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The Fat Cat, Colchester
Colchester
CO3 3BZ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Fat Cat
Was looking forward to this one, but was disappointed. Oddly sterile inside, scrubbed wood and not much in the way of homeliness or character bar a few metal signs and a couple of framed prints. A plethora of undressed pumps at the bar, it transpired that via a jumbo blackboard that there were just three cask on via stillage in the cold room – there were more on at Spoons! My half of Colchester Jack Spitty was 100% stillage, a classic flat NBSS 2.5 and the barmaid tried to charge me for a pint. Unimpressed. I don’t understand how the three in Norwich can be so good and this one be so much like a lacklustre micropub. Of course it’s GBG listed.
On 1st February 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Fat Cat
Opposite the Ale House but a more upbeat experience for which you will be charged accordingly !.It's a good looking street corner building,inside the floor boards have been severely scrubbed,the wooden furniture and tables likewise and at the front there is also a small drinking shelf.Down the corridor there are pew benches,a rear section is partially raised.There are some very good metal brewery signs on the walls,the flatscreen was off and to the side of the front room behind a glass screen was a bottle room but with stillages.
The handpumps were clipped with a Lilly's real cider,Bishop Nick's Jewel,Brentwood Blonde,Billericay Zeppelin and Elephant School My Milk Stout Brings All the Bulls to the Yard.(NBSS 4) .On ordering the barman didn't pull the pump but fetched the Milk Stout from the bottle room ,so the board listing the ales also showed Bishop Nick's Heresy which maybe also be on stillage.A decent ale range anyway.
There are community events such as Chinese meal nights,discounted pizza nights and a Locale beer festival in October indicating the team here have created lots of local interest.One not to miss on any real ale crawl around town.Beware that midweek opening may well be 3pm,it caught me out.
On 29th September 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Fat Cat
Nicely done alehouse, altered at some stage to leave a 'L'-shaped bar and two further seating areas (with the one leading to the toilets located up a couple of steps at the back). All as traditional as one might expect, although the six handpumps are a distraction (at least for most of the time) since beers are generally served on gravity from the cool-room stillages. Eight interesting cask ales were available when I visited, with the Bishop Nick Brewery's Heresy (£3.70) being in fine form.
On 2nd January 2020
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Fat Cat
Previously The Royal, The Fat Cat (the sign hanging outside is annotated 'Free Mouse') has matured into an excellent local pub with 8 ales on gravity feed. It has the feel of a cross between a micro and a traditional town local. There is a good bar menu and they run regular curry nights as well as a take-away curry service. The staff are dedicated and hardworking, but maybe not as welcoming as they could be. The locals were very much more welcoming, friendly and chatty. The décor is basic: bare brick, bare floorboards, minimal clutter on the walls and plain paint on what wood panneling remains. The building has been extended to the rear and now occupies almost the whole plot, leaving a tiny shred of garden as an outside terrace. The extension isn't terribly sympathetic to the original Victorian building – anachronistic beams, for example – but that doesn't detract from the pub's operation. The from bar is mainly for vertical drinkers though there are a few bar stools for the less steady, while the back bar in the extension has tables and pew seating. An outstanding pub which makes an essential addition to a crawl and one I shall certainly visit next time I'm in the area.
On 26th June 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3284 recommendations about 3249 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Fat Cat
I popped in here prior to AFC Bournemouth's Friday evening match against Colchester (partly because there is a bus to the stadium that leaves from outside) and had high expectations for my first visit to a Fat Cat pub.
The interior is L-shaped, with a few seats at the front, a relatively narrow strip down the side, and a more open area with additional seating to the rear. The walls were wood panelled and there wasn't really a lot of interest on display, which left it feeling a bit cold and impersonal. The staff were pretty friendly and I got chatting to some of the locals who seemed like a decent bunch, but I got the impression that it was only the football crowd generating any kind of atmosphere and that once the match-day bus departed, the pub would be a bit lifeless.
There were 5 ales on hand pull, with a sixth pump displaying a turned clip. Crouch Vale Brewer's Gold, Woodfordes Wherry, Sharp's Doom Bar, Nethergate Sweeney Todd and one other were complimented by a further selection available from the tap room, but to my shame I only spotted the tap room about ten minutes before I had to leave, so I don't know how many beers were on offer from there. My Brewer's Gold was in pretty good shape and my companions enjoyed pints of a Belgian lager, the name of which I neglected to record, with Leffe also available on tap.
This has the makings of a great pub, but I found it was lacking in atmosphere and character. Having said that, it's clearly a real ale destination pub and for that reason alone, I'm sure this won't be the last time I visit.
On 27th January 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Fat Cat
I was looking forward to my initial visit to the Fat Cat having been somewhat overwhelmed by the ales in its Norwich namesake but my early evening Saturday visit found little more than a rack of empty barrels and reversed pump clips (5 of the 6 were unavailable). Before I had even tried to ask for a pint listed on the overhead board the barmaid read out a long list of those that were not available and of the ones that were left, there really wasn’t much choice by the standards that I was expecting. The blame was apparently down to Colchester Utd being at home (they run a shuttle bus from the pub to the ground) but since this presumably happens at least once a fortnight, I would have expected the pub to be a bit more on the ball and have sufficient supplies at the ready. On a normal day I think it’s fair to assume that the ale range would be among the best in town and I certainly had no need to criticize the quality on the single beer I did try (Wolf Golden Jackal).
The pub itself has a quite compact L shaped interior with some quite narrow drinking areas although it does seem to be a bit more spacious to the rear where there is an alcove with some pew seating and a further extension housed under a pitched roof. A small external yard won’t be of much use to anyone other than the “quick fag” customers. The front section has a window through which the tap room and its racked (empty, grrrr) barrels can be viewed. The general décor is quite plain and basic with bare floors, exposed brickwork, solid furnishings, a few nostaglic adverts and the old pub sign mounted on the wall. There was a good babble among the punters with no music and a sole silent TV showing Sky Sports News (before its recent withdrawal from Freeview).
I do get the impression that I caught them on a bad day at the office and I would expect my rating to vastly improve on a return visit but for now, it must rank as a bit of a disappointment.
On 16th September 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thomas Sturgess left this review about The Fat Cat
Beer range unrivalled in Colchester. Great on matchdays. The Honey Ale is one of my favourite beers.
On 24th August 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 11 recommendations about 11 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nigel Sheppard left this review about The Fat Cat
This is a well run pub similar to the Fat Cat in Ipswich but not as good. There were 6 beers on when we went and 1 of them was completely lifeless. The other though were OK and the staff made up for as they were more than helpful
On 18th July 2010
- rating: 5
[User has posted 192 recommendations about 192 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
train man left this review about The Fat Cat
Bright lightwood front bar above which a blackboard showed available ales - five of six handpumps Sat pm, and seven of the originally listed eleven from the tap room; I don't have all details but when the choice is reduced and still stretches to 12 beers, it's gotta be good. I know they had Brewers Gold & Hophead and, I agree with GDS, the couple of FatCat beers I tried were really tasty too. A plain looking pub, too plain according to my fellow crawlers, but I didn't mind the simplicity of the whiteboarded walls & ceilings in the front, contrasting with the green wall housing the windows to the tap room stills, and there was a small plasma showing the rugby above a decorative fireplace. Around the bar to the right is a more shadowy section with some serious beer tasting going on, beyond this a small tiled area leading to impressively spotless loos, and a tiny outside corridor for smokers. Come on FatCat, we need you to open an outlet in SE London.
On 9th March 2008
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 412 recommendations about 411 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Fat Cat
Just re opened as The Fat Cat,the sister pub to the one in Ipswich.Up to 15 real ales on tap.At the moment it lacks atmosphere but this should get better as time goes by and it gets established.
On 28th September 2006
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]