The Midland, Matlock

Ignore what WhatPub says and other assorted social media giving their opening times, they're all wrong. Tried to call in on Monday to find it closed and a sign up saying. Sunday 12 -6 Closed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Given the recent reviews on Tripadvisor and some people we met in Matlock who were very unhappy about the rude barmaid I guess we weren't missing anything.

This is a good sized pub right next to Matlock Bath station and the River Derwent, that was doing a roaring trade on a very busy, sunny Bank Holiday afternoon. You enter into the main bar area with the servery directly in front of you and seating around three sides of it. The room is carpeted throughout and is fitted out with comfy looking upholstered banquettes with floral pattern upholstery around the perimeter, supported by a few regular chairs. The walls have been decorated with old brewery mirrors, a few traditional paintings and other such standard pub décor, whilst the whole room has been painted in a pleasant, if somewhat typical-gastropub, colour scheme. The servery has a broad, angular bar counter that juts out into the room in an awkward fashion, perhaps the result of the room being opened out from what was presumably once a two bar layout. To the rear left, there is a small conservatory space with room for four basic tables with comfy padded chairs and views out to the river. These tables were set aside for diners and were fully occupied when we arrived. The conservatory doors open out to a surprisingly large riverside terrace that was also a real suntrap on our lunchtime visit. We managed to bag a table right next to the river and the railings here run a long way back, so there are plenty of spots where you can get a good view. The pub was understaffed for a baking hot Bank Holiday afternoon, but those who were in certainly didn’t help themselves, asking customers to queue inside the pub for a table on the terrace, only to then fail to keep tabs on leavers, resulting in a long queue and lots of free tables outside. Similarly, they could’ve saved multiple trips back and forth to the garden had they given everyone in the queue a menu, but hey, what do I know…? On the bar, just the two ales to pick from – Black Sheep Bitter and Kaiser Pale. I’d never heard of the latter, so ordered a pint from the flustered waitress half expecting something sub-par but was pleased to be served a well-kept, refreshing ale that flew down in the afternoon sun. We also decided to have a bite to eat, having waited so long for a table, and thought the food was reasonable without being worth going out of your way for. This is a decent enough pub which gets bonus points for well-kept beer and a lovely location but slips up with inefficient service and large summer crowds. For a pub in a tourist hot-spot, it’s an acceptable place to divert for a quick drink and bite to eat but needs to tighten things up a bit to attract repeat customers.