Olivia's Townhouse, Nottingham

The Fat cat is a large city centre bar located on the busy Chapel bar just off from the busy parliament street and close to the Maid Marian way Roundabout. The bar looks very modern from the outside and has a large contemporary glass frontage. As you enter the bar is locate down the right hand side wall and stretched quite a long way down. The bar is in a very modern style with dim lights and fancy chandeliers. There are numerous high tables and chairs in the centre of the room with more traditional tables further back that are used for food during the day (of which this places does quite a lot of trade) and drinks in the evenings. The bar staff were very friendly and professional which is something I don’t usually take too much attention too but they did all deem pretty on the ball and efficient which I think is a sign of a well-run ship. This place caters more for a middle age crowd and not the youngsters which makes it a little more relaxed which I quite like and the music is not too ear destroying or offensive. Surprisingly in a place like this real ale is served and seems to be a always available choice of Doomabr and Harvest pale. Note that each pump clip is located at polar opposites of the long bar so make sure you check down the other side before ordering or you might miss one. The harvest pale was in quite a good condition and not too badly priced at £3.50 for a fancies place like this but some keg offerings like fosters and Strongbow were hovering around and above the £4 mark which is frankly a little excessive. I was pleasantly surprised with this place and although not my usual cup of tea this place was a pleasant one to enjoy late real ale that was nicely kept and reasonably priced in acceptable surroundings. Ok for a late drink.

My other half was keen to come here for a drink as we had read that the upstairs area has good views across the city, so we were a little disappointed to arrive on a Bank Holiday Sunday evening and find this area was closed. Having ordered drinks, we then took a seat near the large front windows and watched as several other groups came in and tried to go upstairs, only to get to the top and find it shut - many leaving without ordering anything. Putting this mild disappointment aside, this is a pretty underwhelming town centre bar. The interior is very modern in design with plenty of leather bench seating at the front and sofas throughout the rest of the enormous ground floor area. The lights were dimmed which gave the place a bit of a nightclub feel and music was playing at quite a loud volume, although not so loud that you couldn't maintain a conversation. Numerous TV screens were showing muted rolling news coverage and I would imagine they would do well in here if they were to show live sports, as it is well set up for big groups. It was pleasing to find a few ales on the bar, with Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Kiss Me Kate and Wytchwood Hobgoblin on offer. I was served a pint of the Harvest Pale by the world's most lethargic barman and found that it was okay but too warm for my liking. We did consider eating here and the menu certainly looked good value for money, but it seemed a little basic, so we drank up and ate elsewhere. I thought this place was missing a trick by closing a potential asset in the shape of their upstairs viewing area, but having said that, I don't think even that would be enough to attract be back here again. Whilst it's nice to see such a bar offering decent beer, I didn't think much of the place and would suggest that it is best left to those that prefer this sort of modern bar.