The Plough, Birmingham

A bit on the expensive side as others have noted. More geared towards food but with a few ales on it is worth popping in for one. Only one though at these prices!!

As a reviewer has pointed out it looks like a traditional pub from outside. Inside is a bit different. There is a central J-shaped servery with 5 handpumps serving 2 Marble beers, a Purity, the said Butty Bach and some brewery called Urban Huntsman, however there is another servery to your left which has a selection of fizzy beers and was covered in food. There are basically 4 areas to sit. And as Mr Mapp found out it is quite expensive.

£4.30 for the Butty Bach. Let that sink in. We are near Bearwood, not Mayfair. To top it all, it wasn't even a full pint. With the only other entertainment people watching and working out want Halluomi was, I took my untapped App to record the event. To be fair, I got a response later offering me a free pint. So decent service. Packed to the rafters with diners.... I'm not really sure this is my type of place. Although to be fair, having come out of the Harborne Stores, I am probably confused as to what my sort of place is. Some photos at bit.ly/1OLHiaR

Looks fairly traditional from the street, but thoroughly modernised inside and extended at the back. Very busy on a Thursday evening, with a generally young clientele and many groups eating. Fair-sized patio beer garden to rear, partly under cover with laid-back piped jazz and an outside bar (not on use at this time of year). Five of six handpumps in operation, each with hand-made clips, with a decent selection of Wye Valley Butty Bach (£4.30), Mad Goose and Pure UBU from Purity, Purple Moose Glaslyn and Brains Awakening on offer. Not likely to appeal to everybody, but its popularity speaks for itself.