As the name would suggest the pub is situated alongside the canal in Gas Street Basin. The word quirky was invented for this place, Shelley refers to it as The Living Room and it is easy to understand why, it is like a living room in a 1970's upmarket semi detached house, when having a bar in your living room gave you a feeling that you'd really arrived !!
The area behind the bar is that full of clutter that it needs a visit from Kim and Aggie to sort it into some semblance of order.
Birmingham city centre already has its' fair share of entries in the CAMRA good beer guide though it's a real shame that this gem isn't one of them. The pub is a former 18th century lockeepers cottage and claims to be the smallest pub in the city. It is living proof that good things really do come in small packages.
The inside of the pub is a mixture of mismatched furniture, trinkets and fairy lights, and the real fire makes the place very welcoming on a cold Birmingham winter's night.
The quality of the beer matched the quality of the pub, it was two pints of the previous untried Skinner's Betty Stog bitter for me, and for Shelley, firstly a half of Th*tcher's Gold cider followed by a half of the potent Weston's Wyld Wood cider weighing in at an impressive 6.5% ABV.
Although I wouldn't necessarily say that this pub constituted one of the promised 'upmarket venues' (sorry Shelley !!) it definitely received a big thumbs up from us both.
UPDATE 10th October
This was only a very brief visit to the Canalside Café. Shelley and I were out to celebrate the silver wedding of my brother Dave and sister in law Julie. We had already had a couple in nearby Soloman Cutler, and we got to the Canalside Café at 7.10pm giving us twenty minutes to neck a pint and have a brisk canal side walk to Red Peppers at The Mailbox. Plenty of time !!
The pub disappointingly is partway through a refurbishment. I say disappointingly because one of the things I like about the place is its quirkiness and the fact that it appears that it has been literally cobbled together. First impressions are that the pub is a bit bigger and the position of the bar has altered giving it more room. The jury is still out for me, I'll have to go back when it is finished and give my critique in the style of Kevin McCloud at the end of a Grand Designs episode.
The beer thankfully is still really good, there was a bit of a crush at the bar when we arrived so Dave sent me up to get the round in, two Sharps Doombars, half a Th*tcher's Gold and a small white wine. I forgot one thing when I got back to our pitch, Dave's change !! Trust me, there was no way he was going to let me get away with that. What's a tenner between brothers?!!
We stood at the edge of the area that was still being refitted and the décor was a bit sparse to say the least..
Not an ornament or trinket in sight, talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous, the place use to resemble Steptoe's junkyard !!
I sensed a tenseness in Dave, he had seen the beer prices in the restaurant and was pacing around like an expectant father. Don't worry Dave it's only money, you can't take it with you when you're gone !!
We finished our drinks and made our way out, given his impending expenditure I wasn't sure whether Dave was going to walk along the canal or throw himself in it !!
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