retiredmartin ON DETENTION IN LEICESTER

 

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You may have noticed I finished the Leicester post when the night was still young, leaving Mudgie and Mr Mudge to negotiate the joys of 2017 train services north via Birmingham.

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But Richard and I were staying over.  And what’s more, “we’d paid £4.20 for a Bus Day Ticket and we’re gonna use it”, as Fuzzbox once sang.

And there were two more new Beer Guide pubs to tick, however inadvisedly.

The Real Ale Classroom has been the subject of some ridicule in Pub Ticker Land since debuting in the Guide in September. with the inevitable school desks and beer listings on chalkboard being a cliché too far.  Only a caning for asking for Amstel seemed absent.

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What stood out about the RAC was the location, a mile or two south on the A6 at Stoneygate, what can only be described as a posh enclave. Timo Wine Bar, L’Homme Grooming Lounge,  Pink Milk Yarn Shop, 9th Leicester Scouts Group;  they were all there.

You could have been in Marple Bridge or Heaton Moor.  A far cry from the location of your average suburban micro in Wolverhampton or Margate.

The beer range was Bethnal Green or Ancoats though.

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You’ll have to refer to Richard’s blog for decent photo, it was a bit squashed in there.

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I sought advice from a genuinely charming proprietor, and ended up with what I assume was the Tapstone.

This picture attracted some ridicule on Twitter, though for the “murky grapefruit juice” look rather than the goldfish bowl glasses for the cocktails on the table opposite.

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Ignore the murk. It was wonderful, as was the Arbor Simcoe beer Richard plumped for.  Two NBSS 4 beers that transcended a wine bar atmosphere and a cramped space.

Craft toilets, too.

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We were greeted coming in and thanked going out; not always the case in 2017.

Very similar service in Nawaaz, where our 3 course meal for 2 cost £18.70. Always ask for the staff curry and drink water, folks.

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So the lesson for today was

“Don’t judge a pub by it’s embarrassingly naff WhatPub write-up. Judge it by the beer”

NB: Yes, we did finish up down the road from our hotel in the Horse & Trumpet. No, you should never drink beer after a curry (Bradford, 2014).  But it was the best Everards of the day (NBSS 3.5), and had the best skittles table.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

17 thoughts on “retiredmartin ON DETENTION IN LEICESTER”

  1. Great post not just for the reference to Bryn’s best (only) all girl band! As a man who loves a walk you’ll be pleased to know a group of us walked from black horse to RAC a couple of years ago on an ‘urban exploration’ we do. Well worth the effort as a cracking friendly pub, as you described, and easily best of our day…plus gaffer was a Stoke fan so football chat aplenty ⚽👍

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  7. “The Real Ale Classroom has been the subject of some ridicule in Pub Ticker Land since debuting in the Guide in September.”
    WhatPub says it was started by career change teachers so I’m inclined to be lenient… but the beer and atmosphere still have to resonate of course. Mind you, I’ve been to the former school in Portland, Oregon that is now a multitude of restaurants and bars (complete with a detention room for those having the audacity to order imported lager):
    https://www.mcmenamins.com/kennedy-school/restaurants-bars/
    It’s actually not a bad place for a beer.
    “..rather than the goldfish bowl glasses for the cocktails on the table opposite.”
    Pfft. You haven’t seen goldfish bowl glasses for cocktails until you’ve been to Quark’s in Vegas (sadly now closed I believe):
    https://tinyurl.com/yctqnrk6
    (complete with dry ice)
    Cheers!

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