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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
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Canalside Cafe, Birmingham
Birmingham
B1 2JT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Oggwyn Great left this review about Canalside Cafe
As noted this is a small slightly quirky place on the canal side , very busy on my sunny saturday afternoon visit , 3 real ales on Davenports Bitter , Sadlers Peaky Blinders and a decent Mellow Yellow , 2 ciders from westons and Black Rat . Toilets are ancient looking walk in and back out variety .
A nice enough place to spend a pleasant hour .
On 8th May 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 797 recommendations about 683 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Canalside Cafe
A nice spot to sit outside and watch the narrow boats chug by on a sunny afternoon. Compact bar to left of entrance, with a slightly longer café area on the other side (where it really is like buying a pint inside an 'olde worlde tea shoppe' - a slightly disconcerting experience). Five handpumps, offering three real ales - Thin Ice and Worcester Sorcerer (£3.40, and slightly cloudy) from Sadler's plus Hobgoblin - together with two draught ciders on this visit.
On 11th April 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
General Staal left this review about Canalside Cafe
This pub has had an issue with its beer temperature. However, I popped in yesterday and also one week ago on very warm days. My Mellow Yellow was delicious. Fantastic sitting out in the sunshine watching the world drift past on the canal. Marvellous afternoon.
On 10th June 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 142 recommendations about 125 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Canalside Cafe
Situated in the former toll office and lock keepers cottage ,this place is a world away from the trendy bars of the Broad Street/Mailbox area a few hundred yards away.It has the feel of a quaint tea shop,with the small counter in front of the entrance piled high with cakes and biscuits.The interior is narrow with tables along either wall,but the views through the windows are over the former stop lock through which there is a constant stream of boating traffic,good news for gongoozlers.
Most customers to the cafe will be eating from a varied menu including veggie options,but there are five handpumps,two well hidden and unused,with the selection on my trip from Moorhouse Black Cat,Skinners Betty Stogs and an organic cider.There was a barrel of scrumpy cider on the bar ,together with a limited range of spirits.There is an issue with beer temperature and I note that this is no longer GBG listed,but my beer was fine all the same.
It can get a little crowded inside but in fine weather the outside tables ,which are in a bit of a suntrap,may tempt you into quite a long stay given the interesting location and the real ale options.
On 18th May 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Canalside Cafe
As you can see I have given a good rating here as they do serve some interesting ales and are well kept. This was my second visit here and unless you can sit outside, which on this occasion I could, I wouldn't bother. To me the interior is far too small and narrow for me. As far as the staff goes no wonder you can't get a smile out of them, working in a shoe box. Four ales on, I went for the Sadlers JPA and Holdens bitter.
On 1st November 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about Canalside Cafe
Really liked this place. Quirky is the right word, and not a lot of seating. Beer choice was one of the best we found with 4 available, 2 from the popular Purity range (nearly everywhere we went had one or the other on) Kelham Island Are you lonesome tonight, and Ma Pardoes Entire. There was also a cider on. Very relaxed atmosphere with gents sitting at the table reading papers after finishing their meals. If I lived in one of the flats around the canal I would be very happpy to call this one my local. Deserves 2011 Good Beer Guide entry.
On 21st October 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Canalside Cafe
Quirky is the right word for this very small canalside building, very close to the Tap & Spile.
Its a small cottage on Gas Street Basin, between the Mailbox and Brindley Place/Broad Street. Its lovely inside, with curios all around but well presented. You are straight at the bar through the door and theres a table before half of the old uinterior wall with an excellent coal effect, warming fire heating both sides, the far area being a small room, leading to the courtyard. There is a vegetarian menu available and 3 unusual well kept real ales, including Kelham Island at the time of my visit. There is a nice tree growing in the courtyard.
The staff sounded Eastern European, but they were well aware of the drinks range.
Well worth a visit (unless you're in a big party!)
REVISIT 9th September 2010 - Beer quality not quite as good - a bit warm
On 10th September 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
General Staal left this review about Canalside Cafe
This is a tiny Georgian canalman's/toll cottage with Victorian additions. It is rendered in white with seats outside the front facing on to the canal.
Internally, it has a bar facing you as you enter with the real ale taps almost hidden on the right. It is tiny with tables arranged around a central, 'two-faced' fireplace. There are further tables in what was once a small courtyard which is now roofed over.
It is bare brick and white inside with old photographs and paintings of the local canal network.
The place serves food. I had a bowl of chilli and rice which was tasty, but the portions are not huge. Good for a lunch snack I would say.
There are bottled real ales, tap cider and wine. There were four real ale handpulls. On today were Morrissey-Fox Aussie IPA, Black Sheep Best Bitter, and Kelham Island's Little Red Corvette and American Stars and Stripes. I tried both Kelham ales and the Black Sheep. I would say they were at the warm end of the correct temperature but they were very nice indeed.
The two barmaids/waitresses were Eastern European, as noted in a previous review, but they were polite, friendly, efficient and knew the beers.
I would definitely come here again to eat and drink. I felt very comfortable in here. Could get extremely full though, given its small size, just try to avoid the lunchtime or teatime rush.
Highly recommended.
On 20th August 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 142 recommendations about 125 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Andy Ven left this review about Canalside Cafe
What can I say about this place that hasn’t already been said in other reviews… The clue is in the title: it feels like a café and it’s at the side of the canal. Still, it’s a GBG 2010 entry.
Today they were offering Kelham Island Easy Rider Pale Ale and Kelham Island Night Moves Ale (a chocolate orange MILD) – the weather was a bit too warm to be drinking something of that description for me. I opted for the former which was OK but nothing to rave about.
The main thing that this 'pub' has going for it, apart from its location – which lends itself to people watching – is that it is different, and I’m all for pub diversity.
On 27th May 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 244 recommendations about 240 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about Canalside Cafe
This pub is in a tiny lock keepers cottage right on the canal towpath. It's at the junction of the Birmingham Mainline and the Birmingham – Worcester canal where there used to be a bar stopping boats going from one canal to the other which means that all the cargo had to be unloaded from one boat and then reloaded on to another boat on the far side of the bar. Then they came to some arrangement (in 1815) and built a lock between the two canals and therefore, probably this cottage. It looks like a café once inside with cakes etc on display on the bar. It was red hot in here yesterday late afternoon so I wouldn't have been up for buying a cream cake that wasn't stored in a fridge. It's got a good looking black & white exterior and several tables and chairs on the towpath. Inside there's loads of mismatched seating and a covered courtyard area (also tiny) with plants and brass bits and pieces on the ledges. Four handpumps on the bar, three with Enville Ale on the pumpclip. I went for the Outlaw Buckeye which was OK and went to sit outside. The guy served after me went for the Enville and was served a pint of cloudy sludge that he took back. I'm not convinced about the beer quality here, but it is a nice place to sit and contemplate.
On 18th September 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]