if you’ve read our column
before, you’ll know
what we’re about. Each month, BarChick
descends on a city to search out secret
scenes and new drink trends. We’ve
crawled Geneva’s lakeside bars, tapped
into Rome’s mixology culture and stumbled across
threesomes in Stockholm (not as kinky as it sounds).
But nowhere have we been more surprised than in
Birmingham. Britain’s second city, two hours north of
London, may have a proud tradition of old-school
boozers, but don’t be fooled by the Victorian façades.
Take The Lord Clifden
(thelordclifden.com),
in the
vibrant Jewellery Quarter. It’s gaining a serious rep as a
foodie hotspot with a top brunch menu (how very on-
trend). Its sustenance also gave us ample energy to
smash the locals on the ping-pong table in one of the
coolest beer gardens we’ve ever seen, replete with
retro games and grafitti’d walls.
Down the road is another deceptive
frontage. The Church
(churchjq.co.uk)
may look like a typical boozer, but
stepping inside is to be transported to
the American Deep South. Soon
BarChick was beguiled by the bartenders and their
devilish Sazeracs (a rye whiskey cocktail), not to mention
the Louisiana-style home cooking that’s on a par with
the hip soul food you’ll find across London right now.
Another pub that has been pimped, so to speak, is the
refurbed Rose Villa Tavern
(therosevillatavern.co.uk)
.
A telephone box that’s been turned into a display cabinet
full of bottles is one of the chi-chi touches, but it was the
‘shot-tail’ list (mini-cocktails) that really got us going. A
few rounds of Darth Vaders, made with Jägermeister and
Olmeca Tequila, were the ideal prep for our final stop.
The Jekyll and Hyde
(thejekyllandhyde.co.uk)
is
appropriately named. Walking in, you might assume
this is a traditional Dickensian boozer (albeit one that
has an Alice in Wonderland-themed courtyard), but
upstairs its deck has been styled as a dandyish, velvet-
draped gin parlour, serving up all manner of
fiendish concoctions. Sitting back to enjoy
our absinthe-heavy Corpse Reviver
No 2, it was a fitting place to reflect
on a pub scene where appearances
are truly deceiving.
barchick.com
B A R C H I C K
B I R M I N G H A M
It may look
like a typical Victorian
pub, but stepping inside
is to be transported to the
American Deep South
ILLUSTRATION
NICK RADFORD
“Through the looking-glass”
Birmingham’s old-school boozers have had a modern makeover – and
no one’s more surprised than our secret drinks columnist
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V I E W P O I N T S
