After launching the hugely successful Blackbird Coffee and Breakfast Club, the same team have turned their hand to pubs with this new venture tucked in the far corner of Place de la Riponne. So instead of yummy mummys drinking cappuccinos, you’ll find an edgier crowd (not least because of its Riponne location) quaffing craft beer created especially for the Blackbird by local brewer Docteur Gab’s.
Inside, this small roundhouse pub is decked out like a vintage railway station bar, with chandeliers, marble floors, well-used wooden cafe chairs, a piano and sepia-toned pictures (featuring sketches of the eponymous Blackbird). The addition of some garden gnomes atop the piano is a particularly amusing, if idiosyncratic, touch.
The Blackbird’s simple menu of toasted sandwiches and wraps, including a well-priced lunch deal, obviously aims to draw a lunch crowd which, on our recent visit, was pretty thin on the ground. But with its late-night opening hours and large outdoor terrace, it’s in the evenings when this pub will come into its own, as friends gather for beers after work – with more gnomes looking on.