The Greyhound review

The Greyhound on Friar Gate, once an unused pub for many years, was given a new lease of life by the Derby Brewing Company (DBC).

I am a huge fan of the DBC, mainly because of its excellent track record in restoring previously closed pubs and bringing them back to life.

The DBC has also done the same with The Tap, the Queen’s Head in Little Eaton, and most recently, the Kedleston Hotel as the Kedleston Country House.

The Greyhound has been recently re-launched as a smoke & craft house with new smokehouse & pizza menus.

The smokehouse menu features various meaty favourites, including ribs, lamb shank and chicken.

I decided to go for the half-smoked chicken, which came with a BBQ beer sauce.

The smokehouse dishes all include sides (either 2 normal sides or 1 prime side). Being a fussy eater, I was normally able to have 2 sides of seasoned fries (there is nothing wrong with that, surely, and I did fancy fries regardless). I did opt for dessert in the end—just plain clotted cream ice cream for me.

As well as the smokehouse menu, I decided to try out one of the new craft beers that Derby Brewing Company have brought out, suitably named ‘Crafted’. I opted for the Rock Python, a crisp and refreshing German pilsner that certainly hit the spot for me on what was a warm summer evening and made a refreshing change from the real ales that I usually go for. Other ‘Crafted’ beers available include an IPA beer and a porter. If the crafted beers are not of your liking, then there is the usual array of other drinks available, including real ales (both Derby Brewing ales and guest ales), lagers, wines, spirits, whiskeys and soft drinks.

I mentioned the pizza menu, which I’ll look to try out in the future. There are plenty of rather tempting pizzas to choose from here, including BBQ Chicken, Pulled Pork, Jamaican, and various vegetarian pizzas.

The overall verdict of my meal at The Greyhound is very positive. The food was tasty and, on this particular occasion, served very fast – within 15 minutes (it was a midweek visit, though). The craft beer was refreshing, and the staff were very friendly and attentive.

I have plenty of reasons to return to The Greyhound for another meal out soon.

A recent crowdfunding campaign will lead to several more exciting developments, including the opening of a fifth DBC venue and further development of existing venues.