The Soak

I’ve been here once before, this place has a great atmosphere, the staff are all very helpful and friendly, the layout of the place has a great mix of sofas, tables and chairs and standing.
I went on a Sunday morning and it had a great relaxed (but with a bit if a buzz) feel to the place.

The Soak is a quintessential student pub — cheap, located at the heart of the student area, and… cheap again. Each day of the week has a certain type of meal assigned to it, ensuring that offers are always available. Numerous large television screens means that the pub is able to cover a wide range of sporting events, and often shows two football matches simultaneously (whether this is a good thing or not depends on whether you enjoy being bombarded with screams of joy and groans of misery every couple of minutes). The cheap prices extend to the food, which is undoubtedly worse than many of the other Selly Oak pubs, and this average culinary quality is compounded by the extremely long waits I have encountered on more than one occasion, even when the pub was relatively quiet. Overall, a good pub for the sports fan and those looking for a cheap drink, but despite the enticing prices, those looking for pub grub may be best looking elsewhere.

Where The Goose is a miserable vestige of the Selly Oak of (many) Christmasses past, The Soak, merely a few doors down, seems to be a cartwheeling, panting Alsatian that is desperate to serve the large student population.
Throughout the entirety of my first year at University, my gut told me «avoid, it looks like the sort of place that Rugby players would go to», so when I was dragged in one night and found this not to be the case, I was actually pleasantly surprised. Like the Scream pubs in Selly Oak, the pub also utilises a ‘green key’ system, where you buy one for a pound that lives on your keyring, and you get discounts on pints and pitchers, etc. It’s about 10% roughly, but always appreciated if you intend on visiting more than once. It serves all the usual drinks on tap, and the pitchers are actually quite reasonable. In terms of space, never plan on going on any night when Premiership/​International football is on, as the chances of getting a seat or a table are minimal to impossible.
Onto the food: It certainly tries harder than the Selly Sausage, but it’s mostly the usual gastropub nosh. Was very disappointed by a steak I had there not too long ago, but the burgers and the classics (sausage and mash, fish and chips, curry) are very functional and pretty alright. Most recently, I had a veggie burger which was perhaps the best thing I have ever eaten from there. The occasional guest Ale strives to make things slightly more interesting and less chain-​like, which is always appreciated.
Overall, The Soak is a fairly standard, although unsurprisingly uninspiring boozer. It’s nice that it tries hard to appeal to a classier student cliental and doesn’t settle for the lowest common denominator, although it just falls short with it’s gastropub trappings. Entertainment such as open mic nights are few and far between and sporadic at best, perhaps it should just sit back and relax a little, and concentrate on what it does best: Keeping happy students liquored up.

The Soak tries hard to be a cut above the average chain pub, and it almost manages it. The focus seems to be mostly on meals with a menu touching all the basic pub grub food groups (curry, burgers, steak, chips) at competitive prices with different deals on food every night of the week. However, there are also screens showing sports, a couple of pool tables and very occasionally live music. The bar serves a fairly standard selection of widely available drinks as well as slightly watery coffee with a small chocolate bar on the side. The décor is in a muted selection of greys that may have once been described as cutting edge…
And yet, I find my cynicism to be painting an unfair picture. The fact is that The Soak is actually quite good at what it does, it’s just what it aims to do isn’t particularly exciting. I’m typing this whilst sat at a table in the establishment in question, abusing the free wi fi. I’ve eaten in here before, and I expect I will be eating here again. I also must mention that the staff have never been anything less than completely polite and professional towards me. However, when I do eat here again, it will be mostly because of convenience, not because of preference.

Usually loud and heaving with customers, the Soak is a modern bar aimed at the trendier end of the student drinker demographic. There’s loads of seating and plenty of pool tables and wide-​screen tellies for watching sports.
Most definitely not the kind of place you’d go during the evening to enjoy a quiet few with some friends. You’ll be lucky if you can hear yourself think over the crowd. This is better suited for getting ready for a night on the town, although if you end up going during the day you can enjoy a meal in relative peace.

Good for watching the football, puts on a good quiz with great prizes and serves good beer and food. Situated close the the university so its worth popping in on your way back from lectures or exams to meet up with friends. They serve a good range of drinks and with student ID they are very cheap compared to many other places. Can get quite busy sometimes though.