The Stable, Birmingham

I'd honestly thought that this chain of cider and pizza bar/restaurants had bitten the dust. However, the Birmingham branch is still alive and kicking. In fact, it was very busy on our Saturday lunchtime visit. Most customers were there for the food, but staff soon managed to find us a table. Real ale is no longer served, but there is naturally a good range of ciders. Be careful though. Table service is assumed and not all available ciders are shown on the printed menus handed out. The full range of real ciders was Lilley's Mango Cider, Broadway Press Ice Cyder, Cockeyed Mad Jack, Hunt's Hazy Dazy, Haywood Farm Medium, Abrahall's Slack Alice & Lily the Pink & Cotswold Cider Company Freak Show & Yellow Hammer. A number of other ciders were on draft. I chose Sandford Orchards Rapscallion. Being a cider drinker, I quite like these places. For a beer drinker however, there is much less of a choice. Interiors of these establishments are also a little boring with long bench seating that is shared with other customers, similar to a Wagamama's. It's an interesting proposition, but not necessarily one for the discerning pub goer.

Modern bar / restaurant with quite a bright interior benefiting from full-height windows and effective lighting. Furniture is mostly long tables arranged in rows, but there is a slightly less regimented arrangement at the far end. Industrial ventilation above. Also has a pavement area out front. Quite a small bar, given the size of the place, but in addition to Sadler's Green Man (£4.00) from one of two handpumps there are 20 keg taps and 12 boxed ciders on the bar-back.