Brunch / £ / 8/10

Family – Perfect for familys, babies and children the Pudding Pantry has disabled toilets with a full changing station for babies, high chairs and enough space for multiple buggies. Food selection is ideal for children with simple breakfast dishes and pancakes/waffles

Housed in a former pub, the Pudding Pantry in Beeston is the third Pudding Pantry to open in Nottingham so I went on a cold November morning to meet friends for brunch. On first entering the building I was greeted with a freezer full of ice cream in the style of an italian gelato establishment. Given it was the middle of November I ignored that completely and passed the cakes to get to the back of the large seating area. The Pudding Pantry runs baby classes through the week and was busy with lots of mums and buggies filling what would otherwise have been quite a cavernous space. It gave off the feeling it was a popular destination for people wanting good daytime food.

The menu is really large with a lot of choices, about 75% of which are sweet choices of pancakes, cakes, french toast with a few savoury options. I ordered off the brunch menu and had the welsh rarebit and a cortado (for under a tenner) and my companion ordered a pulled pork hash. The Pudding Pantry offers you a choice of different bread types which I liked as I am quite fond of sourdough (one of the options). The service was really warm and friendly with the waitress informing us the menu was being updated and the 2 options we chose were being taken off and new things added in the coming days. I hope they slim the menu down, a large menu puts me on edge as it is almost impossible to do that many dishes well. Less choice makes it easier for the diner to chose and communicates a confidence and knowledge of the customer demographic.

The food arrived and looked really tasty, the welsh rarebit came with a watercress garnish which added a nice peppery edge, I would have loved some more to cut through the richness of the cheese. The pulled pork hash had a perfectly done fried egg on the top and I immediately wished I had ordered it. That being said I enjoyed my welsh rarebit but spent too much time chatting and the last quarter went cold, the size of the portion meant I didn’t feel like I was missing out. My only whinge was the lack of any ‘bite’, a splash of worcester sauce or some wholegrain mustard would have been most welcome but there is no doubt 99% of diners would think it perfect.

As the 2 things we ordered will no longer be available soon this feels like a swan song to those dishes but I think you will be in safe hands with the Pudding Pantry if you go there for daytime food, and if you have a sweet tooth you’ll be in heaven.