The Salutation Inn on Maid Marian Way in Nottingham City Centre is described in the NET “Discover the Route to Real Ale” guide as “An historical white two story multi-roomed building dating from around 1240 AD“. I did use to frequent this pub quite a bit on a Friday or Saturday night in my younger years. It always had a reputation for good real ale beers, and it has lots of nooks, and crannies, and small rooms inside where you can gather with a few friends to while the evening away. These days it describes itself as a “Rock n Ale” pub, I don’t come in here that often anymore, but since it was number 34 in the guide and we are slowly picking those pubs off one by one (or sometimes 5 by 6) I thought I would pop in for a pint.
I ended up selecting a pint of the Dregs bitter called “Guaranteed Sunshine” for a number of reasons, firstly I needed a little bit of sunshine in my life, secondly there was picture of the route 66 sign on the pump, and thirdly the name “Dregs”, now typically this term is associated with the dribbles left at the end of the barrel. I was hoping that was not going to be the case. In the end it was not too bad a pint, a little bit of a bitter blonde ale, crisp and light but with a tangy almost fruity slightly bitter finish. The Salutation website declares that this is “Our own ale, you won’t find this bitter sold anywhere else”. So if you are the kind of person who like to hunt down rarer beers, then this might be the place for you. If only for a drop of ‘Guaranteed Sunshine’ .
Food Wise it looked interesting they have a “MIGHTY MEATY PLATTER” to share or I suppose just for yourself which is “Fiery Wings, Baby Ribs, Pork Ribber Steak, Lamb Kebabs & Chicken Goujons. Served with Jack Daniels barbecue sauce & Spiral fries for £11.95” or if you where just feeling the love for some ribs then you could get the “Full Rack of Barbecue Pork Ribs for £10. They advise that this is “Not for the faint hearted” and to “Ask for extra napkins!”
Another thing that I had not realized even having been brought up in Nottingham was they have caves beneath the pub. On their website they give a good bit of the story starting with the snippet “The Salutation Inn has an unusually large set of caves beneath it which pre-date the existing building and are thought to have been originally excavated by the Anglo-Saxons” Intrigued? Well apparently you can visit the caves free of charge. I think I may know some overseas beer officianado’s that might relish the chance to do that on a future visit.
I think I have convinced myself of the need for a longer return trip to check out those caves and to get some food next time.
The Saluation Inn is on Maid Marian Way and is just a short walk up from the Old Market Square Tram Stop