The Embankment on Arkwright Street just a few minutes stroll from Trent Bridge has recently been taken over by Castle Rock Brewery. As a devotee of the beers served by the Castle Rock Brewery this news was music to my ears, and salivations, or is it salutations? to my taste buds. I can remember coming in here when it was the old Boots Social club and more recently the public pub that followed on. Castle Rock Brewery took over the reigns in June 2015 and at the moment they are working on redeveloping the interior.

From conversations with some of the team there, I found out that they will be extending the bar to have 10 pumps all serving more and more excellent Castle Rock Brewery beers, and some Guests too. They are also converting the big space at the back where the snooker hall was into a restaurant. They have more detailed plans on the website where they tell us;

“The Embankment is Castle Rock’s biggest site and project yet, set over three floors with eight distinctive areas and four separate bars. Plans include the creation of the ‘Dispensary’ located in the former Boots Store 2, the ‘Basement’ sports bar, and a new beer garden. Upstairs, Jesse Boot’s office will remain as it always has, and the current function room will be enhanced to create a beautiful wedding and private event venue.”

For now though the most important thing for us is that they are still open and serving food and beer,  so on that basis we have been popping in to take sustenance and water (erm maybe I mean beer).

Over the last couple of weekends the doors were flung wide open to invite the good people of Nottingham visiting the Riverside Festival on the first weekend and then the last week they continued the warm welcome for those heading to Trent Bridge to watch the Ashes.

I spent quite a few evenings sampling the beers, sitting outside on the benches,  and enjoying the Castle Rock welcome.

Sunday Lunch – Roast Beef

On the Sunday I popped in for a planned pint of Harvest and I fancied something to eat. Even before I had really perused the menu I was sold on having a Sunday Lunch after the Barmaid told me that they had Roast Chicken or Roast Beef Dinners as well as the standard menu. Even though it was baking hot outside I found myself asking for “Beef Please!”

Now Ok to be fair it isn’t the most photogenic plate of food, but it was a good decent plateful filled with tasty and honest home cooked food. For about £5 I received a plate filled with plenty of slices of Beef in a Peppery Gravy, a pot of Cauliflower Cheese, a nicely risen Yorkshire pudding, Roast Potatoes, Roast Parsnips, Proper Carrot and Proper Cabbage. All in all it was a good find!

Some Menu Options

The menu is your classic pub menu with many of your favourite dishes on the list. After having had that pretty good Roast Dinner I am thinking that I may well pop along here to try some of the other classic options, especially as it is not more than 15 minutes walk from my pad.

Nothing on the menu was more than £6.50 which means that I can get a meal and a decent pint for under a tenner. Other things on the menu that I fancy trying are the ‘Preservation Steak Pie’ for £6.50 which was described on the menu as “Prime Beef, Slow Cooked in Preservation Ale, topped with Pastry” (as pies tend to be), and “served with Peas, Homemade Chips and Gravy”. Sounds like a solid dish.

If you just want a smaller bite you can get a plate of ‘Homemade Chips with Two Soft Fried Eggs’ for £3.50, or a Club Sandwich with Chips for £4.50, or even just a Chip Butty for £2.50. They also have a range of your standard sandwiches for a couple of quid or so, including the Bacon, Brie and Cranberry Castle Rock pub classic

The Embankment Chalkboard – Beer Options

On the beer front they are serving a mixture of Castle Rock beers on the pumps with a few guest beers. When we have been in recently they have had the Classic offering of Harvest Pale, Elsie Mo, and that rather tasty Preservation Ale. The board also give a hint of upcoming beers in the cellar. I suppose if there is one there that you fancy you need to come in and help empty one of the other barrels so that there is space for the tipple of your choice.

The Embankment can be found at 282-284 Arkwright Street just near to the Trent Bridge on the North Side (The City Side) of the river by the Meadows. You can find a map and directions on the Castle Rock Brewery website and also a little more about the history of the place too.

If you want to keep up to date with what beers are on the tap, and what events are taking place then you can also find follow them on their Twitter feed and on their Facebook page too.