The Dandy Cock, Sutton-In-Ashfield

Slightly odd location a bit out of town and fairly limited opening times (3 days a week, late afternoon and evening). Nicely done quasi-micro (music) though a bit of variation on the dull green colour scheme would be nice. Interesting mish-mash of furnishings with Britannia tables, cinema seats, lampshades and Chesterfield style armchairs. Plus a smell of Mister Sheen. Plastic plants hanging from birdcage above the bar. Muted lighting and quite atmospheric. Gruff but friendly landlord. Four cask on, my Drone Valley Timaru was decent but could have done with more throughput so an NBSS 3; I plopped the glass onto their own branded beermats which was a nice touch. Cocktail menu that looked decent alongside a few ciders. A quick word about the gents which are probably the best in Nottinghamshire, replete with a mounted stag’s head and a cockerel bog roll holder. Settled nicely into this one and would pop in again. 7.5

Micropub with extremely limited opening times. Closed Monday until Thursday, it does not open until 4pm on a Friday and Saturday and 3pm on a Sunday, with early closing times too. We arrived too early on our Saturday visit and ended up walking away after trying the door and finding it locked. Another couple also tried to enter and the owner arrived to let them in. Seeing this, we returned. But he was clearly not going to let us in as well. So, we headed elsewhere. Not the best of welcomes unless you're local. We did return later to find the place very busy. There is a seating area near the window, with the bar to the back of the room. A corridor leads down to toilets and another room with seating off to the left-hand side. This contained various board games and Rubik's Cubes. 4 real ales were on - Drone Valley Bessemer, Falstaff Clarkson, Leatherbritches Scoundrel & Bradfield Farmer's Irish Dexter. Ciders were Lilley's Strawberry Cider, Pear & Raspberry Cider, Pineapple Cider, Cherries & Berries, Mango Cider, Rhubarb Cider, Lemon & Lime Cider, Cheeky Pig, Peach Cider, Apples & Pears, Woo Woo Cider, Pina Colada Cider & Raspberry Mojito Cider, Weston's Old Rosie & Abrahall's Thundering Molly. In addition to all of this, there is an extremely impressive gin selection, the likes of which I have not seen before. Despite the poor initial welcome (or lack of it) and the very limited opening hours, which presumably can't be helped, I really liked this small place. It had plenty of character, a real friendly atmosphere, decent service (once you get through the door) and a wide drinks choice to suite most palates.