to more riggedly, but by and large the Church Tavern is the most improved public house in North Birmingham. Bitterville - 5 Sep 2010 15:13 |
| I agree that this pub has gone awful after waitng 45mins for food,it was cold, hard chips and horrible. although complained and the manager/ess who didn't come to see us all the staff could say was that they were very busy. why wasn't we as important as other people? what a waste of hard earned money nothing was refunded or offered. no wonder they ask you pay for food first.... this pub RUBBISH kaz26 - 8 Jan 2009 13:28 |
| To anyone thinking of having Christmas lunch at this put don't...I took my family there for Lunch and my whole day was ruind as the food was that bad i had to make my family a meal when we sot home...we had paid almost �600 between us for processed Turkey and burned Roast potatos parsnips, best cooked thing on the plate was the sprouts!!!! and it was swimmings in Black gravey jillymaz - 11 Jan 2008 12:34 |
| This pub has gone rapidly downhill since the previous management team left. Full of parents who don't keep their kids under control. firkin - 15 Dec 2006 18:24 |
