Lyndon House Hotel, Walsall

Enter through what feels like an old coaching entrance with flagstone floor. Up left to a carpeted room with a country inn feel. All nicely done with some anaglypta wallpaper, exposed brick and lamp lighting. Lots of display plates and a bar made from solid reclaimed wood beams – it feels like an expensive mid 90s refurb that has been kept very well. Clean as a whistle, nice and warm too and attracts a mature and (for Walsall) fairly well-to-do crowd with a lively hubbub late Friday evening. Four cask, maybe a bit pedestrian in selection with 2x Holdens, GK Abbot and TT Landlord. My Holdens Bitter was in good nick (NBSS 3.5) and slipped down easily so is a simple GBG pick for the local CAMRA branch. If I find myself back in Walsall again I’d make sure to have a longer stay – I really liked it. If they could swap in an interesting local beer or a decent dark one, this would be my undisputed best pub in WS1. Karaoke on Sundays according to WhatPub, which surprises me a bit. 8.5

An hotel bar but very unlike one, entering through classic pub doors brings you facing a square servery central in a square room, WhatPub says it was previously a pub. Directly in front are four hand pumps with Holdens Bitter and Golden Glow plus what I took to be guests, Landlord and Hophead, I much prefer Holdens Mild but the bitter was in good condition, maybe slightly green. Typical pub decor with cream lincrusta above brown wood on the walls, nice carpet with black parquet or hard oilcloth round the heavy panelled counter. Decor from old paintings and plates although there is a discreet screen in one corner. The servery is constructed of massive beams from an older building plus some stained glass panels and brick, there are a couple of stripped brick walls. All in all rather pleasant apart from the piped music/radio.

Lyndon House Hotel is a hotel with a traditional bar area to the left that feels more like a pub than most pubs. In the centre is a thick wooden beamed square island bar with parquet flooring around that abuts carpeting that supports the seating around the side walls. Banquettes are found under the windows either side of the entrance and on the right-hand wall is an exposed brick fireplace with an impressive copper hood. Seating is then found either side of the opening to the adjoining hotel reception to the right. To add some twee there are decorative plates around the picture rails. Standard and premium keg were available and three of the four hand pumps were in operation drawing Holden’s Black Country Bitter and Golden Glow alongside Dark Star’s Hophead. Food is served, I had a very good quality fish and chips with mushy peas for a tenner. The service was friendly and I liked it in here, well worth the visit.