The Farcroft Hotel, Birmingham

We called in here as we were visiting a few bars on the No 11 bus route beer crawl round Birmingham, and this is one of the 11 bars listed, but it was empty and the bar looked very clinically clean with it's array of shiny fonts. I asked the barman if they served real ale as I couldn't see any sign of any, and was told no, so we left.

A massive, detached former hotel, now a pub and Indian restaurant, with patio area. The pub is a mock-Tudor, 1930s styled place, with beam and white frontage, some brick and tall brick stacks. It still looks impressive. The interior had a couple of rooms that i could see - the lounge being closed. The bar room is an L-shaped room, with a couple of pool tables, a dart board and several TVs showing the footy. They do food, and several of the locals were awaiting take-aways. The decor is basically white, with some brown paintwork and a blue carpet. The seating was tidy red benches in general, with the usual tables and chairs. A few beer posters were on the walls - though it looked a little bare. The service was friendly and the clientele very mixed. There was no music. Beer; usual tap stuff with a decent M&B MILD, along with GK IPA keg. There was a handpull, which had Spekky Hen, but they put it on later in the week and for the weekend. I felt comfortable here, happy enough with a swift MILD - not a lot for the real ale fan overall though.