bod, Matlock

A modern and rather trendy looking pub in the heart of Matlock, this is one of a small chain owned by the Titanic Brewery, although apart from the beer selection perhaps, this wasn’t especially obvious. Internally it consists of one large, open plan room with high ceilings, and smaller rooms to the rear and off to the right. It’s light and airy with windows and the front and back, as well as further large windows in the roof. It’s a little rustic in style, with plain wooden boards on the floor, visible cable trays on the ceiling and some areas of exposed brickwork, although there is also some embossed panelling around the top part of the walls, and a chandelier in amongst the more industrial light fittings. Seating was a mixture of high chairs and wooden benches, and there were a few bits of foliage around to soften the space somewhat. Wall fittings included a community notice board, an illuminated sign of the pub’s name and a very old black and white picture of a Boots chemist, presumably located in this building. Beers on tap were mostly their own as might be expected, and consisted of Plum Porter, Iceberg and Steerage, as well as Dunk which appears to be a collaboration with Tiny Rebel. These were joined by Abbeydale Deception, whilst a sixth pump appeared unused. There were also further keg taps on the back wall, although I did not note what these were. Overall, it seemed a decent enough spot with friendly staff, and although it didn’t have the cosy ambience that I normally look for in a pub, I thought they’d done a pretty good job of the conversion and I would happily pop back in again if in the area.

A somewhat different cafe/bar affair in a former Boots the Chemists with a rather nice 1920s frontage but sadly with a modern industrial interior. I do not share any enthusiasm for overhead ducting, but it does at least tie in with the rest of the decor (and I can't remember the last time I went in a corrugated iron toilet!). As mentioned in earlier reviews, there are separate bar and food counters with a good selection of Titanic ales and a guest, all in very good order. Not a traditional pub by any means but I wouldn't be opposed to a revisit.

I am a big fan of Titanic beers (especially the Plum Porter) so I was more than happy whilst exploring Matlock to see the Titanic Logo enticing me from across the street. On entering I initially thought it was primarily a café as the first thing that confronts you is the ordering point for food and hot drinks throughout the day. But look left and you see the small bar serving area with the handpumps and a fridge for off-sales, so hence it fits the description of a café bar which serves alcohol from 11am and coffees until evening. There are up to 6 Real Ale pumps on the front of the bar and 10 Craft taps and Titanic Gins behind the bar. For our visit the available ales were Titanic’s Iceberg and Steerage Pale ales and White Star Golden ale alongside guests of Black Sheep Best Bitter and Castle Rock Elsie Mo Golden Ale. Unfortunately, the sixth pump was reversed and had been Titanic’s Plum Porter until about 10 minutes before I entered. Fortunately, they had bottles of the Titanic Cappuccino Stout in the fridge, and I bought one of these which was kindly poured for me. As well as the main larger central room there is also two smaller rooms off this space which makes it overall a decent size. First time to visit one of these Bod set ups and I really liked the place.

Facebook page of bod - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of bod - www.facebook.com

Personally I like several of Titanic's beers, but apart from that I agree with Will (below). This is an interesting conversion, nicely decorated and busy and buzzy during our Sunday afternoon visit. They do close very early apart from at weekends though. 6 on Sunday and 7 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The beers were a similar range as when Will visited and both the beers we tried were in good nick. There's a few of these places around Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire (7 at the time of writing) and if they're all like this one we'd be happy to visit any of them.

Official site of bod matlock on the bod cafe bars website - www.bodcafebars.co.uk

Official site of bod matlock on the bod cafe bars website - www.bodcafebars.co.uk