The Canal-side bar where good food, good drinks and good vibes is the ethos
As pubs continue to battle the cost of living crisis, the Express & Star continues its Love Your Local series which celebrates our local inns.
Canalside Bar & Grill was recently nominated for best casual dining at the Midlands food and drink awards, and though the business did not secure the gong, owner, Rav, says the nomination alone speaks volumes, and it is nice they are getting the recognition.
The establishment opened in July 2019 after Rav purchased the building in December 2018, and after completing a major refurbishment, the business has gone from strength to strength, where it is now recognised as one of the best food spots in Wolverhampton.
Based in Castlecroft Lane, Castlecroft, Wolverhampton, Canalside Bar & Grill serves up fresh, mouthwatering Indian dishes including the ever-so popular mixed-grills, curries and much, much more.
Whilst there has been a huge rise in 'Desi pubs' in the Black Country in recent years, Rav doesn't see his business as one, instead he says it's more in between that and a restaurant.
He said: "We are not a traditional Desi pub but more upmarket instead, and so we do not recognise ourselves as a Desi pub but not as a restaurant either, it's more in the middle.
"We are like casual dining, and it is more of a cocktail lounge rather than the traditional pub, but we do also serve the traditional drinks and beers pubs usually serve.
"We are actually launching a new menu at the beginning of August too, and we hope our customers will be looking forward to it, there will be the traditional Indian dishes as well as some funky dishes too."
Rav's family has been in the pub trade since he was young as his dad owned pubs, and so he knew the trade and what it would take to run a place like this, and after opening in 2019, it was the first time running one on his own, but using the experience of being around the hospitality industry for between 20 and 30 years gave him all the right tools to do it right.
Despite this, the Canalside bar & Grill, like all other businesses in the hospitality industry were badly affected by the Covid pandemic, and now with the cost of living crisis, but Rav says his business is thankfull still thriving.
He added: "Of course we had the lockdown and it was tough but thankfully we were able to do takeaways during that time and so that really helped the trade.
"We were fairly busy during that time and did ok. And now with the cost of living crisis, we are still managing to do ok thankfully.
"We are busy most days, and we sell good food here and good drinks, we are in a nice local location right by the canal, and so people really enjoy coming here.
"Thankfully we get a lot of support from out customers, and we get a nice mixed crowd in from the locals and also people that travel to come to us - which is great to have that, as it proves we're recognised for our good food.
"Which of course leads us on to the award nomination at the Midlands food and drink awards.
"So we did not know about it, there was a mystery shopper that came in, dined and then picked us out of other restaurants in Wolverhampton.
"Me and the team are very proud to be recognised for out good food and for being one of the best restaurants in Wolverhampton, and it speaks volumes that in the award nominations, we are only of the only ones picked from Wolverhampton."
Pubs are adapting in the modern age and are diversifying their menus, and the whole interior, giving the spots more vibrant decor and making it easy on the eye, which falls into the whole 'Instagram worthy', where the social media generation not only want their food and drinks to taste good but want the place to look good too, making it 'Instagrammable'.
The Canalside bar & grill have done that too, with more of a cocktail bar feel to it, and this is what Rav wanted to achieve, making it a place that serves good food, good drink and has good vibes.
He said: "We thrive on customer satisfaction, and we always strive to provide a good atmosphere, good food and all round good vibes.
"We serve a range of cocktailes, gins, wines, and it has opened up up to a whole different level of custom.
"It is just a male-dominated place, but instead we have families and women coming here for a night out, which is what we wanted it to be, a great place for all."
The business can be found on Instagram: instagram.com/canalsidewolverhampton
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