Bar Lounge

From Chester Wiki

[edit] Review

Bar Lounge

Oh my word I’m in for an expensive night. They’re my first thoughts when I hear my girlfriend mention that we are off to Bar Lounge the following weekend for her friends 30th. And you know how it is, you both get £40-£50 out of the hole in the wall on your way to the bar, and come the next morning, your wallets empty and hers still has 2 crisp £20 notes left in it. “Well how did that happen” says you, “well you went to the bar more and some people bought me drinks”, replies she. Harrumph.

Bar Lounge then, is at the more expensive end of the scale when it comes to drinking out in Chester. It’s one of those “new” bars. You know the ones, they have foreign bottles beers from around the world behind the bar and only one pump for lager (Stella) and one for bitter (John Smiths) and fancy sofa’s for all the “dudes” to “chill” on. You know, like on Friends.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing you understand. I like poncing about feeling cool as much as the next man, I just wish I could do it without spending quite as much money. You may get the impression so far that I find Bar Lounge a bit pretentious, and you would be right, but I’m not moaning, honestly. As mentioned above the draught lager bitter leaves a little to be desired, but the bottles are extensive and crisp and chilled. The layout is a little odd; it all seems a bit cramped, especially on the weekends when the place does tend to get busy. But that’s what the outside is for. When the bars is too full, simply turn 180 degrees from the bar and walk out the door and you are transported into a beer garden with a view of a busy road, Nicholas Street. They do there best to hide it with a few bushes and twigs, but you know its there, you can hear it for one. However, the ability to drink outside should not be sniffed at, as very few places offer this opportunity in Chester, and especially not within the City Walls, even if it’s not the most picturesque location in the world.

All of this leaves Bar Lounge with a rather pleasant ambience. You tend to get a more mature (and I’m only talking 25-35 here, not that mature) clientele than other bars in Chester (Scally's in Wetherspoons for example) and this makes for a relaxed and quiet evening with cool music encouraging rather than interrupting conversation. If only it was a little bit cheaper….