Plau Gin & Beer House

The business has 2 parts to it the Gin and beer downstairs and upstairs the restaurant Fina. A very good Spanish tapas bar. Excellent choice on the menu and the food is amazing.

Such a shame the Rivington Brewery pop up bar in the vaults does not open Monday to Wednesday; the four Cask options in the main bar is an eclectic collection and are retailing amazingly at less than £4 a pint with 10% CAMRA discount.

A lot quieter than it used to be but the beer menu is excellent and it's a very comfortable place for a drink.

(Rating as a restaurant)Having the opportunity for a couple of hours in Preston this Friday evening, we were looking for a restaurant serving vegetarian and vegan food. Google maps suggested Plau. Being described as a Gin & Beer House, we may well have skipped past the listing, but I happened to have come across the name the other day while looking at the website of Fieldwork, who seem to have done the branding and design for this establishment - and had seen photos of interesting-looking food.Externally, the venue really doesn't look at all food related but there are several storeys for dining and it's quite spacious.We were walk-ins at 6.30pm on a Friday. Luckily we were accommodated but I would probably recommend booking ahead.It's not a cheap establishment: drinks prices are relatively high for the area (paying, perhaps, for the aforementioned branding and design). Clientele were varied, but certainly the hipster type was strongly represented; I didn't feel I had quite the right type of beard.The decor is smart, dark wood, dark grey, muted gin-palace.BUT...the FOOD!The menu (apparently a new menu) contained not too many dishes, mains priced around £15 to £25, small (starter) dishes I think £7 to £9. (The precise menu isn't online yet, so I can't verify prices and dishes.) We chose one small dish and two mains.Quite a wait for food - not a bad sign. Service was attentive and friendly. Quality was top notch - probably the best food we have had in Preston.The starter - okra cooked with peanut and served with some beautiful mango chutney and garlic - was absolutely heavenly but we definitely should have gone for a starter each. Small does mean small.Our mains were two more vegan dishes.The first (koftas containing quinoa and sweet potato, served on a bed of salad containing mango, pomegranate, leaves and a light horseradish dressing) - savoury but light, satisfying.The second salt baked beetroot served on pearl barley with parsnip mash and a light slightly smokey chilli sauce - amazing: earthy but with a tang, not too salty, maybe a hint of vinegar and cinnamon were evident.Presentation good.We didn't have time for desserts this time but will leave a new review after the next visit.

Stumblen in by accident. Dont often venture that side of town.Excellent bar, superb building. Great barman. Range of beers is good.Have a wander down to the cellar area ,very interesting indeed.

Went in for a drink with friends. The bar itself is very nice and comfortable, however and this is just my experience but we were made to feel quiet unwelcome by the person serving behind the bar, the drinks order was wrong but TOLD that that was what we had ordered and then when coming to pay one of the parties cards would not connect to the terminal. This was met with eye rolls and alot of huffing and puffing from the server. It was very unprofessional for a customer service related industry. I could understand it to a point had we been rowdy but we were very polite and patient. I'm sure this probably wasn't the experience of most but for us it was a big disappointment for what was meant to be a nice bar.

A sign of a good bar is when something goes wrong and then rectified with grace and aplomb. The first ale ( Beak brewery, Sussex) was wrong so had a Lancaster brewery Blonde. Three real ales plus a real cider. Jorvic and Madge shared a Sorbetto cocktail. Decided to have a snack, a cassoulet plus gujarati spiced chips. Very good, generous portions. Lovely decor. Very cosy. Bar food downstairs. There is an upstairs dining room...Fino. Downstairs to the rear is Rivington Vaults, which seems to open late afternoon. Check interweb for opening.

This is a favourite place of my wife's. The atmosphere is wonderful and the service even better. The bartenders were attentive and skilled at making their signature cocktails. The tapas they offer are delicious. If you go, see if the basement bar is open so you can check out the well beneath. Highly recommend this establishment.

Lovely building on every single floor and room, the decor is honestly something to admire just like the staff and food.Although it can be quite busy and sometimes booked out the staff do their best to keep ontop of everything, any mistakes are rectified as soon as possible and if you order a lot of dishes it's a constant flux of food being brought to your table, each dish is well made and full of varied flavours.Honestly it's a great spot to dine and enjoy company with a partner or friends, good drinks are also available with quite a nice variety, though not many ciders there is a lot of cocktails and other drinks to enjoy.I'd definitely return.

The food, service and atmosphere all good. The only slight downside was a delay in serving coffee which was luke warm. I raised this when paying the bill which resulted in an apology and an adjustment to the bill. All told a very enjoyable evening and a thoroughly recommendable venue