please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Called in the poacher the otherday.great pint of Castle Rock Harvest Pale £2.70.a pint.nice outdoor area just recently refurbished with some huts for the smokers
to enjoy their pint in comfort.
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First pub in nottingham that I have been to for a while. A good choice. Got in early, just as a folk band were setting up. Plenty of real ale choice and i went for something very predictable, london pride. Will come here again.
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Hadn't visited this pub for about three years until very recently. I remembered it being a typically fine Castle Rock pub and everything that you would expect from such. What a disappointment I have to say. The place needs a facelift, particularly the outside area that is seriously uninviting. Quite a shock too to try the acclaimed Screech Owl ale. My first taste of this award-winning ale. If that was how it should taste, then I'm afraid I should give up tasting real ales. I came away wondering how such a fine pub could lose its appeal so much.
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Ridiculously expensive beer these days, 4% ales often well over �3. They must be working on a huge GDP margin on guests, I imagine to make their own beers look more inviting price wise. This was a pub that kept their beer reasonably priced for years but since the CEO retired the prices have rocketed.Castle Rock has become much more corporate and it seems that the people now running the company have a much different ethos - this is also reflected in the price and portion sizes of their food - which have become smaller and more expensive. They also once had a commitment to locally sourced food but it seems that this is also about to be abandoned in the search for bigger profit margins.
This is a pub that I have frequented on and off for years and that had a genuine local feel to it unfortunately due to the constant price hikes many regulars now drink elsewhere or visit very occasionally -I fear that greed will eventually kill the goose.
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Had a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon here. Food is good and substantial. Beer was certainly the best we sampled in Nottingham
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Like most Castle Rock pubs, good selection of ales and atmosphere. Well worth a look in if you're Mansfield Road end of town.
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I forgot to mention this one last time we came to Nottingham (Forest 3 Reading 4) so here is our report. Brilliant! Great selection of beers (including Castle Rock) excellent large cob for lunch; sat outside and enjoyed the warmish weather; some good old interesting bric-a-brac;newsletters;papers and mags to read. Staff were OK but I could imagine it being a bit slow when really busy. However, don't let that put you off - this is a great boozer and well worth the walk from the city centre (or take an inexpensive cab as we did). We stayed for a couple of pints and then walked down the hill to the William IVth - you can't beat it!
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Great pub, I would recommend this boozer to anyone who likes real ale, whiskey and wants to relax with no loud quiz machines etc.!
I found the staff very friendly and was even offered tasters of the beers to help make up my mind as there were so many to choose from. It has a nice atmosphere with a community feel. It will definately become a regular haunt for me!
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For the life of me, I don't know why the Poacher has never been on the radar before now. However, finding ourselves at a loose end in Nottingham after the early finish to the Test match, we wandered into the city and broadened our horizon up the Mansfield Road. Confronted by a row of 12 handpumps with three Castle Rock ales complimented by a stunning choice of near and far beers, it was tricky to know where to start. Excellently kept Castle Rock Yew and Box Steam Dark & Handsome were the choices. Wandered throught the rooms to the courtyard to take in some sunshine, so didn't study the whisky and foreign beer selection closely, but that will surely come on future visits. Very good array of what appears to be genuine breweriana as opposed to the normal reproductions, so all in an excellent experience.
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Amazing beer selection, though can be a little pricey. Great decor too, a bit of an 'old man pub' for sure, but all the better for it. Definitely the best pub on Mansfield road.
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Beer serving can be rushed, slop it out syndrome. Beers not always in their prime.
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What can you say about "The Poacher" - It HAS to be one of the best pubs in England! Spent last Friday night there drinking Hemlock - which was superb! Great staff, they never complain even when extremely busy, great beer, good food and good company - you can't beat it!
limey - 19 Mar 2010 20:53 |
There were 11 (eleven) ales on during my visit, all at reasonable prices. For some reason I stuck with Castle Rock ales, sinking pints of Hemlock and Winter Rail. Judging by the glass in the windows, this pub looks to have been called �The Old Gray Nag�s Head� in a previous incarnation. I suppose that it was considered to be a bit too much of a mouthful. The front bar, together with the small snug on the right of the bar, looks like the original pub, with a conservatory at the back added more recently presumably to provide more seating. There is a small outside area at the back which I imagine is mainly used by smokers. This outside area did have a large potted plant, which my chum from up North considered to be worthy of mention. I put this pub on a par with the Vat & Fiddle, which we had visited earlier in the day. The ale selection is even better than the V & F, and you get the same real pub experience. This is a drinkers� destination pub of the highest order. Definitely on our list for a return visit next year, assuming that time allows.
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Visited this pub while staying in Teversal with the caravan. It was the start of a crawl in March. Enjoyed a Newby Wyke and Brew Dog beer. Found the information of Whitbread interesting as it had Nimmos on it, and that was a brewery I remember from childhood at Castle Eden. Another interesting plaque was that the pub is twinned with In De Wildman of Amsterdam. I visited that pub in April and saw the plaque there for the Lincolnshire Poacher. Never seen pubs twinned before so it was so weird to do both of them. Lovely conservatory at the rear, and a friendly pub. Love going to pubs when they are quiet and you can see round the pub as well as sample the beers.
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Called in the other night and had an excellent pint of Tribute, the Castle Rock "Hemlock" was well kept too. Nottingham needs to have pubs like this, well cared for, good ale selection and friendly staff. Will have to come back and try some of the menu nother time!
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Took my Fiance in here on a trip to Nottingham bank holiday weekend. I had good memoried of evenings spent in here during the 18 years I lived in Nottingham and it was good to return to see it had not really changed.
Still selling a good range of real, cask ales, guest beers and ciders. I enjoyed a nice pint of guest cider whilst my partner had a tasty pint of mild. We had breadcakes for lunch; good choice of fillings and very nice they were too. If we hadn't been going out for dinner that evening we would have probably eaten a hot meal as there was a wide variety of choice and reaonably priced too.
All in all an enjoyable afternoon spent in this pub. Would always visit when passing and highly recommended!
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I have been drinking in the Poacher for years and the beer was always varied and reasonably priced.Over the last year however they have started to charge silly money for their ale with less choice.Beers are regularly hitting the �3 mark and even low gravity ales are often �2.70 and �2.80.I imagine they must be working on a GP of over 60% and buying cheap uninspiring beer that they can maximise their profits on.Tynemill who own the pub seem to be intent on squeezing as much money as possible out of loyal customers, abandoning an ethos that has served them well in previous years.
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Getting ridiculously pricey with uninspiring choice of beers. It seems that they're not stocking anything decent that might compete with the dull Castle Rock beers.
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Castle Rock Elsie Mo, Harvest Pale, Sheriff�s Tipple, Bateman�s XB, Rugby Mild & No.8, Hydes Bells & Whistles, Everard�s Tiger, Hopback Odyssey & GFB, Broadoak Moonshine cider (8%), plus wide selection of whiskies & blackboard listing 16 belgian beers. L-shaped bar winds to left from traditional wood-floored bar area opening to a lounge with breweriana mirrors & bric-a-brac on high shelves. Small carpetted snug to rear furnished with upholstered settles, beyond this to sparse conservatory then out to courtyard style beer garden with picnic sets. Homecooked dishes on specials boards above bar read well � Faggots, Lamb Masala, Lincs sausage&mash, Pork Loin steaks wi cherry belgian beer, �6/�6.50. The management were mortified when one of the boys returned a suspect pork pie (probably the only thing not home-produced!) & immediately offered replacement &/or refund. I�m told this is not the most salubrious area of town & that a recent stabbing occurred nearby, but this is an excellent pub & I wouldn�t hesitate to return next time.
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Fine pub. Castle Rock beers and guests - I had a top pint of Hydes (from Manchester I understand).
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Visited for first time last friday evening.
Well worth it.....fine ale selection, decent mixed crowd of drinkers, value pub sandwiches.
Noteworthy ale....Thornbridge Barbary...very tasty ruby coloured 4.5%...another great ale from Thornbridge.
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Best pub in Nottingham. Great selection of 10 ever changing beers, no two nights are the same. Huge range of whiskies and good food. Free live music most Sunday nights. Well worth the short walk from the city centre.
glugg - 30 May 2008 20:37 |
Best Pub in Nottingham Range of beer and whisky is outstanding I cannot find a fault worth mentioning other than I have to walk uphill to get there.
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Delicious, well kept wide selection from Castle Rock. I recommend the 'Sherif's Tipple'. A plain interior with big pine tables, excellent home cooked food and interesting sandwiches. Top pub.
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Worth making the short walk from the city centre. Good range of real ales.
Look out for the cat who answers back when told off by the bar staff!!
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full of blokes
anonymous - 11 Nov 2007 15:34 |
Excellent. Wide selection of quality real ales, great food, friendly staff. The best pub in Nottingham.
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Yabba dabba doo to the Poacher.
Everything is spot on maybe they could improve it with some eye candy. Best pub outside of Derbyshire ;-) some high praise.
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Used to drop in during my student days. Interesting pub with a good sized beer garden. Worth a go
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I try hard every time i go in to like this pub my mates sometimes meet in there before a bat around town , why don't these bearded real ale blokes(never seen many women in there)have to hog the bar area , move out the way and let me get served.
anonymous - 10 Dec 2006 09:30 |
Always found this bar friendly with good beer, both in terms of selection and quality. Seems to suffer a little from its own popularity and can get rammed. But thats probably a testement to its quality. Admitedly the bogs could do with a bit of sprucing up, but if you got to a pub for its toilets there is something wrong with you!
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I find it difficult to take the negative comments below seriously! I visit Nottingham regularly and always head for The Poacher. Beer always excellent, staff always competent and friendly.
alanl - 12 Jul 2006 22:03 |
I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviewer and question when their last visit was - the toilets had been completely and expensively refurbished by the time of their post. As for expensive beer, the ever-excellent 'Harvest Pale' is �2/pint. Yes, it was a lot cheaper to drink when the summers were always golden, when you could trust your local bobby on the beat and when John Noakes climbed up Nelson's Column for the first time but try finding anything else for that price in the area - and of the same quality.
An excellent pub with a very diverse and ever-entertaining and pleasant clientelle. The bar staff offish? Not in my experience.
Jim_G - 10 Jun 2006 13:40 |
VERY POOR The Poacher is well past its sell by date and it shows.The conservatory is filthy at height - put a beer mat over your pint. Toilets getting tatty,
beer is expensive and quite often poor. Tynemill, the owners, are complacent and are just milking the customers, relying on past glories to keep sales going.
Food was good once, but now indifferent and expensive.
Need a wake up call.
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Yes, it's a great boozer, yes, great ales; great ambience - great selection of whiskies and since yer not sure, the reason why it still only commands a 6.5 rating is directly on account of its seemingly rigid policy of employing puckermouthed, supercilious and offish bar staff - obviously meticulously trained by the pub's tenant - who seems to think that all the above plaudits is doing you favour enough. For this forum's information, the "In Der Wilderman" in Amsterdam is equally as obliging.
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A really good pub, the choice of beers and lagers is fantastic.
The draught Leffe was superb.
And nice seperate drinking areas.
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The biz.....great beer, great atmosphere and what's more a proper boozer.
If you haven't been, go ! ! !
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Can't really be any more positive than gothiron who sums up the pub admirably. I, too, found the Harvest Gold to be wonderful. A new cask was just coming on as we ordered and indeed, it was pure bliss. Well done to all at this pub.
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A real gem of a pub. Harvest Pale possibly comes as close to pure drinkable bliss as is possible. Fantastic selection of beers, well served and comfortable chairs, not overly smokey but oozes character. This pub is what a *real* pub should be and thank god it couldn't be replicated as a chain. A must.
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One of Notts best. Love Tynemill (see STRATFORD HAVEN), this pub is well worth fitting in the middle of a crawl, cos its downhill back to town! Can't understand from all the other comments why its only scoring 6.5 at this point. Might be able to nudge that up a little.....
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One of the best of the Tynemill pubs. Always a good selection of beers and an amazing selection of malt whiskies. Last time I called in on my Friday lunch break, I never got back to the office!
Slartibartfast - 30 Jul 2004 12:25 |
The beer selection is always fantastic in this proper pub. I always enjoy my visits here!!
david - 16 May 2004 14:41 |
Great for beer. Can get very busy at weekends but large groups often only stay for one, so it's often worth sticking around for half an hour or so to get a seat. Just far enough from the city centre to keep away the idiots but well worth the walk.
palmwinedrinkard - 7 Apr 2004 13:11 |
Fantastic boozer with multiple rooms each with a different character so it's whatever you want it to be. As they say in Michelin Guides, worth a (long) detour
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Best routine for this place:
Trammie Dodger/Poachers Gold,
XXXB (or Batemans Salem Porter if on)
Oakham JHB
For Yes!
Charlie - 16 Nov 2003 16:27 |
A pub named after a test-card tune on BBC1! What a marvel
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Great place if you are on the mansfield rd run, friendly people including the rugby lads. Batemans oh Batemans :)
Steve - 21 May 2003 12:12 |
was 30ft from my mates front room at uni, ideal local.
pc bayleaf - 24 Mar 2003 01:33 |
Great pub - Batemans on draught - the only place for miles around. Victory at 6% should see you floored
Olly - 26 Nov 2002 11:31 |
Batemans Beer plus numerous guests.
Wide selections of good single malts.
No or very quite music.
Bliss.
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