The Wonky Pear, Congleton

The Wonky Pear is a single room shop converted bar that was busy with all the tables taken during a recent Thursday evening visit. In fact this place had more customers than the two local pubs combined, and it’s about a fifth of the footprint of each of them. So size really doesn’t matter! The crisp and nut covered bar counter supports three hand pumps that were drawing local Beartown Brewery’s Citra Smash, Lit and Crème Bearlee, the former being a reasonable pint. There are also seven craft keg fonts for fizz lovers. The barmaid was very friendly and I struck up a conversation with a couple of the chatty locals. I liked it in here, but anymore punters and it would have started to become uncomfortably busy.

Very handy for the railway station, one of three in the immediate area but this one is GBG listed. A small narrow building it’s a single square downstairs room which looks and feels like a cafe. Fear not there are three pulls of Beartown beers, half a dozen kegs and bottles, cans, wines and spirits. Wooden furniture, bare boards and normal walls, the tables have bits of fence post as number indicators. Cakes and coffee also available. I didn’t venture upstairs.

New(ish) micro-pub and café, located a short distance on the far side of the station from the town centre. Created as usual from a former shop, there are four tables at the front plus two more and the compact counter up one step further back. With a mix of furniture and restrained decoration, most people will probably feel at home here, whether stopping for coffee and cake or something stronger. I found a pair of Beartown real ales - Best Bitter (£3.80) and Kahuna - available from the three handpumps, with a trio of guest craft beers from Tiny Rebel, Beavertown and Leo in in addition to the four regular keg offerings.

Facebook page of The Wonky Pear - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Wonky Pear - www.facebook.com