The Lion at Basford — Restaurant in Nottingham

Went here to see a band that my mate knew. I'd only been here once, during lockdown when everyone was forced to sit outside, and I'd been itching to go back since (the beer garden is EXCELLENT but I like the cosiness of a pub indoors as well).

The only pub I've been to with a well 😂, this seemed to be used as extra seating and as a place to rest one's beer during the gig.

It's a beautiful pub, has lots of board games, is quite roomy, the toilets are very clean (you've no idea how many pubs are excellent until you go into the toilets).

We ordered some food, which is reasonably priced. We couldn't find food service info online so I've included pictures of the menu, which also includes the service times. We wanted the nachos, but they were off the menu. So asked for loaded fries but couldn't have our first and second choices. It turned out they either had no cheese or didn't have the facilities to offer melted cheese - to be fair, this was at 8:45pm on a Saturday night and they only do roast dinners on Sundays, so perhaps they'd just run down their supplies until they would be replenished on Monday. We had the Mexican hot fries and they were very good.

My only criticism is that the tables are insanely sticky. We were told this was down to the sanitiser that is used, but they were sticky to the point that we couldn't put anything on them - no phones, no arms - and when we used the Nottingham Drinker magazine so we could put things on the table, it took the paper off the magazine when we lifted it off the table. Surely that isn't right.

Anyway: amazing pub, if you haven't been...

It has a very pretty outdoor area. The fellow patrons are very comfortable bringing dogs to the pub which is a huge plus for me. There's a public park within view of the beer garden so I imagine it could be a good venue to bring the family.

The staff work with a kind of exuberant vigor that makes your feel like you're in good hands. They look like they enjoy their job.

The only radically questionable thing is that the electric hand dryer is so close to an adjecnt urinal that you feel like the gust of air is affecting the stream of nearby gentlemen trying to relive themselves. Kinda funny but could be a recipie of a drunken yellow disater. Lads gotta step up their p*ss game.

Minor gripes but the heating lamps in the beer garden aren't fully operational and the slant of the land in grassy part of the beer garden can feel disorienting. You can't really expect them to terraform then land though.

The pricing is a solid middle-of-the-road. 2 decent drinks will cost you £9-11. Not wethersoons but not London.

I'll definitely be coming back as my current Tinder-squeeze is partial to the pub quiz and the Gamma-ray that they...

Excellent pub with on street and in site parking huge outdoor at area that is well maintained. "Cheers style" bar, approachable from three sides with food service and helpful staff who seemed on this occasion to go out of their way to maximize customer satisfaction. There is a stage area with regular free live entertainment that features bands of really high caliber. The night we were there it was Miss Bowie and the New Killer Stars who's performance killed off any doubts about quality entertainment. Such a performance would have garnered the approval of the fiercest music critic. Would I return and expect the same experience? I feel confident that I would, as they eye to detail from clearing and sanitizing take turnaround to speed and accuracy of service does not happen by accident but it's the result of team focus and leadership. Making and maintaining a high standard as a matter of routine is the key to turning casual visitors into regulars and that translates into a talked about reputation. Well done staff and management. We look forward to future...