Poppy & Pint — Restaurant in Rushcliffe

In the former West Bridgford branch of the Royal British Legion this refurbished building still retains traces of its former occupancy with photographs, plaques and memorabilia in this spacious, busy and vibrant pub. The bar staff are friendly and eager to serve the choice of drinks is extensive and a good selection whether you drink alcohol or non-alcoholic. Core Draught Ales and Cask Ales brewed by the local Castle Rock brewery who own and run the pub are favourites with some of the leading bottled beers and ciders in the country served as well as the award winners from Castle Rock and a varied and large selection of soft drinks in bottles and on tap.

Food is served here and they have a separate dining area as well as space in the main bar room for diners, but on this busy evening (England v France World Cup Quarter Finals) the dining room was relatively quiet but the bar was full to bursting.

As a party of 8 we were surprised to find there were no other diners. We had booked relatively easily for the Festive Christmas dinner menu at £24 for 3 courses and with it being a Saturday night we expected it to be busier than it actually was. The wait staff were excellent bringing each course promptly with enough time for us to eat and chatter before the next course arrived. We were not asked every five minutes "is everything is Okay?" which drives me potty especially when you have a mouth full of food and struggle to answer. We were allowed to just enjoy ourselves with someone discretely watching in case we needed anything. What was a surprise though was the dining area had a sign on it advising of a private function and the room was not in use although other diners did appear later in the evening.

The food was hot and plentiful with a varied menu suitable for everyone included vegan, vegetarian and gluten intolerant. The starters were huge and could quite easily be served as a main dish themselves or a sharing dish. I only saw a few of the starters but each and every one was appetising.

The prawn salad was clearly enough for two as a sharing starter as was the goats cheese salad with its whole goats cheese truckle, the blue cheese butternut squash and onion tartlet was around 4.5 inches diameter and much bigger than expected.

The main courses were even bigger. The turkey roulade was the size of a man’s fist with curls of crispy parsnip crisps and roast potatoes and looked so delicious I wish I had chosen that. Then the beef balanced on the horseradish mash looked pretty and I decided I should have ordered that but I ordered the confit duck with dauphinoise potatoes and spiced red cabbage and was glad I had chosen that. The meat flaked away from the bone and the gravy was so thick and rich I wanted more. The mushroom tartlet took up the majority of the plate and so crispy you could hear the crunch as my friend cut into it, this too had baby roast potatoes. There was a lentil loaf and fish available but none of us chose those dishes.

Each main was accompanied with a dish the size of a dinner plate of vegetables, brussels, cabbage, green beans, broccoli and carrots and despite us all having plenty of veg there was still a lot returned.

Dessert time was cheese cake, sticky toffee pudding, Christmas Loaf and mince pie sundae served with custard or cream or cheese and biscuits with a nice choice of crackers and two big slabs of cheese. Again these desserts were massive but by the time we got around to them dessert we were already full to bursting with such good food.

All in all we had an excellent evening and a lot of good food and drink. Should I be asked if I recommend Poppy and Pint I would shout out a definite YES.

Easy to reach from the major transport facilities with Trent Barton and NCT buses on Davis Road or NCT 11 on Trent Boulevard both 5 mins walk away. There is a car park outside and only 10 minutes from...

I came here for a birthday meal, The evening started well, The staff were friendly and welcoming.

Small choice on the specials board, there is a separate menu, but this isn't on the tables and we only found it by chance.

Large choice of real ales on tap, few guest ciders, but would be nice to see more.

Good portion sizes for the mains, if not too much, there was loads of mashed potato with the braised beef, so much so I couldn't manage it all.

Wanting pudding afterwards, we had to again ask if they did puddings and if there was a menu, they do sticky toffee pudding and melt in the middle chocolate cake on there every day menu, then a range of cakes, that are in a separate fridge, but if I hadn't of asked, we wouldn't of known about them.

After ordering the desserts, we were told that there was no longer any lemon sponge , when we ordered there were 2 pieces left, so the lady who served us, should have taken those pieces off sale, so that no one else could buy them.

Again good sized puddings, but the bowls are covered with syrup for decoration, but it just made a mess and got everywhere.

While still eating our puddings and having another round of drinks, we were asked if we were staying for the quiz, as the pub was getting busy and people were looking for tables.

So we had 2 courses and 3 rounds of drinks and then felt we were being thrown out, they didn't seem to ask any of the other people dinning , if they were staying as they needed the tables.

It's a shame really, as it seemed like such a lovely pub and we would probably have come back, but don't think we will be returning...

Having not given a good review before, i decided to try again at the Poppy and Pint and this time i had a much better experience. The food was very hot a little wait but not excessive, tried the specials menu. The best thing for me was i was left in peace to eat my meal without being pestered.on my last visit to another nearby pub i was asked three times in the space of however long it takes to eat what amounts to a ready meal if it was ok. I got so fed up it has driven me away, as from now on the Poppy and Pint will have my business, while its nice to be asked if my meal was ok there is a limit to what is acceptable. Update After going in the Poppy and Pint for several months now? my only gripe was that my plate was cold, after making several comments about my plate not being warm i was supprised when the bar staff said to me when i ordered my meal "" a nice hot plate for you" i said yes please When my plate arrived it was so hot the poor young woman who brought me my meal nearly threw it at me it was so hot and nearly burned her fingers, my food was so hot it was almost impossibe to eat.If the kitchen staff were having a laugh at my expene it has backfired because if i ever go in again i will never order another meal. If the manager would like to disscuss this with me further i will be hapy to...