No. 27 Carriages Café Bar

Visited on 7/4/11. Steam, Rachmaninov, cut-glass accents, the shame, the guilt, the fear. The old 'Pullman' first class waiting room at Chester station has been renovated and is now a bar/pub with access to the platforms and the street. We had a brief encounter with the barmaid who got quite emotional when she tried to explain why there was no real ale on offer: "This can't last. This misery can't last. I must remember that and try to control myself. Nothing lasts really. Neither happiness nor despair. Not even life lasts very long. There'll come a time in the future when I shan't mind about this anymore, when I can look back and say quite peacefully and cheerfully how silly I was..." We told her not to worry and ordered 3 pints of guinness instead. However, it was no ordinary guinness - it was a new beast - 'sub-keg' ! A special can (yes, CAN !) of flat guinness is poured into a glass and then 'fizzed up' on an ultrasonic plate. Nearly £4 a bleedin' pint as well. "Look ...it's magic !" chirrupped Celia. No it's not dear. It's actually quite shit. The age of romance is most definitely dead.