The Poppy and Pint is a great community pub, situated inside the old British Legion building, right in the midst of Lady Bay. While it is primarily a Pub at heart serving Real Ales and Great Pub Food, it also acts as social hub for the local people and local groups.

I have been here multiple times and have even blogged a couple of times about the food. Most recently I stopped in early in the morning for one of their Breakfasts which they serve between 9-12 (read about that here – The Big One at The Poppy and Pint  – A Most Excellent English Breakfast)

Today though it was a Pub Lunch with the guys and an excuse for me to introduce them to one of my favourite local Castle Rock Brewery Pubs in the area.

The Poppy & Pint Specials Board was looking so good, and had so many mouth watering options listed up there in black n white, that most of us chose our meals from there without even looking at the standard daily menu.

I really like that they have as many options for the non-meat eater and they do for the devout carnivore. Apart from the need to feed the vegetarians in my group of friends, I also like that you have the option to cut a bit of meat out on occasion and still be able to order a meal that has been well thought out and considered and is not just a throwaway nod to the veggie in the room.

Fish and Chips

I had the Fish and Chips which was described on the Chalk Specials board as “Fresh Beer Battered Cod served with Mushy Peas, Chips and Tartare Sauce”.  The key item on the plate was that Battered Cod, it was a great big fillet, so big that it did not quite fit on the dish!

I liked it, but it could have done with a bit more seasoning and flavour. I wondered what beer they used for the batter? The batter was nice and light, perhaps a little bit soft, the cod was light, flaky, perhaps a little bit wet inside that coating. Maybe that was why the batter seemed slightly soggy.

There was a good portion of pub chips on the plate which was a good thing as there was a lot of fish too. The mushy peas were quite runny, kind of like a thick pea soup, they were tasty enough though and made a nice sauce for me to mop up my chips.

Overall, I enjoyed my Fish and Chips, it was a very decent plate of Pub Food and it certainly was a very decent sized portion.

Vegetarian Cottage Pie

The Vegetarian Cottage Pie looked really good when it arrived at the table. I was actually a little bit jealous as I have had the Cottage Pie here before and can testify that it is very good dish.

At first I had not realised that my mate had ordered the ‘vegetarian’ version from the Specials Board. This was the Lentil and Borlotti Bean Cottage Pie Topped with Cheddar and served with Pea and Veggie Gravy for £8.95.

It was declared to be excellent and I made a mental note to perhaps try this on another occasion. I was loving the look of that mashed potato topping with the crispy melted cheese on top of it.

Venison Casserole

The Venison Casserole looked amazing, the bowl was full of meat and mash, you certainly could not complain portion wise. Out of shot there was a pot of vegetables as well (even more food!)

The Specials board said that it was “made with Liefmans Kriek” although apparently that did not mess about with the flavour of the gravy. It was served with Creamy Mashed Potato & Today’s vegetables, which turned out to be Cabbage, Carrots and Peas. When asked how the dish was the quote was that ‘it was exactly what you expect from a Venison Casserole”

Vegetarian Burger

The Vegetarian Burger was well stacked inside that sesame seed bun. It was described on the menu as being ‘Topped with Cheese and served with chips, onion rings, coleslaw and salad garnish’

The fried onion rings were about as big as the whole burger!  This is not my dream burger but the person devouring it today said that it was pretty good 🙂

Beer Pumps

The Poppy and Pint is one of the Castle Rock Pubs so it does as you would expect have a great selection of all of their real ales on offer. It also has a lot of other guest beers as well, plenty for everyone’s tastes

The Poppy and Pint is located on Pierrepoint Road, Lady Bay, West Bridgford. You can get there via public transport by taking the Green Line 11 loop bus from the City Centre and then walking about 5 minutes.