The Monro, Liverpool

I’d expected this street corner city centre pub to be a down to earth local’s boozer, so it was a bit of a shock to discover upon entry that this is a very smartly presented gastro pub. The pub’s name is taken from the MV James Munro – the first regular scheduled transatlantic ship to sail between Liverpool and New York (the ship in turn was named after the fifth president of the US, James Monroe, albeit with the final ‘e’ dropped). The main space for drinkers is around the entrance, where you’ll find a bare boarded area with comfy banquettes along the right hand wall and some well upholstered chairs elsewhere. The front door has a nice etched glass ‘Welcome’ sign which also bears the image of the eponymous ship. The bar appears midway along the left hand wall and has a very high counter with a white panelled counter front and adjustable height bar stools, whilst the plain wood bar back and metal framed canopy round out the servery fittings. Walls are a mix of white tongue and groove panels and purple brick pillars and in the front left corner you’ll find a nice fireplace and decorative partitioning screen which are both shared by the left hand dining room. This side room is carpeted and accessed via two steps at the near end of the bar. Floral wallpaper prevails in here along with more purple pillars, nautical themed paintings and photos and a nice plaster relief of an historical scene. Back in the main room, you pass the servery and a couple of old naval Union Jacks into an opened out space set up as another smart dining area. More floral wallpaper abounds and I also spotted an attractive etched glass doorway signed for the ‘Garden’. Music, inevitably including tunes from the Beatles, played quietly throughout my stay, but pleasingly the main noise to be heard was low level chatter from other customers. The pub serves beers from the Marstons portfolio and three of their ales were available on handpull – Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold, Marstons EPA and Brakspear Bitter, with a fourth pump unused. My pint of EPA was decidedly average and the staff were pleasant enough without looking like they want to interact with their customers in anything but the most perfunctory exchanges. This is probably a nice place to stop off for a decent bite to eat, but it really didn’t work as part of a pub crawl and whilst I was able to settle down surprisingly well, I couldn’t muster any enthusiasm to linger. An inoffensive enough place but drinkers are much better served by countless other options within a short distance.

Fine of an afternoon, heavily food orientated of an evening. 4 real ales available and pleasant enough.

This pub is named after the 5th U.S. president James Monro, but I'm not sure why. It's very food orientated pub with the whole of the room on the left as you enter and the rear room set up for dining. There was a real fire going in the hearth and the bar is straight in front of you. It's a Marston's house and 3 beers from their extended stable were available. I had a pint of Wychwood Jester Jack which was in good condition. This pub made the CAMRA GBG2012, but it's not in the 2013 version. I'm not surprised really, it's now more of a restaurant with a real ale bar rather than a pub.

A starangely trendy foody bar considering the location it appears to be in, but its nice with it and welcoming for both food or drink. Its not a corner local type of place and is a bit arty, it remines me of the Vintage Inn chain but much lighter, with placement of wooden barrels and sacks and that kind of thing, but its comfortable and enjoyable and friendly. The winner here for me was that the 3 Marstons beers were excellent.