Waterside, Nottingham

Soutbank Bar is now called Waterside and is a square high ceilinged bar with a serving counter along the right wall that faces open plan seating that is broken up by a couple of central supporting pillars that are joined by a decorative screen. A raised area in the front windows houses a pool table and dartboard, and televisions throughout can show Sky Sports, although Wimbledon tennis was on during my recent Wednesday afternoon visit. There is a conservatory on the left-hand side of the building that leads to a patio that has views across a back lane to the River Trent. Premium and craft keg were available alongside four hand pumps that were drawing Blue Monkey’s BG Sips and Purity’s Mad Goose. The London Pride was off and the forth pump was unused. Food is available, in fact there was a strong smell of calamari and lemon. The mains are priced around £13. The service was a bit haphazard, and it wasn’t really that busy so I’d hate to see it in here on a weekend, or when there is football or cricket on.

Boasting an ideal location on the banks of the Trent, practically next door to Nottingham Forest's City Ground, the Southbank Bar is a modern, single room, sports bar. The interior sees an island servery located towards the rear of the room which has wooden flooring throughout and a surprisingly plain colour scheme of white tiles and off-white paintwork. A few framed sporting items along one wall representing football, rugby, cricket and boxing break things up a bit, but the main visual distraction is provided by the numerous TV screens throughout the pub which were all showing a Premier League fixture on my visit. Some nice booths have been formed along the right hand wall, each with padded banquettes and their own TV screen inside, but the rest of the pub seems to be filled with standard tables and chairs, with the exception of a few high tables and stools along the front and left hand side windows. A small raised area near the front door was cordoned off during my visit and seems to act as a stage for live music acts. A large outdoor patio on the river side of the pub gives some pretty good views and has a decent amount of seating. The pub was absolutely packed when I turned up prior to a match at the City Ground, but there were plenty of well drilled staff behind the bar making sure orders were despatched pretty efficiently. Three beers from the Navigation Brewery, which is almost visible on the other side of the river, were available during my stay - Pale, Traditional and Columbus - alongside a rather uninspiring guest of Fullers London Pride. The Columbus was a very pleasant pint that seemed to pack a bit of a punch. This was a bit of a chaotic visit that didn't do the pub great justice, but it seems to be a well run operation with some decent beer and an ideal spot for sports fans to gather. Another solid pub from the Great Northern Inns people and I'm sure I'll make use of this in seasons to come.

The Southbank is next to the river Trent and the closest pub to Nottingham Forests city ground. This is a one room pub with an island bar in the middle there is a raised seating area at the front of the pub which is ideal for watching the traffic come over trent bridge,the rest of the pub is on one level and the seating is quite comfortabe. There are three real ales on here with a beer from Mallard on permanently and there is also a Nottingham brewery beer on quite often the other pump always has London Pride on. This is a sports pub with lots of srceens and TVs around the room which are always showing sport. We really enjoy coming in here for a drink as it is nice and relaxing in the afternoon. Dont be put off by the look of this pub this pub is comfy sells good beer and if going to watch a match at Forest dont be put off if it looks busy you will get served very quickly here.