Penny Lane recently opened in April located in the space that once housed the Burger restaurant Griddle and Shake on Fletcher Gate next to the Lace Market Tram Stop.

It is described as being a ‘seaside arcade bar‘ The sort of place that you might find on the coast at a beachside resort.

I popped in the week with my mate Alison to check the place out and see what they had to offer food and drink wise.

Inside there are diner booths in the window, games like air hockey at the back, one of those 2p shove penny machines and one of those funfair arcade games where you race the camels along by throwing balls into the holes (we kept well away from that).

It is a bit dimly lit, mostly illuminated from the neon lights. We sat in a booth by the windows so that we could get some light and where it was a bit quieter (sounding miserable already 🙂 )

For some inexplicable reason, I decided to order a cocktail instead of a beer. I think that I was ‘trying to join in with the spirit‘ of the place picking out the one that they were calling “99 Problems But the Beach Ain’t One” mostly because it contained Gin!

I struggled to say the full name when ordering ‘yes the 99 reasons one, the one with the gin in it’ was about as far as I was willing to fall.

Officially the menu lists the ingredients as “Pink Gin, Blackberry, Lemon, Pomegranate, Apple & Cranberry” which sounded ok to me, basically Gin with some fruits that I quite like.

99 Problems But the Beach Ain’t One

I missed the small print that said ‘garnished with Inflatable & seaside rock’, I mean WTF is going on here? It arrived after quite some time sitting in the middle of an inflatable duck! I couldn’t even get the glass out of the duck so ended up having to pick said montrosity up to drink it. The positive being that it was accompanied with a paper straw which I hope was recyclable.

To be fair it tasted quite nice, and I liked the fruitiness alongside the Gin. I am sure that it causes great amusement to serve it like this, and maybe sets the level of the tone that they are aiming for here at Penny Lane. Note to self ‘Just get a beer like you normally would next time!’

We checked out the food situation. I picked out the Chicken and Waffles, and Alison picked out the Vegan Hot Dog from the Veggie Options.

I did momentarily consider that I should have had something more in keeping with the theme like ‘Penny’s Old School Fish & Chips‘, or ‘Fat Penny’s Hot Dog’ but truth was that I really fancied some ‘Fried Chicken’

Southern Fried Chicken & Waffles

The Southern Fried Chicken & Waffles at Penny Lane was described on the menu as being “Crispy Fried Chicken, served on Belgian Waffles & drizzled with maple syrup” for £10.95

On the positive side I actually quite liked the chicken part, it was a large piece, it was enveloped with a nice crisp and crunchy coating and the meat inside was cooked well and was juicy. I was pleasantly surprised.

The actual waffle was less interesting, and I could have been happy to be honest with just the chicken but I suppose it has to be there to fulfill the name of the dish. The maple syrup was as described a drizzle, I would have loved a big old jug though to pour over it just like you get in the states, but thats’ a different audience

The Vegan Dog

The Vegan Dog at Penny Lane was described as being “Vegan Sausage, tomato sauce, fresh cress” it was served in either a ‘hearty sub’ or a ‘pretzel roll’ and came with ‘Skin on Fries’ or ‘Sweet Potato Fries’ for £9.95

This was a really good sized portion to be fair. I had a piece of the Dog and it was a decent enough hot dog. I would not have been able to discern that it was meatless and if you didn’t tell me I could not have guessed.

The sauce was a little bit spicy and I liked that. Alison said that she enjoyed this so that was a good thing. I tried a few of the sweet potato fries too, which were ok and that is saying something as usually I really don’t like them at all.

I reckon that if you were trying to match the sort of food you might find at a seaside arcade in nearby Skegvegas, Mablethorpe, or Sutton on Sea then this ‘Dog’ would have fitted right in.

I quite like the idea of Penny Lane, even though to be honest it is not quite my thing. I spent a few days recently in Skegness and so I kind of get what they are aiming for and I reckon that they should have filled the place with more of those coin push games, and I would put some of those alcoholic slushy machines in to dispense drinks from too. I like them 🙂

Penny Lane | Bar, Kitchen & Arcade is located at 9 Fletcher Gate in Nottingham. They are near the Lace Market Tram stop. You can also check them out on their Facebook Page and on their Instagram Profile