The Bread and Bitter, another one of the excellent Castle Rock pubs in Nottingham, sits up at Mapperley Top on the Woodborough Road. It is tucked away off the main road alongside the spoons pub and is located within a former bakery
I have supped a fair few pints in this pub over the years and I last wrote a blog post back in 2016 (read more here) about several meals we ate there.
Today we had the afternoon off and the plan was to spend a few hours drinking beer, eating lunch, and basically sorting out the world as we nattered away about something and nothing. Classic pub life basically and just the sort of thing a community pub like the Bread and Bitter is set up for
STARTING WITH A PINT OF BEER
I arrived first and took up residence in the front bar with a pint of Harvest Pale from Castle Rock Brewery. I know it is one of their weaker beers and I know that there are some with loads more flavour, but it is a good session beer and if you are drinking all afternoon a reliable pint and steady drink.
MAINS MENU
We perused the Mains on the Menu and as it was a Friday I picked out the Beer Battered Fish and Chips served with homemade tartar sauce and mushy peas for £11.45
Martin, true to form, went for the Homemade 6oz Burger on a brioche bun with lettuce, tomato, applewood smoked cheddar and relish, served with chips and salad for £10.95
BEER BATTERED FISH AND CHIPS
The Beer Battered Fish and Chips was a pretty decent plateful, they were busy and had warned us in advance that it would be 30 mins or so for our food. The Fish and Chips seemed a popular choice in the pub this day and we pondered if they might need to head to the Plains bar for supplies 🙂
The piece of Battered Fish was rather large and as is the way it seems these days was perched up on top of the chips. I am not that keen when they do that as it can make the chips soggy. I suppose though that there was so much to fit on the plate that they had run out of room.
The chips were good enough, more pub chips than chip shop style chips but plenty of them and enough to fill me up. To be honest I didn’t need that many as that fish was so huge 🙂
There was a fairly small pot of mushy peas to accompany the Fish and the Chips. I would have liked a bit more. That what I did get was nice and mushy, bit creamy, bit thick, but tasty enough.
I did like their homemade tartar sauce which was nice and smooth, well flavoured and good for chip dipping. Some places leave it chunky but I prefer it like this when it is well blended.
FISH AND CHIPS
The Battered Fish was a very good size, nice and thick, well coated and fried well. I liked that the batter was not soggy and was a little golden and crispy in places too.
Inside the fish flaked nicely with the fork and the flesh was moist and juicy. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cook on the fish especially for pub food. I would have been happy getting this level from my favourite chippy!
Judging by the number of people eating the Fish and Chips here I reckon that they get plenty of practice 🙂
HOMEMADE BURGER
So what about the Homemade Burger? As pub burgers go, this one looked a lot better than many. It was a thick meat patty, juicy inside and slightly pink (which not everyone likes)
It was layered simply with cheese slices, tomato slice, and condiments. So nothing to complain about there, just what you want from a classic beefburger.
I do wonder about the target audience with this plate, I reckon that it wasn’t us, as there is a lot of salad on the plate and a pot of coleslaw.
When I showed a picture afterwards to friends the main comment was that there should never be more salad than burger and chips and while I do love a nice green salad I kind of have to agree.
All in all though it was a decent burger and chips and if you like salad? well that was decent too
SPECIALS BOARD
I didn’t spot the specials board until after we had eaten and that was probably a good job because today they were offering a Full English Breakfast.
“2 Sausages, 2 Bacon, Grilled Tomato, Toast, Fried Mushroom, Fried Egg, Hash Brown & Beans + one tea or coffee for £7.95“
The thought of one of those could have easily distracted me from the Fish and Chips, it probably would have distracted both of us as you could have 2 for £14.
The possibly healthier American Turkey Burger option could have tempted too topped with Crispy Fried Onion, Ranch Dressing, American Cheese, Dry Cured Bacon & Maple Syrup’ for £10.95
I only say ‘healthier’ because of the leaner cut of meat, but I expect that the Maple syrup counters any benefit (in the best possible way)
Anyhow note to self, look for the specials board next time!
OLD BAKERY OVENS
I had never really taken the time before to look around the pub properly so I had missed seeing the old oven fronts from the original occupants Judge’s Bakery
We pondered that as they seem to back on to the kitchen area they would have made pretty cool pizza oven hatches. Even if you were really just slipping one through from the kitchen
I like the Bread and Bitter as it is a proper pub, full of community and all sorts of different people. There are different rooms, nooks and crannies where you can sit. If you want to be in the middle of the action sit in the bar, a nice quiet lunch sit in the conservatory style area at the side.
They have great beers, really well cooked pub food, some nice specials on the board and it is well worth visiting for a pint or two, perhaps an afternoon like we did, either way take a trip up to sup.
The Bread and Bitter is located at 153-155 Woodthorpe Dr, Mapperley, Nottingham, NG3 5JL
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