The Shakespeare, Birmingham

The easiest decent pub to get a beer in Birmingham when you only have 25 minutes to change trains. This standard Nicholsons boozer is just the same as all the others with a decent selection of ale on the bar. I had a pint of UBU, which went down well after a weekend of pale beers in Shrewsbury. Worth a visit but many better pubs a bit further from the station.

This is a typical Nicholson's pub just off of New Street and a very short walk from New Street station. A relatively traditional interior with dark wood flooring and wall panels makes the place seem quite pleasant and welcoming. The front of the pub has a raised seating area that was full on my Saturday evening visit, whilst a number of high stools make up the seating options in the bar area. At the rear of the room there is a smart looking dining area, which was only half full, but it didn't look like you could just sit there with a drink, as the tables were all laid with candles and flowers and staff were waiting to seat people. I propped up the bar instead and admired the fine tiling that covers the left hand wall of the pub, following the stairs up towards the toilets. The walls were decorated with various old photos of Birmingham as well as numerous blackboards listing ales, wines, food etc... There were eight handpulls on the bar, but only four of them were being used during my visit, serving Sharp's Doom Bar, Brains Rev James, Box Steam Tunnel Vision and Leeds Midnight Bell. For a Saturday night in a Nicholson’s pub, I thought that was quite a poor show, but my pint of Tunnel Vision was nice enough and I only had time for the one before my train back home. The staff seemed to know what they were doing and dealt with queues at the bar very quickly, although they didn't strike me as the friendliest. This place felt like a solid if unspectacular sort of pub and I would have no problem returning, although there are far better options just a short walk away.

Called in on Tuesday evening, nice busy atmosphere and pleasant surroundings. Four pumps were on. Tried Acorn IPA and Oakleaf IPA - both were superb quality.Much better pub since it was rebranded as a Nicholsons.

Another gem of a pub and well worth a visit. Very friendly staff and Colin the duty manager was very knomledgable when it came to chatting about cask ales. On handpump Jennings Cumberland, Sharps Doombar, York Ghost. I went fot Adnams Ghostship and St Austell Trelawny which were both fab. Will call again.

Dropped in here on a visit to Brum, not been in for a while but was pleasantly surprised. M&B rebranded it as a Nicholsons around Christmas 2010 and the number of handpumps doubled to 8. Looks like 3 regulars (Doom Bar, Rev James and UBU) 4 guests, albeit from the Nicholsons list I suspect, and a cider. Got chatting to one of the cellarmen and he's clearly passionate about ale. They had a couple of local beers, an interesting IPA and one of my favourites, York Ghost, on when I visited. Well worth a visit.

My first visit since it has become a Nicholson's house. The layout is the same - the dining is still at the back of the pub, with the bar/lounge at the front, including a raised bit. The decor is generally a grey colour, with a red moulded ceiling in the front area, as well as some patterned wallpaper. The tiling is still there. The old photographs of Birmingham still adorn the walls. There is a TV, which wasn't on and the music was general and at a decent level. The sevice was fine, the place rammed. The beer was the usual tap stuff, with Peroni and several real ale handpulls; Doombar, Pedigree, Ubu, Salopian Kashmir, a decent Rudgate IPA and a Rev James, which was a bit dead - but this was changed straight away. All in all a happy enough visit.