well here's my report, I really liked this place, admittedly I stuck to one beer, the bay ale, which I think is fan-diddley-tastic, and I had more than a couple of them. the bay lager on the other hand looked like the bay ale, it was quite reddish, and it tasted similar to me, it was lacking the beautiful centennial (??) finish, and maybe had the tang of a lager yeast but it didn't seem very lagery to me.
anyone interested in anything else, you can see what other beers they have on tap from an earlier post by beernut. They also have a wide selection of bottles. The place is odd, I never liked it when it was feile, carnival, nasdaq and whatever else. it's a funny shape and I think it will take a bit of growing on one, but it's ok so far. it is adorned with fine beer ads, mostly of the metal plate variety from st bernardus, schlenkerla and other brands you wouldn't see elsewhere.
As far as the food goes I was very happy. all the mains are a tenner except for some sort of veggie type stew (I don't remember details, perhaps lentils and something) which was only 9. they had a beef and ale (bay ale) stew, a burger with blue cheese that seemed very nice, I had porkchops with a kind of chili and lime onion salsa with garlic and herb potatoes that was delicious I have to say. there were various decent looking sandwiches for around 7e or so as well, and other mains I can't remember. I think there was some sort of spicy sausage thing for instance.
anyway, highly recommended, decent food, nice pints, and that bay ale is great! who is this john smits character they have brewing for them? sounds like a pseudonym. is he south african? shrouded in mystery!
