The Caledonia, Liverpool

This is much improved from my last visit, although it's about the same in decor, a few portraits of musicians are now brightening the place up. Many hand pumps of small breweries products and it looks like there's live music here almost every night.

Cracking pub in the Georgian quarter of Liverpool, with quality and regularly changing real ale selections. Its quite small but perfectly formed and particularly lively at weekends, especially alternate Sundays with brilliant bluegrass from locals 'Loose Moose String Band'. We also love the regular jazz nights & Downtown Dixieland Band (all the music in fact as this pub knows good music!) There are also occasional hand-picked out of town bands, I have to keep my eye on their facebook page to make sure I don't miss anything (like the fantastic bluegrass all the way from USA a few Wednesdays ago). Its a great little all-rounder pub, good for dancing but also great for cosy afternoon drinking and at weekends you can get good food scouse, burgers, pizza for just £5 (done really nice).... And now with the new mini beer yard-en there is never a week goes by I don't find myself back again!

Quite a trek from the city centre, but only a relatively short detour if you have made it out as far as the Philharmonic, the Caledonia is a spacious single room pub and live music venue. Dark wood floors and half panelled walls give the place something of a cosy feel, but the loss of any partitioning in favour of clean sight lines to the stage at the rear of the room, mean that it can feel a bit cavernous if you visit, as I did, when there are very few other customers. The servery is along the left hand side of the room and there are some very smart and comfortable banquettes opposite with additional low stools. Elsewhere it’s mainly standard table and chair seating, including around the fireplace which is on a slightly raised platform towards the rear. There is a blackboard hung here which lists a simple pub grub menu at reasonable prices. There wasn’t a great deal to suggest the pub was a live music venue, except perhaps for an upright piano in one corner and a large amount of flyers and listings magazines behind the banquettes. A Merseybeat/ 60’s soundtrack played quietly in the background throughout my stay. There are four hand pumps at the bar, but only two were on when I arrived, offering Peerless Fuggle Hop and Red Rocks. The other two both had turned clips, one of which was for Timothy Taylor Golden Best. I tried the Fuggle Hop and was pleased to find it was a very well kept drop of beer. This is a fairly solid pub doing the simple things well and I was glad that I bothered to walk all the way out here from town in order to check it out. I wouldn’t mind making a return, perhaps when there’s some music on so I can see it with a bit more atmosphere.

Facebook page of the Caledonia - en-gb.facebook.com

Facebook page of the Caledonia - en-gb.facebook.com