The Forge, Dudley

This is a detached Marston's food pub, with beer garden and kid's play area. Outside there is a whicker man working at a forge. It appears to be modern, but that is only the later extensions, at the heart is a Victorian (at least) older pub that once serviced the coal mines and railway yard that operated nearby. All of that went, and so the pub was re-invented. The interior is an irregular open plan room, which has the usual multi-cloured walls and patterned wallpapers. The occasional hearth feature and partitioning breaks it up. There is a mix of art, from forge working to the silly 4-year-old stuff, with strange vases and other bits of tat. There was no TV that i saw and no music. I didn't eat but it offered 2 for 1. The service was fine and everyone there seemed to be eating. Beer; usual tap stuff with Hobgoblin, Oxford Gold and a decent enough Banks's MILD on handpull. A soulless place, in my opinion - but then i am more a traditionalist.

Official site of the Forge, with menu and wine list - www.forgepubdudley.co.uk

Official site of the Forge, with menu and wine list - www.forgepubdudley.co.uk