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Detail Pages
Rose Villa Tavern, Birmingham
Birmingham
B18 6JW
Pub Type
Punch TavernsReviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
No smell of urine, male or female on my visit, but the interior tiling is indeed beautiful, a quite cavernous high ceilinged main room with a long bar running down the centre with six handpumps in total, just a choice of Purity Mad Goose or Oakham Citra, the latter being in good shape. The gripe I have was the music, albeit a good selection it was being played full whack with people having to shout their orders over the bar, totally unnecessary and has cost them a point.
On 4th July 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
Surely one of the most beautiful pubs in the country, but after taking a few external photos and entering the pub my impression was not one of aesthetic wonder but revulsion at the smell filling the corridor from the gents' toilet. Luckily it didn't permeate as far as the bar counter, but my beer, Pale Brummie from Birmingham brewery, was in poor condition. I took a few more photos of the stunning windows and tiles, but the spell was broken. Throwing a few disinfectant cubes into a urinal does not constitute cleaning it, any more than you can look after a real ale without tasting it, smelling it and checking for clarity at the start of the day and from time to time thereafter. Only the magnificent appearance of this pub, both outside and in, saves it from an ignominious rating of 1.
On 17th October 2021
- rating: 3
[User has posted 3740 recommendations about 3477 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
A terrific interior, illuminated on a sunny afternoon by the large windows. Clientele seemed to be largely students checking out the cocktails. Our alcoholic interest centred on the 5 cask ales from smaller breweries and in excellent condition. Staff were on good form and helpful enough to point out the word "hazy" on the pump clip when we enquired about the clarity of one of the pints (which tasted just fine).
Definitely a mandatory stop if you're checking out the pubs of the Jewellery Quarter.
On 26th May 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
Enjoyed my visit to this beautiful old pub with it's large stain glassed windows and extensive tiling. I chose a beer from Blind Monkey brewery which was fine.
On 3rd April 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Delboy 20 left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
Great looking pub with 5 ales on. My only slight complaint is the choice was mostly darker beers (probably due to the time of year and Winter/Christmas beers). The Titanic Chocolate and Vanilla stout was good as were the others I tried. Also offers a Camra discount.
On 24th December 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1656 recommendations about 1556 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
Large pub with impressive tiled interior and stained glass windows, but decorated in a strange bohemian style with a mixture of dark walls and bright colours. Not unpleasant though, and a friendly welcome. Several ales and a cider on pump; I tried the house-badged bitter which was light and hoppy; origin unknown.
On 22nd October 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
A 2 roomed pub with very ornate windows. 6 handpumps to be found on the bar in the right side of the pub. Tiled walls decorate the inside which also seems to have an affection for deer. A red telephone box is also to be found inside. Its quite an interesting pub to be fair. I had the Two Towers Brewery, Happy Tea Clipper. Which was fine.
On 26th February 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
Can't add to the the interior descriptions below. 5 real ale taps but just 2 on during my visit.
On 1st August 2015
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
A must visit if you are in the area - and you can team it up with a nice little pub crawl of some really decent boozers.
The architecture in here is stunning - especially the stained glass windows.
Real Ale served in a jugged pint pot (unless you ask) and my Black Sheep was in decent nick.
Great place to people watch.
Some photos on my blog at http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/020515-jewellery-quarter-pub-crawl.html
On 4th May 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Rose Villa Tavern
This Grade II listed pub in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter was built by Mitchells and Butler in 1920, yet retains a feel of the ornate Victorian pub-building era. The pub offers a number of distinctly different seating areas, although some sections have clearly been opened out in more recent times, whilst some somewhat incongruous modern décor detracts slightly from the original splendour in places. The main front bar has a terrazzo floor and an elegant curved bar counter opposite a series of banquette booths on the front wall. The dark wood servery boasts a decorative bar back with particularly impressive pillars and top, but the room's real star feature is the row of windows along the front wall, each a large arch shape with beautiful stained glass work depicting a ship motif. A disused door here also has some fine stained glass work worth checking out. Meanwhile, a modern wallpaper frieze runs around the room, with a deer pattern printed on it and there is also a tree trunk painted on the wall next to the bar with a real branch hung from it across the ceiling, from which little ornamental birds and the like hang. Equally odd and unnecessary is the red phone box in the front right corner, which was housing a pump clip display as far as I could tell. Some stunning glazed tile work can be found to the right, and also in the passageway to the side of the room, whilst over to the left there is a plainer section of tiling around a long U shaped banquette. Taking the corridor on the right hand side, you pass a number of cut glass mirrors before emerging in the rear snug - a fantastic little space with parquet flooring, armchair and bench seating lit by an impressive skylight and some light fittings made from antlers. A broad staircase to the right catches the eye initially, but it is the large inglenook fireplace on the rear wall, with a large stone arch and relief detail that is the real star of the show. A proper frieze runs around this room and there is a marvellous tile painting above the fireplace. There is plenty more excellent tiling here and a second arch to the left takes you into another parquet floored room in the rear left of the building, with curved banquette and low stool seating. Some nice stained windows aside, this is the least impressive room in the pub, displaying another of those weird tree branches, a modern tiled 'Way Out' sign, modern art prints and an annoying, buzzing air-con unit. This room had menus and tin cans full of cutlery on the tables, so is presumably favoured by diners. The circuit back to the main bar can be completed from here, passing through a small space with a decoratively tiled floor. Music played very quietly throughout my stay and several posters advertised the possibility of live music in the evenings.
There were three ales available on this visit - Black Sheep Bitter, Joules Slumbering Monk and Two Towers Baskerville Bitter - with three more hand pumps out of action. I tried the Baskerville Bitter, which I found decidedly average, but it was at least encouraging to see some local micro breweries being supported.
I really enjoyed exploring this pub, which offered up a series of pleasant architectural surprises that made the visit very worthwhile. I hope the owners continue to appreciate the building they have on their hands and ease off with their unnecessary decorative efforts because this is a pub well worth heading out of the city centre to appreciate.
On 3rd March 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]