The Blackburne, Liverpool

After a hiatus of about 10 years, I decided to pay the Blackburne a repeat visit early on a Thursday evening. The outside of the pub describes the pub as a gastropub. So, it's clearly aiming for a certain market. However, walking through the door, we were met with a crowd of drinkers. It was difficult to even get inside. This was in spite of most of the tables being free. The reason soon became apparent, as most tables were reserved, presumably for diners due to arrive later in the evening. In fact, a couple of dozen customers were present and all of them were drinkers only. There was nobody eating. I always recall this as a pub that despite being unexceptional, can often serve some interesting beers. In that respect, nothing has changed. 3 real ales were on - Weetwood Cheshire Cat, Salopian Firkin Freezin & Wily Fox Yule Be Back. A fourth clip had been turned around. None of them were really my kind of beer, but they were kept in a reasonable condition. This is a pub that does market itself more on its food than on its beers, but if you're taking the trouble to visit any of Peter Kavanagh's, the Caledonia or the Belvedere, it's probably worth popping in to have a swift one. I certainly need to visit a little more often.

Claims to sell the best Sunday roasts in Liverpool and there were certainly plenty of people eating them on our Sunday, late afternoon visit. All the tables were taken with diners, but we were told that they were happy for us to sit at the bar on stools, which we did. Four handpumps on the go and my pint of Peerless Skyline was in excellent condition. They have live music on Friday & Saturday, but it was difficult to see where they could perform when it was full. Nice atmosphere, efficient and friendly bar staff. I quite liked it, but the other half loved it, so we'll be coming back here.

I had heard this place was pretty food-led so wasn't sure what to expect. On entering there was a strong foody smell, mushrooms I think, but on making our way to the bar we were greeted with friendly welcoming service and the barmaid suggested we take a seat and she would bring our drinks over once they had settled. There were four hand pulls at the bar, one of which was off at the time of my visit. I had Fab Four by Rock the Boat which was only £3.10 a pint, quite refreshing when so many foody places take the piss a bit on drinks pricing. As you walk in the right hand side appears to be set up for dining with the smaller area to the left for drinkers. It seemed there was a live music act warming up over at the end of the dining section. Overall, nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Probably not somewhere I would rush back to but was good to have been and tried it.

Official site of Blackburne Arms - www.theblackburne.co.uk

Official site of Blackburne Arms - www.theblackburne.co.uk

Modernised hotel restaurant / bar with a central counter between the lighter dining area at one end and the general tables in the darker seating area at the other. Four local real ales from smaller breweries on handpump, including the Little Crosby Mussel Wreck (£2.90, served in a jug).