The Smithfield — Restaurant in England

Update February 2023: I've been traveling to Derby annually for the past 10 years and I know all its cask ale pubs, and I can now say without fear of contradiction that "The Smithfield" is now THE best cask ale pub in town. Unlike others, it maintains a healthy (around 10 taps) selection of rotating cask ales (within my week in Derby the selection rotated completely). The inside may not be the most stylish, but there's comfortable-enough seating inside, and an eclectic-looking covered beer garden with a view of the river on the back, which makes for nice extra seating when the inside gets too busy (And it does get busy!). Friendly staff, good community atmosphere. An A+ boozer, and more! A little off the beaten track in Derby, but makes for a great stop on a pub tour that includes e.g. the also excellent "Exeter Arms" nearby.

Original review: The Smithfield pub in Derby has undergone a much.needed makeover in recent years and was recently voted Derby Camra's Pub of the Year for 2018. While it is a nice, friendly pub, I still wouldn't rate it as highly as my Derby favourite, The Flowerpot or the cozy, nearby Exeter Arms. The Smithfield is located a bit off the beaten track, a little outside the city centre, by the river Derwent (there's limited outside seating): If you don't know it's there, it's unlikely you'd discover by it accidentally. Even after the renovation, the decor isn't much to write home about, but the real ale range is good, and the beers we tried were all kept fresh. Staff are nice, too. Still, something less than...

For me, this is certainly the best pub in town for real ales. Derby, in general, is v good for beer; The Smithfield leads the way, making the effort to provide a forever changing rotation of lesser-seen/rarer breweries. BUT... The reason why I am not giving The Smithfield it's deserv'ed 5 stars, is it's tardy updating of RealAleFinder. Three times I've got off the train, for an hour step-back, to find the beer I wanted had run out. Speaking to the person in The Smithfield this evening whom updates RAF, his very relaxed approach, to be quest honest, annoyed me; no gen is better than 2-days out of date gen! Everywhere else in Derby keeps RAF updated. I'm hoping my post will encourage an improvement in culture in The Smithfield, and I look forward to scoring it 5/5...

I've been warned about this pub by people "in the know" many times. It has been recommended by Camra as well, although I'm not a Camra man, and won awards year after year by them. For me, I just like a pub that has a choice, an ambiance and staff that look pleased to see you. The Smithy gave me all these in spades. Arperson that served me was great and even chose a pint for me. There was a beer festival on at the time and there were in excess of 40 or 50 real Ales and Crafts. Bands play regularly and over all if you want a good, drinking old school pub with service to match and a friendly atmosphere, you do well here. Cheers Smithy, if I'd had the time I'd of stayed longer and will definatly be back 🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙5 on the...