Tails & Spirits, tucked away by the train station on Sovereign Street, isn’t flashy enough to have gained a reputation to rave about, but it is a perfectly acceptable bar trendy enough for pre-clubbing and sophisticated enough for after work cocktails. There are also bottled beers and ciders, including a few on draught, plus a small wine selection.
For the same price in the city you have Mook, Neon Cactus, the Wardrobe and the Maven, so branding is the key here. The décor is all a bit Towie inside thanks to a mirrored bar, wooden panelling, yellow armchairs and a faux-posh crest for a logo, and the shisha on offer (£10 deposit required) doesn’t exactly minimise the slightly tacky aesthetic. Having few nearby bars should work to the venue’s advantage, but this can often mean that it doesn’t attract the footfall of some of its more central contemporaries, and can feel somewhat vibeless at times.
Rather than going overboard with a bible-sized menu of tipples, the bar has chosen to focus on a small and reliable range of classics – priced at £7 to £8. This tactic can work well if those behind the bar are on their game, but it seems that the bar hasn’t been open long enough for the staff to have perfected their skills. What they deliver is usually fine, but nothing to write home about.