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Beer of the Week (w/e 28th April 2024) with Mobyduck
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Detail Pages
The Pointing Dogs, Matlock
Matlock
DE4 3LT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Will Larter left this review about The Pointing Dogs
I quite liked it here, though I'm going to find fault with the pub anyway. I received a friendly welcome and very good service, including use of a socket to charge my phone. But the tables, on the ground floor at least, are all high, which means clambering onto the chairs for me, as my legs are not noted for their length. There were four Derby Brewing Co beers on the bar (hand pumps, I mean - there may have been some of their keg beers among the 12 I could see but I didn't look at them closely). I tried two of them: Mercia IPA and Business As Usual. Both were served too cold, which is a bit of a bugbear for me, and very often I'll give them NBSS 2.5, but I stretched a point and made them both 3, as they were flavoursome enough despite the temperature, and in the half hour I was in the pub they didn't reveal any faults that might have been intentionally hidden.
There's a mezzanine floor up some metal stairs, and the external shot from Matlock Bridge shows a rather fancy spiral staircase leading down to the riverside. I quite like the way they've used wood - the bar counter, the floor, tables and doors are all attractive - but I keep coming back to the high tables and chairs: just take 10 or 15 centimetres off every leg and I'll be back, I promise.
On 4th July 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]
ROB Camra left this review about The Pointing Dogs
A bit of a strange one this. Apparently it used to be a steakhouse, which may explain the slightly strange layout. The bar is downstairs, but there's loads of seating upstairs. It's only opened recently and is now Derby brewery's 7th pub. We tried to visit on Sunday, but the doors were already closed at ten past sexen. We called in on the Monday, early afternoon and found 4 handpumps on the bar all serving Derby beers. A friendly, blonde barmaid was working behind the bar with whom we had a bit of a chat. We quite liked it in here, so tried to call in again that evening at 9:50, only to be told by the same barmaid that they were already closed AGAIN!
It's a pleasant enough place, but I can't see it lasting that long if they're going to be randomly closed.
On 15th May 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3224 recommendations about 3135 pubs]