The Old Bakery, Kenilworth

Pleasant evenings only hotel bar which remains as described by Soup below which continues to attract the more mature locals. In the 2013 GBG with Purity on good form. Should be included on any crawl of the town.

AN EVENING AT THE OLD BAKERY IN KENILWORTH If you ever find yourself in Kenilworth, in the evening, and fancy a drink, then you should make your way to the old town. Not far from the castle and abbey fields amongst some beautiful old buildings you will find the Old Bakery. A beautifully presented and attractively restored 17th century bakery, it not only encompasses two very nicely presented rooms, but also a very nice modern fourteen room hotel to the rear. The Old Bakery are involved with Kenilworth Rugby Club and help organise music events, as well as, promoting comedy and Boxing evenings at local clubs. The Old Bakery has been ever present in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide now for ten years, of which the present owners have had it for six. It holds a very successful ‘Fish and Chip’ night on a Monday evening supplied from Kenilworth’s famous Alfie Grimshaws; a recent finalist in The National Fish and Chip Shop of the Year awards. I chose a Monday evening for my visit and was met by a very warm welcome. For the beer connoisseur they have four real ales. During my visit Wye Valley Bitter, Millstone Brewery’s Tiger Rut, St Austell ‘s Tribute and Salopian’s Hop Twister but don’t worry if bitter is not your thing as they also do two lager style beers, a nice selection of whiskey and other spirits, some excellent wines and a wide variation of soft drinks. I ordered Cod and Chips and settled myself down with a pint of the ‘Hop Twister’. As it’s a hotel, which attracts a lot of return business, people to stay from all over the world and tonight was no exception. I got talking first to a couple of men from Germany, then a chap from America and another from Scotland who didn’t work together but had got to know each other through regular visits. All too soon my food arrived so with a second pint I tucked in. All six tables I could see were occupied with people eating. The food was excellent and one of the nicest pieces of Cod I have had in ages. All in all, I had a very pleasant evening and would recommend it to anyone. So if you are around Kenilworth pop in, but if your visit is on a Monday arrive early so as to get a table if you intend on having Fish and Chips.

This is not really your traditional pub (in fact the landlady said they prefer to call it a bar) but nonetheless very pleasant. If you're not careful you could walk on by, as there is no pub sign, the name doesn't obviously signify a pub and you can't see in because of the frosted windows. It was very busy on the Friday & Saturday night we visited, with no spare seating. There were three beers on tap and I had a very good pint of Tribute. They also seem to be trialling the range of Thatcher's ciders, as there were three in the 'fridge and a flyer on the tables detailing the whole range and asking for feedback on your favourites. The Gold I had was a bit dissapointing though compared to the draft version I'm used to. Maybe it had been hanging around a while. We did stay here, so can also recomend it as a B&B. Quiet, newly refurbished rooms (although a little on the small side) and a very good breakfast.

Just an update on the previous posting and thankfully nothing more to report - still a great bar and worth the visit