The Clarence, Rusholme

Excellent place to meet up before going for a curry, but gets a bit busy later in the night and the drinks tend to be on the expensive side (a pint of coke in here costs more than the likes of Kro Bar). Has a couple of television screens presumably are for sporting events. Well placed for a quick pint before heading off elsewhere, but not the right kind of atmosphere if you want to stay all night.

11 Sep 2005 16:40

Wetherspoons, Birmingham

Like all Wetherspoons pubs this one serves relatively cheap drinks and the standard food menu. Unfortunately I was down here a couple of days ago and both myself and my colleague were unimpressed, to say the least, with the quality of the food. My steak was almost burnt to a crisp whereas the chips were barely cooked. Whilst it's almost certainly frozen stuff (there's no way they could have cooked it all from fresh that quickly), I was still disappointed with the quality and the service.

It's a nice enough place to enjoy a pint in reasonable peace (no annoying music in the background) and the staff are fairly polite and helpful, but I would avoid buying anything from the food menu.

Oh, and they have a *very* strict policy about asking for ID here - by the sounds of things they ask pretty much anyone who looks under 21 and at any time during the day, regardless of whether you're drinking or not, so if you look young you won't even be able to buy a meal or a non-alcoholic drink without your driving license or passport.

19 Jun 2005 18:24

The Rampant Lion, Manchester

Last time I went here the bar staff interrupted half way through one person's order to serve someone else at the bar, and by the looks of things the toilets hadn't been cleaned since the night before.

Beer garden is very nice, but the relatively poor service and apparent lack of cleaning has made me wary of providing return business.

13 Jun 2005 23:56