I love places like this when the weather is sunny but not too hot and you can sit at the open window overlooking the street. When there is good food and nice beer things start to look even better.
We decided to try the James Squire Brewhouse after we walked past one day and thought "hey, next time we want a beer..." So today was that time. There are several James Squire brews on tap, but we both ended up ordering "The Craic", a rich Irish stout (I wanted the Highwayman, a red ale, but they had run out). I really enjoyed it, finding it just as rich as Guinness but more subtle and yet more three-dimensional in its flavours, and not quite as bitter in the finish. (Ed. note: sorry about the reviewy-wanky words there, but they do describe the beer well).
To go with the beer we ordered lunch, of course - David had the Scotch Fillet ($21.50), requested medium but delivered closer to medium rare. This is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, because I prefer my meat bloody and you can't un-cook a steak. Anyway the cut of meat was very good quality, without excess yukky bits, and came with excellent chips (well crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside) and salad. I ordered the Prawn and Mussel Linguine with Lemon, Chilli and Parsley ($17). It turned out to be very light, clean and simple, with good quality ingredients. My only complaint was that there were but six mussels when there could have been ten. Very tasty though! At first glance, it didn't look like there was much chilli, but it turned out to be just the right amount (fresh red chilli sliced up). Although it would have been difficult, I think it should have been chopped and dispersed more finely, but that's really nitpicking.
For dessert the menu listed a very curious dish: a trio of beer-flavoured sorbets (at least, they were named after Pilsner, Amber Ale and Porter). David was going to try them, but alas they had none left! So we made do with a piece of Mud Cake and Lemon Tart ($7.50 each). My mud cake was generous in size, and reasonable in taste (I've had better, I've had worse). Dave's Lemon Tart was really thin, like someone had sat on it. But it was thin because the filling had been concentrated and it was very strong and very tasty. I liked it better than my mud cake, even though I would probably want two pieces.
Service was pretty much what you get at a pub - order food and drinks at the bar (there are tables to eat at), and someone clears away the empty glasses and dishes regularly. I should point out that I didn't have to wait long at the bar, even though it was Friday afternoon.
The restrooms were typical pub restrooms - uninspiring, although clean enough.
If you're into authenticity, the working brewery is behind a glass wall in one corner, and you can plainly see the control lights flashing and the beer in pipes leading to and from the gleaming copper vats. Each vat has a blackboard upon which is scribbled the name of whatever's brewing inside, who started it, and when.
All in all the place does an excellent job of doing just what it looks like it should do - offer a nice, relaxing place to have a good beer and good food. If only they had more sorbet.
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Dave's summary: "I should have marked them down for running out of the sorbet."
Probability that we will return: 38 / 42
Note that the probability rating is affected by the fact that there are hundreds of places to eat around here.