Billiard Hall, West Bromwich
As Wetherspoon pubs go, West Bromwich's Billiard Hall is at least different to some of the chain's low ceilinged and dingy identikit boozers.
Housed in one of the town's more historic buildings, its modern interior decorations are in sharp contrast to the ornate Victorian exterior.
Instead, they provide bold design, sharp lighting and look not entirely unlike the set of a TV chat show. Added to that, the Billiard Hall's curved roof gives the pub a great sense of space.
Most importantly, however, for my recent visit, it was the only pub in West Bromwich centre still serving food when I walked through its doors just before 9pm on Friday last week.
My traditional fish and chips took just over half an hour to arrive, which was enough time to notice that nobody else was eating, and that the Billiard Hall is just about due for a refit, with some of the upholstery beginning to look a bit threadbare.
But the food arrived and was served with a smile - and the cheerfulness of my server was replicated by all the other members of staff that I came into contact with.
For £4.19 in Wetherspoon's you get a fairly generous chunk of breaded cod and an equally sizable portion of oven chips and peas. I do prefer my Friday night fish and chips to come from the fryer, rather than the oven, but this was probably healthier.
Despite the time the food took to arrive - a lifetime in Wetherspoon terms - the chips were still a little underdone. Not enough to complain about, however.
The £1.89 apple pie and vanilla ice-cream dessert, on the other hand, arrived with perfect timing and was faultless. All in all, my meal - with the price of a pint of the Titanic Brewery's White Star bitter added on - came to a total of £7.63.
As a canteen with a decent choice of beer and some friendly faces, it's pretty hard to fault the Billiard Hall and the atmosphere was also good on the night of my visit.
Having said that, I'm in no great hurry to eat more Wetherspoon fish and chips. Over all, my main course compared fairly poorly to their roast chiken, steaks and burgers. But the experience was a cut above standing in the bus station with a bag of chips.
The Billiard Hall serves food until 11pm every day, and even offers a breakfast menu until noon.
ADDRESS
The Billiard Hall, St Michael's Ringway, West Bromwich
Tel: 0121 5802892
Jim Dunton
