Bell Inn, Nottingham

A terraced Georgian styled pub and eatery with a small frontage compared to neighbouring buildings and a front patio area. The façade is in white render with black paintwork, having been repainted after the lovely Hardys and Hansons frontage was considered an anachronism after Greene King swallowed it up. There is a nice entablature with a bell as centrepiece and coloured glass in the windows, but sadly, the front is now more an advertisement for the oldest pub in Nottingham. The interior has a passage entrance, with stone flag floor. There are bar rooms to both the left and the right. This is the oldest part of the pub – with the famous 1437, King Henry VI timber. Just how this means the building was a pub then is a statement worthy of Henry VI himself. Anyhow, the side rooms are great – with their own serving bars, they are in (well, the one to the right is) cream and wood panel with, white and wood beam ceiling, as well as old photos of the pub etc on the walls. The main room is at the back. The large serving bar is to the right here and the décor sees yellow and a fantastic wood panelled room, with a raised area right at the back. The ceiling is yellow and wood beam, with some sky lights. The floor is a lovely mix of wood, tiles and red carpet. Again, old photos decorate. I didn’t note a TV and there was no music at my visits. They do food and we did eat here – the food being fine. The service was friendly and there was a busy and very mixed clientele. Beer; the usual tap stuff with a mix over a few days that included GK IPA, MILD (which was so-so) Abbot, Olde Trip; Notts Brewery’s EPA and Legend, Burton Bridge Bitter and a decent Nelson’s Brewery MILD on handpull. Class really and there are always guests so you don’t end up with just Greene King. I think it is a must do, but then, so many pubs in Nottingham are. The review was from May, but was back in the other day.

Quite an interesting pub this one with its two front lounges and rear larger bar. It was like being in a couple of pubs in the same building. The rear bar was a cross between a hotel bar and a posh pub and for some reason they had a sandwich cake to purchase by the slice on the bar, which I sampled along with two of the ales, Bell Inn Bitter and Holdens Black Country Bitter. Will return.