The Castle Grounds, Coventry

Official site of Castle Grounds - www.thecastlegroundscoventry.co.uk

The Castle is a Smith & Jones chain pub/eatery. It comprises of a really nice Georgian building with an incongruous glass frontage seemingly shunted in to fill a gap. There is a patio area. The bar is to the left on entry. It took me quite a while to find a seat, not because it was busy (pretty empty), but due to the fact i stuck fast to the grimey floor. The general open plan room was, to be fair, quite scruffy, as were the seats, carpet and walls of brick, mustard, wood panel and red. There were silent TVs showing the news and some strange art on the walls. The food was ok, as was the service. Beer; a poor Bombardier was on offer - there was Guinness and Peroni otherwise. Sadly, not a great experience.

Large, student-orientated pub with a very odd layout. The entrance and bar are housed in a modern structure, but a number of the many different seating areas are located in a much older building alongside. First-floor front terrace. Lots of cheap food and drink offers. Two of four handpumps in operation, offering EPA and Bombardier.