Holy smoke! (Pitcher & Piano)

Name: Slim Lee

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Product:	Pitcher & Piano
Date:	09/02/01 (853 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great scenery and interior decor

Disadvantages: Expensive drinks

Here we go … yet another bar/restaurant to open up in Nottingham in the last few years, this time in the Lace Market area. It's about one minutes walk from Hockley and a couple of minutes walk from the market square. It's also close to the Broad Marsh shopping centre and about five minutes walk from the train station.

Now there are so many places in Nottingham to choose from on anight out it gives me a headache. So what’s the deal with this one then? Why is it always packed out?

The main reason for this will be answered on arriving at the Pitcher and Piano. Even before you go inside you will start to understand the draw of this place. Some people have been known to stand outside wondering it they have come to the right place at first. Then they see the doormen and realize that it must be. Other people go strangely quiet once they are inside and stare dumbfounded all around them.

Why?

It’s a church …

Yes, you heard me right. It’s a church … but with beer!

Many of the original features are still there. I would guess that it has a listed building status of some sort so they couldn’t completely gut the inside. It still has the stained-glass windows in place. In fact, keeping a lot of these features makes the Pitcher and Piano the attraction that it is.

The Pitcher and Piano is on three floors, with the first floor one mostly taken up by the restaurant area and a private VIP room. The food is pretty good with a nice selection of dishes (including vegetarian ones), but as usual for these sorts of places it doesn’t come cheap (ranging from £7 and upwards for a main course). What you do get from eating up there is a magnificent view. Most of the interior stonework has been left intact. Don’t ask me about the VIP room, I’ve never been in and frankly have no wish to anyway.

The third floor, accessible by a winding staircase, is where you
will find the toilets. Whoever thought of this was a serious sadist. The stairs seem to wind on forever, and for most of the people who are drinking on the ground floor section it is a bit of a trek. If you weren’t feeling a little queasy from the drink then the stairs may do it too you!

The ground floor is the main seating and drinking area, with just one long bar along one side. This can get extremely busy some nights and the layout wasn't thought out too well. It’s not uncommon to find yourself queuing two or three deep at bar at the best of times on a weekend night. It can alos get quite smoky on the ground floor too.

In the middle of the ground floor is a circular seating area on a raised platform. People tend to mill around the outside of this section as it gets filled up very early on in the night. There are a few seating areas around the edges of the ground floor but the vast majority of people have to stand up.

As far as drink go it isn’t anything special, offering the standard bar/wine bar fare. They normally have lots of bottles, the usual lagers and beers on tap. They have a reasonable selection of spirits for once but these can be a bit pricey. Expect to pay the usual city centre prices around £2 per drink (or more if you hit the spirits).

The Pitcher and Piano is a hard place to judge on the five star rating system. I think I will have to plump for a three overall. This is probably a bit harsh but I go there quite a bit and the novelty of the place does wear off. Then it is just another bar, which gets crowded and charges a fortune for a few drinks. Not somewhere I can stay all night at but still good for one or two drinks.

For someone who has never been there then it is most definitely a four star just for the novelty factor. It’s one to put high on the list if you get a chance to visit Nottingham.


Address: High Pavement, Nottingham
Telephone: 0115-9586081
W
ebsite: None (as of February 2001)

Summary: