The Kitchen Bar, Belfast

The left hand side of the Kitchen Bar is the bar area where there is seating to the left and a serving counter on the rear wall that faces banquettes under the windows. The handpump was unused during a recent late midweek afternoon visit which left standard and premium keg. Televisions up on the walls were showing muted horse racing whilst some background music played for the benefit of me and one other customer who was sitting at the bar. A few people entered during my visit but they were looking to eat so were directed to the dining area in the right hand side. The service was polite and the Guinness was good, but I don’t think I’d go here just for a beer again.

Large, modern(ish) split-level bar with various seating areas. Live music advertised. Just one of two handpumps was working, and this dispensed Whitewater's Belfast Ale at £3.80.

Official site of The Kitchen Bar - www.thekitchenbar.com

Official site of The Kitchen Bar - www.thekitchenbar.com

For some unknown reason this pub is listed in the GBG2011. We've called in 3 times during the last 5 days to see if they have any real ale on. They haven't. Pathetic. Get your act together Belfast CAMRA.

Looks and sounds like a bit of a posy place, like the Ha Ha Canteen chain on the mainland. However as I heard it was one of the few places to get real ale I gave it a go. It is primarily a kitchen bar as the name suggests with the emphasis clearly on food. Only two hand pumps and only one in use serving Clarks Brewery's Take the Bait, which I did. It pulled up cloudy with a worrying floating sediment and I was about to send it back but it smelled and tasted OK. The barman told me that's the way it's supposed to be, or at least that's what the guy who delivered it told him, and that all English ales were like that. I begged to differ but being a proud Englishman and wanting to support it's beer I even had another, neither cleared throughout and I suffered no ill effects.

Trendy looking modern bar just outside the Victoria Square shopping Mall, inside it is less trendy and more down to earth. Only one ale from Whitewater on amidst a sea of formula kegs, this was Belfast Ale a rather thin and watery red ale with a slightly chocolatey taste, served very cold. Sadly as it warmed up a sour flavour was revealed. All the beer seems to be served in either a Magners, Guinness or a Carlsberg glass. Staffing was coolly efficient and the customers were a fairly average looking lot. The interior is mainly exposed brick, a neat tiled floor and with big clear windows to the street, the usual screens and machines are available, the screens being tuned to a racing channel.