Brewhouse & Kitchen, Chester

My first thought in here was that it felt like a middle class Wetherspoons, so I wasn’t surprised to find it used to be one. Three ales on, a golden, IPA and bitter from their downstairs brewery. My golden was in excellent condition to be fair but at £4.50 a pint, it had to be. All a bit vacuous and lacking personality, and that’s just the customers. Interior is quite nicely done though including a kind of cosy snug area with a fireplace. It didn’t really click with me, but I would visit again.

Visited earlier in the week. Booked a table in advance as I was with the family for food. Four hand pulls at the bar, two of which had Forest House (bitter), one had Golden Boy (blonde) and I can't remember the other. All these were from their own Brewhouse & Kitchen brewery. They also had various keg options, many of which were from the in house brewery too. Service was friendly and pretty efficient, we had the choice of ordering through our phones using the QR code on the table, or being served by a human who came to the table. For anyone concerned by the steps as you enter from Love Street, there is a lift for wheelchair and pram users to take you up from street level to the main bar (and, of course, back down again). If you're interested in the food options, plenty of variety and standard food pub prices. The dishes on the kids' menu were £4.95 or so and included more options than you often get. I will definitely be back but I wasn't as in love with this place as I had been on my previous visit.

Just a word of caution - both WhatPub and the pub's own web site list this pub as opening at 11am, but the door was still locked at 11:55am this morning. It may have been a one off or may signal a change in opening hours.

Have been once before on a Saturday evening about a year ago, and was looking forward to paying another visit when a trip to Chester came up. Like the Pied Bull, part of the attraction here for me is that they brew their own ales and so you get something different here that you would not see anywhere else. The chap serving behind the bar, who through chatting to later discovered was called Jack, was very knowledgeable and friendly and took time to welcome customers as they came in. He likes stouts so was keen to recommend an alternative when my first choice, a smoked stout by Brewhouse & Kitchen, was not available. I then stayed for an IPA and a can of peanut butter milk stout from the fridge. Before I left I was given a leaflet on brewery masterclasses, experience days and meet the brewer sessions, which I thought was a nice touch. One to visit and would definitely go back (again).