 Fort Jester 
Eat, Drink, Be Merry in the Jester!
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Recommendation added: 20/05/2007 19:49
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +714)dewberry has been thanked 8 times for this contribution
"For my birthday this year we decided to revisit a pub restaurant I'd recently done a mystery shopping job for as I remembered how nice it was, the inclusion of a Wacky Warehouse swung me as I knew my kids' and their friend (who had been invited at the last minute) would be kept entertained for a couple of hours.
Fort Jester is a large pub located on the very edge of Castle Vale in Birmingham and has a huge car park which includes plenty of both disabled and 'parent and baby' parking spaces near the entrance to the pub. From the outside it looks great. Despite being situated on a very busy road within yards of the entrance/exit to the M6 motorway, Fort Jester manages to seem quiet with very little traffic noise making its way through the walls into the pub itself.
Out at the front of the pub is a well maintained patio area which incorporates plenty of wooden tables and benches; this is conveniently placed near to the excellent outdoor children's play area so you can make the most of the sun while keeping an eye on your little darlings to make sure they don't get into any trouble. My children (including their mate) had a brilliant time on the wooden play area, it's free to go on although unsupervised so parents really must make the effort to sit either outside with the kids or watch them through the large pub window if you're lucky enough to get a window table with a good view of the play area.
When they'd exhausted themselves in the fresh air I took them through to the Wacky to build up an appetite for their meal while me, Mark and my mum had a couple of drinks in the bar. Children in this Wacky are supervised by friendly, young staff who seem to bend over backwards to get to the kids' 'level' – the girl who booked us in made a point of talking to the children, particularly the older two, like they were proper people rather than kids. She explained that strictly speaking parents should stay in the Wacky with the children, but as it was very quiet when we visited and my children aren't toddlers (the youngest is eight) she was happy for me to leave them. The security is pretty good here with electronic security doors, although it's by no means infallible so I'd definitely have stayed if my kids' had been any younger and less sensible.
As it happened I ended up spending half an hour or so sitting in the Wacky as I spotted an old friend with her baby. I was surprised how comfortable the parents area was; we've been provided with proper sized chairs instead of Nursery school sized ones, a well stocked snack bar is there with kids' AND adults' treats plus magazines have been provided so that the sheer boredom of watching little Johnny jumping in the ball pit doesn't drive you to madness! You can also buy your drinks from the bar and take them into the Wacky with you providing you remember to ask for a plastic glass, which is great as our local Wacky doesn't allow parents to take alcohol into the area and that can be a nuisance when deciding whose turn it is to sit with the kids…
When the hour was up in the Wacky we made our way to the dining area; we'd been sitting in the bar until the kids' finished playing but under 16's aren't allowed in there so we grabbed a table in the more child-suitable no smoking restaurant. Because of the huge size of Fort Jester there are plenty of tables of all sizes; we needed a table for six and there were several available near the window, while smaller tables to seat four or two are tucked in between and around the centre of the room. There were larger tables in a separate area of the restaurant which I think would probably have seated a family of 10 – 12, making it ideal for a large family get together.
Fort Jester uses the fabulous Two-for-One system for pricing their meals, meaning that when you order any two main courses from the menu you'll automatically get the cheaper one for free. We ordered two meals from the main menu and three from the children's menu, as even though the kids' meals aren't included in the Two-for-One promotion the prices are reasonable enough to allow the children in your party to choose what they want and it still won't break the bank.
I ate an 8oz Rump Steak which was served with chips, grilled tomatoes, peas and a side salad. The steak was absolutely delicious; I'd requested it cooked medium rare and I've got to say the chef got it spot on to my requirements. The thick piece of steak was deliciously moist and tender, cutting through it with the special steak knife I'd been given with my meal was literally like cutting butter with a hot knife. Wonderful. The chips weren't greasy like chips in a lot of pubs are, and they were nicely thick cut which again helped to stop oiliness gathering on the chips and dripping all over my plate. Unusually for a salad garnish, Fort Jester provide one which is actually good enough to eat rather than leave on the side of the plate to be taken away at the end of the meal – the salad vegetables were fresh and crisp with a fabulously 'just picked' flavour. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, and I can honestly say it's one of the best pub meals I've eaten in a long time.
My mum ate Chicken Kiev which was served with the same tasty chips and salad as my steak, with the addition of a huge dollop of fantastically fresh tasting coleslaw. The Kiev itself smelled gorgeously garlicky and mum commented that the chicken was tender and had retained all its natural moisture, with the breadcrumbs being crispy without looking or tasting burned at all. She ate every scrap of food on her (large) plate so it must have been good! All three kids' chose Squidgy Pizza & Fries from the kids' menu, which was basically a Chicago Town microwave pizza and a handful of French fries with beans – not at all my idea of a 'special' meal, but the children seemed to enjoy them so who am I to complain?! To be fair the fries were very tasty as I nicked a couple of my eight year olds plate, so obviously Fort Jester is more in tune with a child's taste buds than I am!
The dessert menu is pretty extensive and reasonably priced. My mum and I both had a slice of lemon meringue pie which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream; the pie was so good I felt like licking my plate afterwards, the meringue topping was light and crispy while the tangy lemon filling complimented the sweetness of it perfectly. I'm not sure but I'd guess the pie was probably homemade as it had a kind of 'rustic' and not quite perfect look which I usually associate with freshly made desserts rather than those shipped in each morning from a wholesaler and simply defrosted. The kids had a huge Chocolate Sundae each which came complete with wafers, profiteroles, fudge cake and tonnes more which I wasn't quick enough to spot as they shovelled it into their mouths!
Everyone really enjoyed their food here and considering the total food bill was just £27 for everything I'd say that's excellent value for money. Sauces and condiments are all readily available on the table, with extra side orders being available at a small extra cost from the menu.
Of course, you'll need a drink to wash down all that food and Fort Jester provides plenty of choice from their excellently stocked bar. A full selection of lagers, beers and ciders are available both bottled and on draught along with all the well known spirits – and some more obscure types! The wine list is very good and quite reasonable as far as prices go, as usual it works out much cheaper to order your wine by the bottle but the cost per glass isn't too bad here even for the more upmarket varieties. The non alcoholic drinker is very well catered for at Fort Jester with a range of hot drinks, juices, J20 and fizzy drinks available – one definitely worth a try is the new selection of Britvic pressed juices, I drank practically my body weight in the pressed apple and it was gloriously refreshing and cool.
Six of us spent around four hours in Fort Jester and this cost in total around £75; including drinks, food, Wacky admission and munchies to keep the kids' quiet while we sat chatting for an hour after we'd eaten. Considering a recent night out in a pub not a mile down the road cost us almost £100 for drinks and just three meals, I'd say 75 quid is pretty damned good value for six people of varying ages.
Fort Jester is fully accessible for disabled visitors and families with pushchairs. All the doorways are wide enough for a wheelchair and the space between tables is adequate for you to get around with no problems at all. There is a disabled toilet which is large and well adapted, along with baby changing facilities.
To find Fort Jester is easiest in the car. If you live in Birmingham it's simply a case of getting onto the main A452 which runs through the north of the city and following this long road until the name turns to Chester Road, stay on the road for a mile or two and Fort Jester is located on your right hand side. Because of the one way system on Chester Road you'll need to drive a few hundred yards past the pub and spin around the island to come back on yourself so you can turn into the pub car park. If you're driving in from further away Fort Jester is located just 0.2 miles from Junction 5 of the M6, and is very easy to find once you've left the motorway. There are a few bus stops which are fairly local to the pub, although the general area isn't well served by public transport and it's always kinda hit and miss as to whether you're going to find a bus to get you there!
Fort Jester
Chester Road
Castle Vale
Birmingham
B35 7AG
Tel: 0121 7472908"
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