Rub Smokehouse & Bar | Nottingham

Ohhhhh my goodness! Prepare yourself to desperately want to visit Rub Smokehouse!

Ok - apologies for the greatly wordy post, but if you can bare reading it, you might enjoy it. I've tried to cover everything about our team trip to Rub, to give you a true insight to our visit which might help you out if you're thinking of going.

Sooo, I went to Rub in Nottingham for a pay day treat with the workies and I can't tell you how amazing the food was! It was literally the best food i've tasted for such a long time!

I wasn't expecting much at all to be honest - I expected a really meaty, manly atmosphere like when we went to Reds last year in Manchester. I did enjoy Reds, but it wasn't Grrreat food, didn't fill you up and the pulled pork wasn't greatly pulled. It was all about the atmosphere there really. I was so so glad when this felt loads more normal, no where near the manly, meaty atmosphere I expected … (you know what I mean right?!). The food was so flipping tasty I still can't get over it.

When I looked at their menu, I was trying to pick out something that seemed more 'normal' because I'm quite 'safe' with food. The thing that grabbed me was the pulled bbq chicken. That made me warm to Rub straight away because I only seem to see pulled pork everywhere which is a bit stringy and overcooked at some places, and I absolutely love pulled cooked chicken!

I am still on a diet, so I decided I'd have a salad (go me!) because looking at all of the choice of adding the main part to it, it wasn't going to be a boring salad. My only annoyance was the price.. at first anyway. You are basically paying £7.95 for some leaves, baby tomatoes, croutons, cheese and a Caesar dressing. I thought that was a lot of money just for that! You then obviously 'Rub it up' by adding your choice for the main part. I chose BBQ pulled chicken and I added sweet potato fries. I weren't sure how well a Caesar salad would go with BBQ sauce and sweet potato fries but I 100% made the right choice!

When it came, I realised why the price was high - I received a really good portion but it didn't seem so big you wouldn't attempt to eat it. To add the BBQ chicken, it was an extra £1.75 & Sweet Potato Fries were £2.00, so all together it was £11.70! When I tasted it…from my first mouthful I was actually blown away. It's odd because although it doesn't reeeeally look or sound much, a few leaves, tomato, chicken and fries - it tasted so mouth wateringly good!

The presentation was really nice. Simple, but nice. I asked for the salad to come without Caesar dressing because I don't really like it. I feared it being really dry without it thought, but what I didn't know, is the chicken came with some sort of sauce on which was amazing because it went so well with the whole dish, and prevented it from being dry. That meant I didn't have to figure out what would go with BBQ chicken as well as salad. I expected the chicken to be smothered in BBQ sauce and be really strong in flavour, but I am so glad it wasn't! It didn't taste overly bbq'y' at all. It was so subtle but so so tasty! The sweet potato fries looked a little hard but they were so so soft and 'melt in your mouth'.

I have this thing where I get full really quick but 10 minutes later, I'm really hungry again. So I got full quite quick but not stodgy full. I wanted to stop eating before I reached that point that spoilt it. I asked if I could take it away which I haven't ever done before! But it was that, or keep eating it because there was no way I was leaving it!

I let my dad try some when I got home - still gloating how amazing it was. My dad said 'oh my god, what is this place, where is this place?! I want to go'. For my dad to say that - it's a biggie!

We even had desert! That was the nice thing about taking my food home. It allowed room for desert! I don't usually have desert unless it's ice cream or something, but the main was so good I was certain a desert would be just as good. We looked at the menu & that's when we saw it! … 'The Kitchen Sink'! £24 for a sink full of ice cream, cream, flake, wafer, oeros, banana, etc etc. "What! £24!", I hear you say… this is where 5 of you come in handy! Between 5 of us, it was basically £5 each. Other deserts were £5.25 so we saw it as a good deal! It was a bit extravagant but it was pay day, 'happy thursday' & a few of us had new job roles in the team so we felt like celebrating. And actually, between 5 of you, you had a good amount of spoonfuls but definitely don't feel over full. I didn't feel like I'd indulged, but I felt like I'd got my moneys worth and enjoyed the moment!

It was quite funny when the waiter asked who's birthday it was! We just looked at each other like 'oh no ones, we're just massive fatties!' lol. Which to he replied 'Well, … 'HAPPY THURSDAY!'. He totally got what we were celebrating haha!

The other deserts sounded good too! & you even had the option to take a brownie home.

Also - I normally only like cosy places so I was wary of going somewhere 'trendy' (as always). The theme was really well put together and actually felt quite cosy! We were seated at the big table right in the middle of the restaurant which would normally freak me out (which it did a bit at first) but as soon as we sat down, I felt completely comfortable and felt like it was only our group in there with a buzz of an atmosphere around us! My only problem with this was that we were seated on a high table. I hate to be a moaning myrtle, but my back reeeally aches when sitting on stools or the floor etc. so this was a bit of a nightmare for me. I obviously couldn't change it because there were 6 of us, I didn't want to spoil it for the rest of the group and we had booked the table so I had to grin and bare it. The slight up side was that the stools were actually comfortable for stools and supported you well enough. If I booked again, I would definitely ask for normal seats - so if you have issues with big stools, that's just a watch out.

On the atmosphere, it was loud but not crazy loud that we couldn't hear each other. I think it was just right. The music was a really great mix of songs too! I love to listen to rock, Disney, pop, dub step, so it was deffo my cup of tea! & with the complete mix of songs, you're guaranteed to like something. They played 'golden oldies', Lady Gaga, All American Rejects <3! and loads more. We also didn't hear the same song played twice which can be annoying at some places.

A few of us had cocktails (I just treated myself to a coke as I'm not really a drinker and can't drink alcohol with food anyway) and they looked incredible! I mean - who has candy floss on a cocktail! It's the attention to detail that makes it even better!

Anyway - I will stop rambling on now, but seriously - if you are wanting to find somewhere new to eat,  I couldn't recommend Rub highly enough! We all really enjoyed it and I'm already hoping to go back in 2 weeks time for my birthday with my bestie! :D Although I mention the price, it really is worth the money! Especially when you think it is in the centre of Nottingham. (I live on the outskirts so I'm not completely used to city prices). The staff were very friendly, helpful and efficient at the Nottingham branch. I can't wait to go back!

If you read all of that! Woooo! Give yourself a pat on the back! Thanks a lot for reading! Here is some pics of our fab time! - Hope you enjoy...

Emmas drink - something with candy floss on.. (that's all that mattered). Apparently it was good!

Megans drink - coke float

My dinner - I WANT TO EAT MY SCREEN!

I love that it comes in basically, an oven dish!

Gabrielles Burger with extras

The Kitchen Sink - with a gigantic special candle!

The Kitchen Sink - Close up

Dig in!

Leave a comment if you have already been, and let me know what you thought! Or… just leave me a comment anyway and let me know what you think. Do you have any other restaurant recommendations? 

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