The Old Bank, Grantham

Quite a splendid late Victorian ex-bank building however inside is a very large single space with raised areas to front and in a back corner. The long L shaped counter takes up the centre left while the outer walls have semi booth banquettes. Low and high tables take up the middle, each end has a pool table and of course there’s a few screens and machines. There’s a beer garden at the rear but I didn’t check it out due to weather. Much the same as Strongers found the previous month, no beers or ciders on the six pulls except a rather sad London Pride. The ciders remained in the fridge. With Paddy’s day coming up there was a fair bit of Guinness tat on display. It also took an age to get served not due to being busy, it wasn’t, just bar staff MIA.

The Old Bank is a massive open plan high street boozer with an L-shaped serving counter up the left that supports standard and premium keg alongside Brixton Lager and six hand pumps. Two were unused and different flavours of Lilley’s cider were on three which left London Pride as the lone cask option. The few people in watching Portsmouth v Millwall on the multiple screens were all on lager so I decided to have half a fizz from the two members of staff who were mostly absent doing chores for the duration of my stay. Unfortunately neither of them had turned the music off so the sound from the football on the televisions was competing with the modern chart music from the speakers. There is a raised area at the front with a pool table and two dartboards, but the rest of the pub is standing room and seating. Although there is a photo booth and a DJ booth, I bet it’s hellish in here at the weekend. I’ll not be revisiting.

Official site of The Old Bank - www.greatukpubs.co.uk

Official site of The Old Bank - www.greatukpubs.co.uk

A large open-plan pub in a former bank, this is not really my sort of pub any more than it would have been Real Ale Ray's (see review below). Its saving grace is the ale selection, with Pheasantry PA, Springhead Roaring Meg and Batemans Yella Belly available at the time of our visit, priced below £3 a pint. There was also a real cider on hand pump. Not the sort of place I'd want to stop in for long, and if there hadn't been an interesting beer or two on, I'd have had no hesitation in turning round and walking out. Date of visit: 1st July 2015