The Fighting Cocks

Since being to Belgium my boyfriend and myself have started trying lots of new beers. We’ve been to the fighting cocks and they had a very good choice of beers. They had a winter special punch which was pretty good, the bar staff were not fantastic when we were there and had to wait quite a while even though it wasn’t busy.

The Fighting Cocks is a bit of a Moseley institution. I found myself meeting my parents here for a Friday evening drink this week.
The bar area is a pretty modern space, but still making the most of the older features and design. The bar is well stocked, with a top selection of beers and spirits that the bar staff are more than happy to chat about. The prices here are pretty standard for the area, not the cheapest in Brum but definitely not shocking.
I love the fact that dogs are allowed inside here. In the time it took me to finish my Bloody Mary, two dog owners came to the bar with their animals not far behind. It’s pretty rare to see such a relaxed vibe towards animals in a pub like this, for me it all adds to the charm.
Worth a visit!

I avoided this drinking hole for many years as although it is architectually superb it was lacking a ‘vibe’. It was a wooden table-​talkie-​porkie-​scratchings-​place. It exchanged hands and somehow became a favourite haunt. (It is haunted too apparently). I acquired a dog and subsequently needed places I could eat and where my dog would be welcome. On my many visits staff have given my pooch treats and water and they are allowed on the chairs if they are clean. (Ooop sorry Health and Safety geeks!). The menu is not ground breaking but serves up well plated pub grub with special deals in the day. For example Sausage and Mash, Salmon Fish Cakes, burgers, sharing platters and lots of choices in side dishes. There is a day and evening menu too. The staff are friendly and there is a small courtyard at the back — I think though that this needs a little re-​vamp as it is looking rather care-​worn lately. The inside is both dark and light. One side of the establishment is lit courtesy of gorgeous art nouveau stained glass windows, the other side is dark, cosy and intimate. A satisfactory mixture of wooden chairs, armchairs and sofas to please all posteriors. The Victorian wooden floors and oak panelling contrast charmingly with the modern upholstery and ambience– I love the creaks and squeaks of the floor as you walk to-​and-​fro. The clientele are mixed: hipsters, bohos, businessman, dudes, geezers, retired peeps — all are welcome and all frequent thus isolating no cross-​section. A nice selection of wine and beers too. I like this place! (And so does my dog).

One of my favourite Moseley haunts. The building is beautiful and the inside is a proper, cosy pub. Especially nice in the summer when you can make your way through to the lovely beer garden which has lots of tables and some sheltered areas too.
There’s a great range at the bar– lots of craft beers and decent cider on tap as well as bottled varieties.
I hadn’t eaten there before last night when I went along to the quiz. The menu has what you would expect from a decent, modern pub– burgers, fish cakes and so on.
I went for fish and chips. The fish was hake which was lovely and a bit different. The chips were fine, standard pub fare. The pea purée was super, really tasty and nicer than a few peas on the plate! The rest of the menu looked good so I will definitely eat there again.
We really enjoyed the quiz, it was difficult and funny in equal measures. Only a pound per person to enter, there were rounds on anagrams, animals, music, making a musical instrument out of a banana and trying to guess where an egg was!!!

We’ve been coming here for three years. We mainly frequent for dinner. We’ve eaten from the main menu, had Sunday lunch and even Christmas dinner in 2013 (but that was because we were too late for our first choice The New Inn Harborne)
The good first. The staff are great. Friendly attentive and when we were there for Christmas they were chipper and in good spirits.
Based on staff and ambience I’d score this place 4 even a five at times.
Now for the food. Just too inconsistent. Sunday lunches — frozen veg — come on! Other items we’ve had have been over cooked, too oily etc. Christmas dinner was actually OK ⁴⁄₅.
One might ask why we return. Well… We like the atmosphere — it’s nice and relaxed, plus they have good drinks — nice rotation of craft and real ales. We just accept the food can be hit or miss.

Hmm I only ever seem to be here when I’m really drunk already or hungover;)
its quite a big pub with the bar situated in the middle of the room.
The burgers and chips are pretty good, but nothing especially interesting about them. I think it probably caters for the market quite well though.
A good selection of white wine and they also serve Kraken rum which makes me happy;)
A bit hectic during the weekend and probably much more pleasant during the week.

I’ve been here a few times for food and have always found the bar staff friendly an the food excellent. I would class the food as being a little more expensive than usual pub grub but the good news is that they do accept Tastecards! A lunch of two draught cokes, two burgers and one portion of onion rings came to £23 but the Tastecards brought it down to a more manageable £15!
Lovely beer garden at the back.
The pub gets ridiculously busy in the evenings with the usual Moseley crew and Sunday lunch can get busy too — very pleasant for a quite lunch in the week though.

So pricey! But it’s ok.

Quality pub which has a wide range of beers and spirits including many european beers on draught. A nice magical atmosphere, a great place to start your pub crawl or have a nice night out with your partner. The Food Menu is on par with top restaurant food in West End London or Covent Garden. Wifi available and beer garden to the rear. A truly vibrant pub with added comfort feel. Go there!

Great drink selection, yummy food and truly amazing roast dinners.
The Fighting Cocks in Moseley used to be a grotty old man’s pub with an excellent jukebox. sadly the jukebox has gone but it’s been replaced by charming décor, delicious food and a fine selection of beers, wines and cracking Bloody Mary’s.
When I lived in Kings Heath it used to be a tradition that my female friends and I would all go for Sunday dinner at the Fighting Cocks, the roast dinners have to be amongst the best in Birmingham.
There’s a great outdoor seating area round the back including a little nook with cosy seating and heating. Bar staff are helpful and service is good.
The only drawbacks are the drinks are a little on the expensive side and it gets way too rammed on a Friday or Saturday night.

Stained glass windows, candle lit tables and one of the best atmospheres and beer choices in Moseley.
On there website they describe themselves as «A Birmingham pub with an artistic temperament» — no idea what that means, but i’m guessing be prepared to wait, as even when facing a near-​empty pub the bar service is notoriously slooooow.
However it is worth sticking around and they do sell pork scratchings by the half pint glass. Which is a good thing thing, yes?

First up the Cocks has a pretty decent selection of beers, real ales and wines on offer including a nice Fruli on draft. Prices are on the average to high side but made worth it by the usually great atmosphere.
The décor is homely and it always seems dark and cosy. There are plenty of plush comfy chairs and seating plus tool stools and tables and even when busy you can usually get a seat without too much of a wait. The lighting is kept low by lamps.
They do a decent burger — I’ve had other meals in the past (fish pie and lasagna) but have been a little disappointed in the portions however recently this seems to have improved significantly. Main courses start at about £7.50 to around £12 and there is a decent selection from pies to steaks or sandwiches.
During the day you’ll get a fair few families and the odd pushchair and the staff seem generally OK with that. The evening is for the adults though and it gets quite lively with a but of music and busy crowd especially on the weekends.
Quiz night is Monday, special offer wine & burger night on a Tuesday (20% off all wines and 2 for 1 burgers) and Sunday roasts are all offered too from around £9.
While the interior is cosy if the sun is out then the beer garden is one of the nicest in the village and worth checking out.

The Fighting Cocks has assured its place in the line-​up of great Birmingham locals with its killer combination of period architecture, shabby-​chic décor, an impressive beer selection, generous food, über-​cool staff, a big antique barometer and a slightly alarming name. What more could you want?
I first visited the Cocks — as it’s affectionately known — having just got back from a pretty beery trip to Brussels. Having become a beer snob in the space of 3 days, any following visit to a UK watering hole had a lot to live up to. Fortunately, the Cocks has 17 specialty beers, lagers and ciders from various parts of the globe — enough to satisfy even the pickiest connoisseur. I very was happy to discover that the food menu is equally as generous, in terms of variety and portion size — and well-​cooked. So once I’d sunk a few lethal European beers and wrapped my face around a very tasty steak baguette, I was pretty much sold.
One thing this place never lacks is atmosphere — even when it’s half empty. There’s a cool, informal ease about everything inside — the décor, the staff, the vibe — that’s just the right side of chaotic. Mismatched chairs sit around old wooden tables and mismatched food orders occasionally arrive at yours, but somehow the Cocks pulls it off. It’s a bit like Moseley in a tin: trendy, historic, characterful and a little messy around the edges.
As well as looking cool and serving fine food and beer, the Fighting Cocks also does stuff — like pub quizzes on a Monday, wine nights on Tuesdays and BBQs in the summer in the beer garden. They also host occasional gigs there, and have resident DJs.
So — good beer, good food, good-​looking, good times. Why not 5 stars then? Here’s why:
a) It can get a bit rammed and too loud to think — particularly at the weekend. I know we don’t go to the pub to think, but it can be useful occasionally.
b) There are bouncers on the door at the weekend. This bothers me. I realise that this is purely for security etc .etc. but pubs with bouncers just bother me. That is all.
c) Some of the drinks are pretty pricey.

But these are pretty minor flaws, weighed up against everything else. Besides which, if it was all perfect, it wouldn’t have that appealing messiness. If it could speak, the Fighting Cocks would say: «Who wants perfect? Perfect is dull.» And I totally agree.

Any place that serves the below beers part the carling deserves to get 5 stars!
I’m a fan of good beer and to have Hoegaarden on draught is perfect for a Friday night. They also serve Franziskaner on draught and leffe aswell! This place would be a dream for Homer! ah well i didn’t see any Duff beer tho.
The staff are awesome, the food is great and the atmosphere was very much like mcsorleys pub in New York — a very crowed but fun people around.
If your on a pub crawl then this place must be on your list and if it is then you will not want to leave which is what we experienced!
Draught Beer and Lager
Pint
Carling /​Britain /​4.0%
Fresh corn aroma with a clean taste, distinctive sharp bite and natural grain flavours. £3.00
Becks Vier /​Germany /​4.0%
Clean, refreshing and full flavoured. £3.15
Kozel /​Czech Republic /​4.0%
Genuine 4% import lager. Full of flavour, clean and crisp. Are you a friend of the Goat? £3.65
Red Stripe /​Jamaica /​4.7%
A pale gold lager with a lightly hopped full flavour taste. £3.30
Heineken /​Holland /​5.0%
Rich, golden colour and full bodied taste; crisp but with a good bite. £3.25
Stella Black /​Belgium /​4.9%
Stella but matured for longer for a round, full bodied and refreshing
taste £3.50
Peroni /​Italy /​5.1%
Crisp, lightly sparkling, refreshing and dry with a clear cut character. £3.80
Hoegaarden /​Belgium /​5.0%
Sweet and sour with a little bitterness, slightly spicy, with coriander and orange. £3.95
Sierra Nevada /​USA /​5.6%
Exceptionally full bodied, with a fragrant bouquet and spicy flavour. £4.10
Franziskaner /​Germany /​5.0%
A naturally cloudy, zesty, wheat beer, lightly carbonated — a refreshing change. £4.05
Fruli /​Belgium /​4.1%
Wheat beer with added fruit juice. Just a hint of bitterness and a little citrus zest. £4.10
Leffe /​Belgium /​6.6%
Dry, fruity and lightly spiced with a delicate and malty aroma. Half pint only. £2.10
Brooklyn Lager /​Brooklyn, USA /​5.2%
Brooklyn Lager is amber-​gold in colour and displays a firm malt centre supported by a fine bitterness and floral hop aroma. £3.95
Guinness /​Dublin, Ireland /​4.1%
The world’s number one stout, brewed with roasted barley for a rich, smooth bitter beer. £3.35

I have tried very hard to like this pub, prior to the refurb it was my regular weekend haunt from the mid 80’s.
I agree with other reviewers about décor and ambiance, chic, eclectic and making the best of a «listed» interior with some fine examples of victorian tiles & glass. I even like the selection of beer and wines, I vote for the Fruli strawberry beer as my best ever summer drink.
Where I can’t agree is the service. I have tried and tried to let go of my animosity but it gets me mad when on a quiet weekday afternoon it still takes 10 minutes to get served — with their chums getting served as they walk in the door. Frankly, it feels really clique’y and the management haven’t done anything to sort it out in the past 4 years. They avoid all eye contact to the point of rudeness and seem happier having a giggle with their friends.
Furthermore, there appears to be a high turn over of staff and they aren’t properly trained: unable to pour a bottle of beer without spilling 20% on the bar (at £3.75/bottle that smarts), can’t work the till, don’t know where the correct glasses are… enough! With the prices they charge I demand more from a pub, I worked behind a bar for 15 years so I know it’s possible.
I still pop in every couple of months in the hope that something will have changed but so far I have been dissapointed although I still live in anticipation…

The Fighting Cocks is another place in Birmingham I continually passed by, assuming it was nothing special. That is, until some of my Moseley-​dwelling friends started going there for a regular Sunday post-​hangover lunch session.
Outside, the pub is fairly unremarkable, but once you get inside it becomes obvious why the place is so popular. The atmosphere is incredibly laid back, and the bar staff are friendly, chatty and helpful. The drinks selection is very good indeed, with a vast array of draft boozes including the irresistable strawberry Früli beer.
They have a large beer garden out the back, with plenty of covered tables and heat lamps for when the cold nights draw in. This attracts everything from the artsy Moseley crowd to young families and others from every age group.
The food is high in both quality and, unfortunately, price, but I’m happy to overlook the cost due to everything else that’s great about this pub. The vegetarian lasagne is a particular favourite of mine, and my friends rave about the quality of their Sunday roasts. Moseley has plenty of great pubs, but I’d have to say that The Fighting Cocks is my favourite.

Bester Pub Im Moseley, direant an der Hauptstraße gelegen ist es sehr gut mit Auto und Bus zu erreichen, ein Taxistand ist direkt vor der Tür.
Es gibt eine sehr breite Palette an bieren, sehr viele sogar vom fass. Z.B. bekommt man hier Franziskaner von Fass, das gibts noch nicht in deutschen Kneipen außerhalb Bayerns… Ein anders highlight ist das Frühli (ein Bier mit Himbeergeschmack)
Das Essen im Fighting Cocks ist sehr rustikal, fettige Pommes, große Bürger und der gleichen.
Der Laden ist fast immer proppe voll, am wochenende bekommt man machmal noch nicht mal einen platz an der bar, das publikum ist sehr jung.
das einzig negative sind die preise, diese sind viel zu hoch

I used to work here, so you all know my allegiance! It was awesome, and is clearly lacking since I’ve gone.
Well, that’s not true. Every time I go back it’s still the same welcoming joint it always was (well, since I’ve known it, which is since the redesign of a few years ago). The beer is still good (I don’t even think it’s that expensive. But I do live in London now), there’s a great selection of wines and spirits (particularly rums). For the record, I believe there are 17 draughts, including the standard stuff (Carling, Guinness, whatevs), a few decent continental lagers (Peroni, Staropramen, Becks), some wheat beers (Franziskaner, Leffe, the other one) and always some cask ales too.
I know a lot of thought went into this place. It looks nice and the people are decent sorts. It’s still the best Castle pub I’ve found (there are a few in London dotted around, you can always tell them from the mini blackboards, fairy lights and drink selection) but they aren’t quite like the Fighting Cocks. This is still my first stop on the way to a curry house down in Balsall Heath, dependable, friendly, happy and close to curry. Winner.

Always busy on a Friday or Saturday Night, be prepared to wait ⁵⁄₁₀ mins at the bar but a good atmosphere, drinks aren’t amazing expensive house wine is £10.50 last time I went in. Seating is really nice and comfy as well, good place to relax and have a chat with friends only open until 11pm though.

Lovely, atmospheric pub in centre of Moseley village by the crossroads (if you don’t know Moseley).
I’ve eaten there a number of times now and had great meals each time. Nice place to hang out on a Sunday with mates. Comfy sofa seating and nooks/​crannies to sit in and watch the world go by. They have the sunday papers. I like the bit of the pub where they’ve recreated a sweet shop!
Good beer as well and the menu is interesting, not just pie, burgers and chips.
It’s mega busy at the weekends.

Warm and cosy pub with a traditional feel. In the warmer months the outdoor area comes into its own, with some under cover seating in a pretty courtyard, decked with fairylights and lots of mirrors and glass. Probably one of the nicest places you could step outside of to have a ciggie!
Food is good, if not slightly too self important (not cheap, models’ portions) and the ales interesting. The strawberry beer on tap is definately worth a go!
Yep, biggest downside is that the locals know how good the pub is, so it can get a bit cramped in there early evening and doesn’t really die down too much! A nice mix of people, great atmosphere.