The Canal House, Birmingham

Birmingham's old James Brindley pub, which was one a former canal side warehouse has been restored and brought back to life this summer with the arrival of The Canal House with a helping hand from the people behind The Botanist on Temple Street. The concept has been created by inspiration taken from one of the most notable engineers and was once a pub named after the man himself, James Brindley. The venue now spreads over two floors, with 'The Engine Room' on the ground floor and the upstairs being named 'The Residency'.

Our night kicked off with a short narrow boat ride down the canal leading to the venue. On hand was someone to take us through a beer tasting session of 3 beers on offer at the new Canal House. My favourites of the talk were the Einstox Toasted Porter, an Icelandic drink that combines flavours of toffee and dark chocolate into it giving it a roasty and rich flavour with medium body. A surprisingly delicious combination of flavours I didn't expect I'd enjoy. The other beer I tried and enjoyed was the Beavertown Gamma Ray American Pale Ale whose mix of mango and grapefruit flavours into the ale made it for a juicy tropical beer that I thoroughly enjoyed. It smells so good too!

 

The decor is stylish, unique and full of elements of both wood and glass that bring the restaurant to life. It feels incredibly spacious and cosy, even with the high ceiling design that allow a lot of natural light to come through. There's also a private dining area available should you wish to celebrate your special occasion in style.

The Canal House now has the inclusion of a great beer and cocktail menu, with more than 60 types of craft beers and ales from around the world. Their cocktails are great, the venue have put their own twists onto classic cocktails, the Mojito becoming The Cuban Influence, it tastes just as good as it sounds. They also had a menu created by themselves with lots on offer for you to dig into. My favourite being The Lady Killer. A combination of Gosling's Black Seal rum, passion fruit gomme, apple juice, peach liqueur and lime juice. Watching the bar man create this cocktail was brilliant, it took a bit of time but produced a delicious cocktail I thoroughly enjoyed sampling.

To coincide with a great cocktail menu is a food menu that accompanies it well. From Bread and Olives, Nibbles and Starters to The Grill, The Rotisserie and Hanging Kebabs the venue has covered for all dining occasions. On the opening evening I sampled their Baked Camembert which was delicious, but maybe needed some more bread on the side to stop the cheese going to waste! For the first time I sampled Camembert with Braeburn apple wedges and thought the combination of flavours was delicious. I had to give one of their famous Hanging Kebabs a go, I tried the Chicken one which was beautifully presented with garlic butter and properly seasoned chips. The meat was really soft and tender to eat. There was enough food to definitely fill you up. We hadn't planned to sample their desserts but couldn't leave the new venue without trying one of their desserts. We decided on the Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough which is a great sharing option should you want to have a pudding but couldn't possibly eat one on your own?!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience at The Canal House, it's food was more affordable than I had anticipated it to be. I can't wait to visit Birmingham in the future and treat myself to some of their delicious cocktails and food once again.

Collaboration with The Canal House, Birmingham at their press night event. All Photos and views are my own unless sources are stated.