The Cavern of the Curious Gnome, Chester

a CAMRA man’s dream above a rubbish wine bar - it is indeed a nightmare to find if you haven’t been before. Four real ales were Titanic Cappuccino Stout. Beatnikz Republic 2am Poet, Oakham Citra and Anarchy Brew Co Invaders Dream (very nice). Shitloads of foreign bottles catalogued in their beer menu from countries including Austria, Norway and three pages of Belgium. i propped up the bar on a toadstool and quite took to this place despite my initial reservations about the name sounding like a terrible prog rock album.

As stated by Mr Hurdle, enter through the Paysan restaurant on the first floor of the Row then upstairs at the back, look for the fancy bracket sign on the outside to guide you from street level. The reclaimed wood counter has four hand pulls, as well as a selection of founts with better European and a couple of British beers, naturally there’s an outstanding array of bottles, all is listed in a comprehensive beer menu. One wall decorated with old masters and a scary mural, the bar stools are toadstools of course. A large gnome surveys the scene from above the staircase.