Chris_OGrady

Had a nice Black Iris APA in the Malt Cross in Nottingham last night. It's an excellent venue (old music hall) with top cask and keg selection. Nottingham does indeed have some good pubs, but the city seems on it's arse like a lot of places in the UK.

yeah I can imagine! Think the Broadway was similar. I'm going to the Little Club on Friday so will report back after. Haven't been for a year, but have always thought it was top notch.

Had some good pints in the Kazimierz district of Krakow at the weekend. Great vibe round there and lots of cool bars/pubs. Managed to tick off quite a few from the European Bar Guide suggested crawl. Got stuck into quite a few of the wheat beers and found their macro beers to be decent. Also expected the food to be bang average, but it was actually really nice.

Yes that's the one, opposite the Blackbird. They've got a downstairs and upstairs all with tv screens showing the sport- it's always a good atmosphere in there and staff are sound. Think it's quite popular for football socials and stuff (never seen anyone being complete bellends in there though).

Paddy's, Broadway, Little Club, and Three Kilns would all be able to accommodate. Little Club always has big groups of lads in there.

You could try Tamatanga (average chain) which is quite big, or maybe try Shimla Pinks or Mumbai Inn on London Road (haven't been to either in years). Most of the good ones are outside of the centre though.

It’s a nice building and has a good outside area! Unfortunately it’s run by M&B though, who don’t run good pubs. If you’re in Quorn again I’d try the Royal Oak or Blacksmiths

Was it from Talking Balls?

Somerset/Gloucestershire. You've got a good city in Bristol on your doorstep, lots of nice towns (Bath, Frome, Wells, Cheltenham etc), nice countryside nearby (Cotswolds/Mendip Hills), and you can holiday in Devon and Cornwall easily. North Yorkshire too for similar reasons with Leeds not far away and the likes of York, Harrogate, Knaresborough, Yarm etc, and also great countryside and the coast. Whilst Leicestershire is objectively not the best county, it's great being in the middle of the country and being able to visit everywhere without it being too much of a slog. If I lived in North Yorkshire it would be a bastard getting down to Devon, likewise Somerset with York. Last weekend I was in Broadway in the Cotswolds in an hour and a half, this weekend I'm hoping to be in the Peak District in a similar time.

Haven't been there yet but heard it's decent. Report back! It's the same guy who previously had the Three Crowns in Barrow before the current tenants. He tried to do half traditional and half Indian food, but it was really poor so I'm a bit hesitant to go to his places. He should have just gone 100% Indian food as the Harrow Inn food looks good.

Guildford Arms is a beauty. Get's busy though Worth checking this out: https://theeuropeanbarguide.com/a-day-out-in-edinburgh/

ah fair, haven't been in over a year so will assess next month!

Broadway was decent last week, but think I prefer 3 Kilns meaning my top 3 is now Paddy's, Little Club and 3 Kilns. It's good value Broadway, but I don't really enjoy the experience of sitting in there. Not sure whether I like the half pub/half Indian restaurant thing. I prefer it when you turn an old pub exclusively into an Indian restaurant like Paddy's. Going Little Club in 3 weeks so will see if that's still upto scratch!

I'm not great on pub food, but I think the decent ones are The Griffin in Swithland and the Blue Bell in Rothley. Oggi is a good Italian in Syston if you want something a bit different.

Specifically pub grub or anything?

No doubt it's got a great brand and history. It's what Bass could have been over here if it wasn't broken up. They added the nitrogen to it in 1959 so what we drink today is completely different to what it was in the first half of the 20th century.

I enjoy a pint of Guinness for sure, but it’s all the bullshit/marketing around it. It’s a corporate/macro beer. You’re drinking the same stuff in the U.K. as they are in Ireland (it’s all imported here from Dublin). It’s a carbonated keg beer that keeps fresh for ages and profile doesn't change. Its like seeking out the perfect pint of Stella. Maybe I’m just bitter because I’d rather people cared about cask ale which actually differs from venue to venue 😂

https://yorkmix.com/revealed-the-pub-that-will-replace-the-maltings-in-york/ Been a bit of a backlash on Twitter. Is this the real world impact of Guinness becoming a tik tok beer?

I have the Exact same issue. We are trying to sell both but one is proving trickier to shift! You can reclaim the additional 5% back if you sell the second house within 3 years of purchasing the new property, subject to a few technicalities.

Yeh Istanbul in Barrow is good - I go regularly - and is certainly very good for a village. Still not quite top tier though. They don't do any fresh salads and breads. I swear those places are Franchise models. There seems to be near identical looking places all over (eg Istanbul Market Bosworth and Istanbul West Bridgford etc).

I'm yet to find a top quality Turkish place in the city or shire which can match up to the places on Green Lanes in London. Efes Mangal was decent and Konak too (Konak annoyingly don't serve beer). Best one in the shire was probably IMGE in Coalville.

The lamb chops, fish pakora, green fish sizzler, chili mogo/paneer, lamb on the bone curry, and garlic fried rice are all top notch! I'm off to Broadway next Wednesday. Got 6 of us going, so going to order the Chef Special Sizzler and see how it compares to Soho Tavern in Birmingham.

Three Crowns is great- I live in Barrow and was there on Saturday night and the value was still good. I actually think Ghurka New Delhi in Sorrel is even better (it was only marked down on their scores because they had bad service on a Wednesday night). Both are not quite as good as some of the best ones in the city itself, but are certainly excellent for village offerings.

I was in the away end when we got relegated and they got promoted and was quite disappointed with their atmosphere. Was expecting a lot more. Maybe it's because it was 0-0 so they didn't get a chance to properly lift off. They made some noise on the pitch at the end.

Sounds like I've got a day out planned already