A central pub with a lovely frontage and an interesting past.

The Venue
The Trocadero has been here since 1856 and it's now a listed building. This is mainly due to its beautiful, ornate, Victorian gin palace-style facade with painting and mosaic patterns on the cream exterior along with leaded, stained-glass windows and gold writing on a black background.

Trocadero itself was a fort captured by French soldiers in the bay of Cadiz in 1823 and the pub sign commemorates that event. It’s in a prime location right in the heart of Birmingham’s bustling shopping area.

Inside it doesn’t quite live-up to the external promise. There's a brown patterned carpet, patterned wallpaper and off-white walls. The only interesting bit is a section of silvery brown flower-patterned wallpaper and a raised area with plasma screens.

The People
It gets packed on a Saturday afternoon and it's a popular place for watching sport. During the week it’s busy at lunch with the office crowd but at times it can get quiet, a bit too quiet. Did you hear something? Yes, like every other pub that's more than 100 years old, The Trocadero is apparently haunted. Back in the late 1800s Henry Skinner, a well-known man about Birmingham, took over The Troc. But he met an unfortunate end in 1895 after he had an argument with his barman one evening and dismissed him. The barman returned the following day to collect his wages and promptly shot his former employer dead. But apparently he hasn’t left the premises. Spooky.

The Food and Drink
Carling is £2.35 a pint and other drinks on draught include Foster’s, Worthington’s, Stella, Guinness, Strongbow, Deuchars IPA, Pedigree and Timothy Taylor Landord, In bottles you’ve got Beck’s, Corona, Carlsberg and Foster’s. There are four bottles of red and four of white wine, plus two Champagnes. There’s a fairly comprehensive menu including sandwiches, wraps, salads, jacket potatoes and main courses. There are veggie options too and it’s around £3 to £4 for a sandwich and an 8oz rump steak and chips is £4.29.

The Last Word
Despite its fancy name, colourful history and ornate facade the interior of The Trocadero is a little unremarkable.

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