Cherry Reds, Birmingham

Small corner-bar-cum-patisserie. Not much in the way of seating and the large, awkward central pillar didn't help matters. However there’s further seating upstairs, a divided room with views overlooking the street and a bit more atmosphere. Fairly plain walls downstairs with the aforementioned pillar wallpapered in a 70’s-pastiche style. Three ales, Tyne Bank Dunkelweisen (too warm, put me off), Backyard Treason (who they?) and a German themed beer from Hand Drawn Monkey, served up by a brusque barmaid. Also a decent selection of craft kegs and bottles. Found the voguish clientèle and their facile conversations fairly irritating "Breaking Bad like OMG, Game of Thrones OMG like OMG yeah so amazing”, ad infinitum. It’s a bit different in here and fair play to them, but one visit was enough for me.

Official site of Cherry Red's Cafe Bar - www.cherryreds.com

Really does look like a café, with large windows and light primrose colour scheme. Even though it does discretely advertise beer and wine as being sold along with the cakes and coffee, it is really quite a surprise to find a traditional (if very compact) bar counter at the back. Initially appears to offer limited seating with a mix of furniture, but there are also two further rooms and smaller bar (not in use) upstairs. Three real ales on handpump: the regular Backyard Blonde (£3.40) plus Otter Ale and Revisionist (Marstons) Hefeweizen as guests. Relaxing atmosphere.

Official site of Cherry Red's Cafe Bar - www.cherryreds.com

Just a short walk from New Street station, this is a compact, two storey street corner café and bar – the second venture to open under this name in Birmingham, with their sister site located in Kings Heath. The place seemed very popular when I visited on a Saturday afternoon, with the small ground floor level full and a number of customers spilling out to the café style tables out on the pavement. The main room is a small, bare boarded area, split in two by a central pillar which has been decorated with some pretty garish wallpaper. The servery is located on the right hand wall and comprises a traditional bar as well as a food serving section which incorporates a dessert cabinet full of tempting looking sweets. A selection of standard seating options are crammed into the room with a few bar stools along the servery being the best bet for the lone drinker. An old dresser stands opposite the bar and as well as being used as a condiment station, it had a stack of board games on it, as well as numerous flyers for a range of local events. The walls are mostly painted cream, but a splash of colour is provided by the odd bit of breweriana here and there, whilst several blackboards list the daily specials available. A quick look at the menu saw a range of typical café options, all of which I thought were reasonably priced. Stairs lead up to a second bar, which seemed deserted, despite offering plenty more seating. The clientele was mainly hip youngsters and an obscure indie soundtrack played quietly throughout my visit. Three ales were available on the bar – Otter Ale, Dark Star APA and Backyard Blonde. The latter went off when I ordered a pint, so I plumped for the APA instead, which was in very good shape. The barmaid finished serving me and immediately went off to replace the Backyard Blonde, which was back on in a matter of minutes. A surprisingly wide keg range included beers from Freedom, Liefmans, La Trappe and Purity, as well as Hogan’s Cider. This place definitely feels more like a café than a bar or pub, but I still thought it was an enjoyable place to stop off for a drink. They clearly take care over the products they select and there was a nice, friendly vibe within. I can see this place appealing to quite a wide range of customers and would recommend it as something a bit different in this part of the city.