"You Choose" — Sadler's Tap Room Quinton

Venue: Sadler's Tap Room, 490 Hagley Road West, Quinton, B68 0DJ; website
Choice: Grilled cheese sandwich (£6) Chooser: Bhav, manager

Did you know Sadler's Ales had a tap room in Quinton? We're going to put both our hands up and say it was only this year we learnt about the Hagley Road outpost to the Black Country beer makers. And though labelled a tap room, dispel any outdated thoughts of ill-advised carpets or fustiness. This is a smart neighbourhood spot, banging out as much gin as it was ale when we stopped by, with an even mix of both the fairer sex, and the other one. The food is simple, sensibly priced sort of stuff. Think proper scotch eggs (including a veggie haggis option, £4), bar plates like mojito chicken wings (£4), plus burgers (£10) and sarnies capitalising on the joy that is Peel & Stone bread, still doing a roarer of a commercial trade without it's public-facing bakeries. Sadler's grilled cheese sandwich is a great way to get Peel & Stone’s 'city white' sourdough back in your life. Using an oozy mix of Monterey Jack and mature cheddar, try it with the brewery's Dakota American IPA. The classic West Coast style ale uses a lot of citra hops to give it mango and apricot sort of notes, with some bitterness to cut through all that cheese. There are also a number of opportunities to get your beer fix directly through the food menu. The team's loaded fries (£3.50) come with a beer cheese sauce that majors on Sadler’s Citrus Tide dry-hopped lager. It sounds so wrong but tastes so right.