The Vat & Fiddle — Restaurant in Nottingham

Friendly Staff and large range of beers, but not expertly kept, prefer a few less but better condition. Either soft-spiled or I suspect put on too early as there was no life and not clear (used to cloudy natural beers now so sometimes don't check to see if naturally hazy. I normally ask to have it changed, didn't because I was a bit tired from a long journey and it wasn't off, it just hadn't built up sufficient carbon dioxide.

Had a lasagne a bit of a large portion for lunch but people have different appetites. What disappointed me was how particularly bland it was. Poorly seasoned mince, onion and tomatoes and a bland béchamel sauce (possibly a minute hint of nutmeg) with bland cheese. No hint of garlic, parmesan or basil or even pepper.

For the price I wasn't expecting wine or pancetta, but there have always been ways of adding flavour for little additional cost. For a castle rock pub next door to the brewery I hope someone gets someone to do some secret tastings. It's a high calorie meal so you kind of want at least have some pay off in flavour, knock up the price and get some better ingredients or reduce portion sizes. I know some people go for quantity over quality so they would likely have complaints doing the latter, but it...

Visited Saturday 15th July 2023 late afternoon.

Been meaning to visit for a while, just never got around to it. Location is ideal if you're around the train station as it's literally across the road.

Castle Rocks tap house so obviously has a full range of CR beers; however, as with all CR pubs there's also a great range of guest cask and keg beers alongside a fridge full of craft beer cans and bottles, obviously there's also lager, wine, spirits, soft drinks etc.

We ended up eating the loaded fries while we were there, a portion of buffalo and a portion of hamburger, both of which were delicious and reasonable value.

Staff were friendly and approachable, the place had a nice atmosphere.

The pub itself is a proper old school pub, hard floors throughout and traditional decor with seating out front and a large yard out back.

Definitely...

Superb Castle Rock Brewery pub in Nottingham City. 5' minutes walk from main railway station. As an 'away' football fan, have only visited when my team are playing against Forest at The City Ground. Always welcomed by home fans; no rivalry or aggression. Absolutely stunning, superb selection of both Castle Rock & guest beers. + lagers & a good whisky selection! Only sampled food on football matchdays, but if this is an example of normal fayre, then can highly recommend it. Nothing fancy or ponsy! Just basic meals, toasties, chip butties, sausage butties, beef or veggie chilly for example. Staff extremely busy on matchdays so PLEASE be patient with them! They all do a fantastic job. Castle Rock Brewery attached to pub & Brewery tours can be booked.

A...