The Kings Arms, Salford

Good pub, a couple of safe bets on at the pumps but also a couple of unusual ones we had not seen before, on a visit this Saturday. This is a traditional feeling boozer, through the front door you come into a corridor that has more of a hotel feel than a pub, there is a small room to your left which is often closed for a private function but was open on Saturday. Main bar then to the right where you can sit and admire the ornate plasterwork of the ceiling roses and cornicing. Unfortunately the traditional feel continues into the toilets which could really do with an overhaul (at least that is true of the gents, can't comment on the ladies). Definitely worth a look for the ale.

Just down the road from Salford Central station, the Kings Arms is an impressive looking Victorian Grade II listed pub with a grand depiction of the royal coat of arms on a pediment at the front of the building. You enter into a corridor with a fine decorative tile floor and rooms off to either side. The front left hand room is a fairly simple, compact lounge with fixed benches along the front and rear walls serving a few standard tables. The main bar is in the room to the right - a pretty sizable space with an angular bar to the front left. The room has a mix of exposed floorboards and quarry stone flooring whilst the bar has a nice dark wood counter and bar back under a small canopy, all decorated rather irreverently with various certificates, a toy bird, an inflatable giraffe and a Sponge Bob ornament. The right side of the room has fabulous looking curved corners with nice etched glass windows bearing the pub's name and a series of high shelves holding old cameras and a range of theatre themed items. At the far end of the bar there is a colourful stained glass window with an image of a King's Head and the high ceiling sports elaborate decorations in the form of some impressive roses. Elsewhere you can spot a TV screen (turned off on this occasion), a nice painting of the pub and, of all things, a framed collection of crisp packets. A second corridor at the rear of the pub leads out to a pleasant, partly covered patio garden. A good indie soundtrack played throughout my stay and a trip to the toilets was an odd experience as the walls in the gents have been papered with pages from a local newspaper dated February 2015, for no apparent reason. A good mix of customers were in on this visit, creating a lively environment and there was a great communal effort from half the crowd in trying to retrieve a balloon that had floated up to the very high ceiling after a child inadvertently let go of it. The bar supports six hand pumps across two banks, but half were off on my Saturday afternoon visit, leaving a choice of Beartown Great Bear, Pennine Kinder Scout and Great Corby Red. Of those that had gone off, I noted another Pennine brew and Robinsons Old Tom. My pint of Kinder Scout was in good nick and the friendly bar staff were very apologetic and quick to rectify the problem when I realised they'd given me change for a fiver rather than the tenner I'd paid with. I didn't really know what to expect from this place, but thought it was a bit of an all rounder, with good beer, a lively atmosphere and a good customer mix, all in an attractive old building. This is a good place to stop off for a beer before jumping on a train and is a solid addition to any crawl around central Salford.