The Salmon, Leicester

Not going to add a score to this - I think it depends on how familiar with BCA pubs you are. If new, then you may love the nod to tradition, with roaring fires, cobs, multiple and bewildering selection of many cask, pub games, tv with sports on at a low level. However, if you are a veteran of many locations, you may be tired of the exact identikit makeovers where everything looks exactly the same. The electronic beer board, the carpets, the colour scheme, the glassware. They are popular and I love my local but when you travel and instantly connect to the wifi, even though you've never been there before you maybe wish for a new experience.

The Salmon is a backstreet pub just to the north of Leicester city centre in a much more multi-cultural area. It's a Black Country Ales pub, one of two in the city and I'd say that whilst they are both very good, this one is marginally the better one. Similar to Quinno below, I hadn't been here since 2014. With a good amount of time available to us in Leicester this time around, I tried to arrange a crawl around a re-visit to the Salmon. The Salmon has a much more traditional feel than most Black Country Ales pubs. Its corner location means there is a circular bar with seating pretty much all around it. A passageway leads from one side to the toilets and an outdoor area. With a few quiet afternoon drinkers and a young barman, it didn't quite suit our group of drinkers which had gradually been swelling during the afternoon and now numbered 10. I was conscious that our arrival had increased the noise levels in the pub and had therefore altered the atmosphere. But I don't think we were too unruly at this stage! Black Country Ales on were Fireside, BFG & Pig on the Wall. Guest beers were Mallinson's Nelson Sauvin, Roman Way Hibernia, Phoenix Keltek, Hancock's HB, Leatherbritches The Bounder & Fixed Wheel Chain Reaction. Also on handpull were a cider (Snail's Bank Pig Squeal) and a perry (Purbeck Katy Perry). Cobs were available, either ham or cheese & onion. Between our group, we soon polished off what was left. There were certainly a rather thick slab of cheese on mine. Sky Sports News was showing on a TV in one corner. This is another of Leicester's best pubs.