The Hartley Arms, Wheaton Aston

Excellent, great value food, with one or two guest ales.

Good interior. Nice surroundings.

Has been under new management for a couple of years and the new landlord and landlady are friendly and all the bar staff are happy to help.

Highly recommended.

31 Jan 2011 17:33

Alchemy, Wolverhampton

Alchemy wants to be a classy bar, the likes of which you won't find elsewhere in Wolverhampton, and almost manages it.

Let's get the negatives out of the way, first. The worst thing about Alchemy is that whoever runs the bar seems to hate alcohol. There are taps for three or four lagers but only one has ever been in service when I've been there. The fridges are usually half empty, with one or maybe two bottled lagers available. Spirits are limited to vodka and maybe Jack Daniels.

If you're looking for something decent to drink -- bitter or ale of any kind, or maybe a single malt whisky -- you can forget it.

Staff are often distracted and not especially friendly.

The gents' toilets smell awful and have been flooded on more than one time I've been there. It's a fun game to guess with your mates what smell or other horror will be in the toilets.

So, the good stuff: it's different. There's an open mic music night on Wednesdays, which is usually too loud and seems to attract the untalented, but thank God someone is trying something in Wolverhampton.

Despite the lack of decent drinks, the bad service and the terrible toilets, I'll continue to pop in as there really isn't much choice in this city.

31 Jan 2011 17:28