 Bar NV 
Luxury All The Way!
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Recommendation added: 19/05/2006 00:08
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +825)dewberry has been thanked 2 times for this contribution
"For my 30th birthday last weekend my partner thoughtfully laid on a few treats dotted throughout the week of my birthday; one of these treats being a night out in Bar NV, a champagne bar in Walsall.
As you'd expect from the phrase 'champagne bar, this place is definitely a cut above the rest style-wise. The décor is predominantly highly polished chrome and buffed pine, this makes for a very light and airy environment giving a definite luxurious atmosphere.
One thing in particular I liked about Bar NV is the choice of seating. Dotted throughout the bar are squishy leather sofas, high cocktail bar stools and standard tables and chairs. Except they're not standard! The chairs in Bar NV are easily the comfiest pub seats in the West Midlands, after several glasses of wonderful champagne I very nearly nodded off in the sofa and had to move to a cocktail stool with a strong coffee! During our Thursday night visit the bar, although busy for a weeknight, didn't get so crowded that we couldn't swap and change our seats – which was great for the nodding off type of incident I mentioned a moment ago, also I'd imagine good for when you're too lagging to safely sit on a high stool!
The plasma screens are an odd, but welcome, addition to the bar. These are located on various walls and are ALL tuned to Sky Sports. I consider this odd for the simple reason that you don't get *this* much sport in a Sports Bar, so why an upmarket champagne bar is aiming for the 'after-the-footie' drinkers I don't know?! My football loving fella was impressed though, as I thought he would be.
Bar NV have a fantastic range of drinks behind the bar; if I had to put a figure on it I'd say 50% of the drinks selection is champagne and white wine based while the other 50% is made up of draught and bottled lagers, liqueurs and spirits. Absolutely NO alcopops at all. Which is a bonus. The champagne selection is extensive, with a glass ranging anything from £3 up to a whopping £10. It's much cheaper to buy a bottle, as the (and I can't remember brand names) £25 bottle is gorgeously fruity and of obvious high quality.
The lagers consist of your usual Stella Artois, Carlsberg etc, but the bottled selection also includes a variety of local beers from small brewing houses. The lagers are served beautifully cold and priced competitively to standard high street pubs. You can also buy a soft drink (but who would???) from their small selection of erm… Pepsi or Lemonade. Yep, you really do have *that* much choice!
There's a nice food menu at Bar NV, which is basically pub grub with a twist. For £2.95 you can buy a huge baguette which is generously filled with a choice of nine or ten different fillings. I had a Bacon & Brie baguette when we arrived and it was delicious, crispy bacon and thin slices of good quality brie on a crusty baguette. This was served with a large green salad and a pile of tortilla chips, and was actually a very filling meal – just right for lining your stomach before a drink!
There's also a range of paninis and pasta, both of which are served with a side salad. The best thing, food wise, about Bar NV is definitely the platters. These are, as if you're up on pub food terms you'll know, selections of different finger foods for sharing. Mark and I had a Meat Platter halfway through the evening and it was fantastic; crispy duck pancake rolls (I actually licked my fingers!), mini roast chicken fillets, lamb samosas, curly fries – and lots, lots more. To put it into context, Bar NV gave us one of the biggest dinner plates I've even seen and it was just stuffed with food. The fries were literally piled on top of the chicken wings, my first thought was 'we'll never eat all that' but within half an hour the plate was empty… The meats were all cooked to perfection, moist but not dripping with fat, while the fried foods (Cajun onion rings, potato wedges) were well drained and deliciously crisp.
We spent just over five hours in Bar NV and the evening absolutely whizzed by. It's such a lovely place. The food is fantastic, drinks are reasonably priced and the atmosphere is relaxed and upmarket. Other drinkers in the bar on the night I visited looked to be thirty-something career types, although being a working class mum I didn't feel at all out of place as sometimes happens when I go to Broad Street on a Sunday night! Expect to spend around £60 (plus taxi fare!) if you're going to have something to eat and drink without worrying about the cost, but this is also a bar where you could drink on a budget if you stick to the lager and you can still soak up the trendy atmosphere! Bar NV is open from 11am to 11pm and because it's such a great place at night, it's made me determined to visit during the day next time I'm shopping in Walsall to see whether the atmosphere is still so good as a 'lady who lunches'.
To find Bar NV in the car (you must have a very understanding designated driver!) you need to get into Birmingham and head towards Sutton Coldfield, then get onto the Birmingham Road (A34) which is signposted for Walsall. Take the Walsall Ring Road and… well… prepare to get lost. Walsall is laid out in such a way that navigating to a set point is pretty much impossible without pulling up and asking for directions. It's much easier to drive into Walsall Town Centre, leave the car in one of the many pay & display car parks and grab a taxi to Bradford Street which will cost you about £7. That's what we did, anyway.
Bar NV
49 Bradford Street
Walsall
WS1 3QD
Tel: 01922 630007"
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