On a recent random Friday, we ended up on a sort of mini crawl of sorts, and decided to bob into the (relatively) newly fixed up Wrens Hotel. I've heard quite a bit about it, some folks lamenting that it lost it's 'old man pub' vibe, some folks hating on the fact that there's a marble bar top. For me, whilst I love an old man pub, I'm not unhappy with a marble bar - it doesn't really cross my mind what kind of bar a place has, unless it was ridiculously tall, or made with elephant tusks, or something. (I haven't, for the record, seen a bar made with elephant tusks - don't worry.)
Anyway, the Friday evening was a quiet one in general, so there were a handful of folk in the bar when we came in. The girl at the bar was really welcoming, and gave us time to peruse the options, for which there seemed to be a decent mix. In amongst some good ales, continental beer choices, and even some intriguing tequilas - I spotted the coffee Patron liqueur, to name one. Happy days!
We only stopped for the one, and sat in the snug to the left of the bar, admiring the tall ceilings and real fire. Yes, that's a real fire to warm your cockles, and you know that it's still ruddy cold outside so we're going to need that for a few weeks yet. The atmosphere was perhaps a little lacking, but given that it was a quiet one, and we'd only really started on a pint, I sometimes think context is everything - it could well have been the post-food lull that meant things weren't a little more vibrant! In any case, I still like the place, and I'm sure I'll nip in another time for a pint. read more