Lloyds No.1 , Nottingham

This is a large 'Spoon's bank conversion which looks pretty spectacular from the outside, but is remarkably devoid of character within. Split over two levels, the ground floor is a rather soulless room with a big square island servery towards the rear and a lot of open, empty space peppered with large marble pillars with decorative capitals. There is the usual mix of seating options, albeit mostly confined to the rear part of the room under the back windows in what is not a particularly cosy spot. A side room has floor to ceiling frosted windows with a decorative motif, bare floorboards and some mirrors on the wall, with standard tables and chairs but again not much in the way of character. Stairs to the front and rear lead up to the small first floor bar with a hand pump free servery and some decent views down into the main room. The upper level is basically a carpeted seating area with a small raised front section looking out to the flagpoles on the front balcony, plus another side room furnished exactly the same as the one below. A door in the rear left corner of the ground floor leads out to a garden area, although I didn't get around to exploring on this occasion. I counted ten handpulls across the bar with four Spoon's regulars and six guest ales. I opted for a pint of the Black Hole Cosmic, which was a bit below par but good value as you might expect at £1.99. The service was slow and the barmaid wasn't the cheeriest, although this seemed quite in keeping with the pub's general glum demeanour. I found this place very hard to warm to and though it felt like a bit of a work in progress. I found the upper floor to be marginally better but with so many good pubs in the city centre, I wouldn't venture here again unless I was looking for some cheap food.

This is a former bank, now a part of the spoon's chain, with a patio area. The interior is an L-shaped room, with a balcony level as well. It is grandiose, with a central island bar, surrounded by seating. The walls are coffee, with a red ceiling, moulded cornice and impressive Corinthian capped columns and pilasters. There is a side room, that I didn't really see. The usual silent TVs are present. The service was fine, by a gent that had a Col Sanders beard. The clientele, well, despite being the more up-market kind of Spoons, the baseball caps and trackies were present, with the pints being pulled at 11am. We just popped in here for a coffee prior to the start of a day drinking starting at the Kean's Head. I didn't have a beer, but there were about 10 ales on - over two banks of handpulls - the usual Abbot and Ruddles were there, but Magpie Brewery also featured. I would return to try the beer, but wouldn't be excited to do so!