Aldridge:
Our luck wasn’t good this day, after the abortive visit to The White House, we went to The Dilke. This seemed better: warm, and we got a seat in the sun. More drinks were ordered, we chose from the menu.
Oh, we don’t have hot food, there’s been a gas leak
For the record, they didn’t have any cold food, either.
Fuck me, it might have been nice to mention that, or to take the menus in and take the cutlery off the tables, wouldn’t it?
FFS.
Aldridge:
When I were but a lad, this was the place to go for underage drinking, and it had a video jukebox, the essential think back in the mid-late 80s. Nowadays, it’s a pretty standard Sizzling Pub feedbag, which is why we dropped in, looking for lunch. I was driving 🙁
We ordered drinks and sat down, before it dawned upon us just how cold it was. The heating was shafted, so we drank up and left. Shame really, it looked OK, if unexceptional, the staff were pleasant.
Aldridge:
It’s been a while since we went here, and it’s changed a fair bit, it’s become a Desi Pub, and a quick poke around the web suggests a connection with both The Fourways and The Island Inn.
Inside, the pub itself isn’t so different; the layout is the same, but it’s been panelled, re-ulpholstered, and generally tidied. There’s still some ale, and a choice of decent lager too.
What is different is the original function room at the back is now a sizeable restaurant, and has been extended out as well, making a huge space.
We didn’t take to it. To be clear, it’s smart looking, the food was fabulous- really good..
However, it felt a little like a canteen- partly because it was very busy, I think. You have to order at the bar, understandable given the size and throughput. The place was noisy– hard surfaces, lots of people, too-loud music (even in the toilets!), and TVs made for a bit of an assault on the senses. It was Friday night though.
Aldridge:
Evidently once a coaching inn and on the A452 Chester Road, I’ve been in this pub many, many times, but evidently not since 2009 when PubBlog started. It was one of the pubs that my parents went to for a meal in the 80s/90s.
Anyway, we decided to go and give it a try for that; it had passed through an unfortunate stage as an Italian-esque restaurant, and now it’s a gastropub, and as such feels a bit too much like a restaurant, but it is still just a pub, but it seems to have ideas above that.
The beer is pricey, the food isn’t cheap. The food is pretty good, but for the price we paid, it was only OK. By no means awful ,but it suffers from the Sutton Coldfield effect.
Original post here
Whatpub Link
It’s been a long time since we’ve been in here, but it’s not changed, covid precautions aside.
It’s still a great pub, there’s still great beer. The large function room at the back that belies the place’s origin as a club was open to increase space, and the place was busy on this last night before Lockdown II The Sequel.
The beers had changed, but a great selection. Great service, too.
Aldridge:
Previous visit here.
The Elms The Crown hasn’t been anything to entice you for more than 20 years, when it did enjoy a brief time of having a tiny bit of class about it: certainly that’s been lacking for the last 10, as The Crown descended back into tattyness and continued the cheap carvery.
It’s been done up again, and, just to annoy the Aldridge “Village” locals, it remains not called The Elms.
We dropped in to see what has changed.
Well, half the car park is now outside seating, with the currently fashionable scaffold-pole tables, and hefty cable locks to stop the locals nicking the chairs.
Inside, there’s pubco-catalogue furniture, and a coat of paint. The carvery has gone, but the TVs with the volume cranked up in the bar have remained. There’s some cask ale, and a large selection of keg, but that’s about the only thing to be positive about; the staff seemed a bit indifferent, the place stunk of cooking (and not in a good way), and you had the choice of bored kids with their parents or the noise from the TVs. There was only one wine on offer, the others having run out, and essentially, it was still the same old place with a bit of turd-polishing.
Croft Parade, Aldridge:
There’s a temptation to say this pub stands out 😉
The thing is, it does. Given it is occupying a former hairdresser’s shop in Aldridge’s 1960s shopping centre, you’d have low expectations, and be very, very wrong indeed. It’s lovely. The interior is basic, but clean and tidy, and comfortable. There’s music, but quiet enough to talk over, and the beer is great. There’s pork pies and cobs on offer too, and a very friendly landlord and great prices. It was full too, which has to be a good sign.
Aldridge:
A ‘spoons.
But finally a ‘spoons in a place that has been crying out for one.
I love the Avion. It’s a 1930s cinema, that closed as a cinema in 1967, then as a bingo hall in 2009, then was the subject of speculation 2 years ago.
It’s now open as a pub, and they’ve done a great job. It’s still a ‘spoons, but the inside is pleasant, with deco touches, and there’s local ales from Beowulf & Backyard.
The view from the ladies’ toilet is rather nice too, featuring the original stained glass (I’m relying on female companions for this information) from what was, I believe, originally the cafe.
Staff were friendly too, and the place was very busy.
Aldridge:
This was a visit of unexpected delight, and then disappointment. Delight that the pub was open again, then disappointment that the bar was devoid of atmosphere, all bare floorboards and multiple TVs playing football loudly (with no-one watching), and the poor beer choice (no cask ale), plus the little ray of sunshine serving. Shame, it used to be a great little pub. It wasn’t awful and is probably the closest thing to a decent pub near the centre of Aldridge, but that’s not saying much.
Aldridge:
This is The Elms renamed, refurbished, and a Crown Carvery. It’s still a pub: the bar area is fairly seperate (and still has the annoying people standing at it so you can’t get a drink), but three quarters of the pub is a carvery restaurant. You get what you’d expect: a large, slightly canteen like bit at the back, but a few quiet corners. Plenty of families and pensioners.
For what it is, it’s not too bad. The food’s OK, the beer drinkable but not fantastic, and the prices are amazingly low. Stunningly low. Just don’t go expecting haute cuisine, fantastic beer, or loads of atmosphere. The staff were pleasant enough, and overall not a bad experience. Basically, it’s a damn sight better than the last time I visited, though being worse would be hard.