Richmond Pub, Liverpool

A 2011 Good Beer Guide pub, and very busy with Birmingham City getting beat by West Brom on 2 screens inside the packed bar. Selected Liverpool Organic Kitty Wikinson and sat outside to people watch while enjoying the beer. Staff friendly and came to clear and clean tables.

Official site of the Richmond, contains cask ale details - www.therichmondhotel.co.uk

Official site of the Richmond, contains cask ale details - www.therichmondhotel.co.uk

I wasn't very impressed with this place. 6 handpumps but only 1 beer on at 6 p.m. on a Saturday, very poor. The beer was Coach House Cheshire Gold which to be fair was pretty good. There are a lot of smokers using this pub and we had to push though a crowd of about 20 of them to even get into the pub. It's very small inside and has 2 large TV screens so everybody is stood watching one or the other of them. A nice touch though is the pub sign which shows a picture of Paddy Golden who was one of the pubs regulars until he died in 2004. He was a local character and was one of the first soldiers to hit the Normandy beaches on D Day. This pub is in the GBG 2010, what are you playing at Merseyside CAMRA? Here, Pilgrim, Munroe, you have got to be joking.

An odd mix of the plain and the melodramatic, a continental bar in looks but definitely a pub in character. Large clear windows with extravagant austrian blinds trimed with crystal swathes illuminate a narrow corridor shaped bar plainly decorated in lighter colours and there is a huge mirror either side of the bar counter. Overhead light is provided by four chandeliers(!). There is a big screen TV at each end of the room usually showing sport to the mainly male 30 something to 50 something customers, although I imagine their lunchtime trade is significantly different. 16 keg fonts for lager and smooth etc plus six handpulls serving mainstream cask ales. Only two pulls in use on my visit serving tolerable and very reasonably priced Bass and Cains Bitter; Deuchers IPA and Taylors Landlord are often available. There is a juke box of 60s, 70s and 80s music, seating is a bit limited inside but there is a large pavement area with tables and chairs in the continental style