PLAU Gin and Beer house in Preston

Had a fabulous night great food

First time visit yesterday with a couple of old work mates and friends. Enjoyed the craft beers, tapas and atmosphere. Service excellent. Will return

Not sure I can articulate just how blown away I am by the service from your bartender tonight. After buying 2 espresso martinis for myself and my daughter I was a bit perturbed that one glass looked much larger than the other. To my husband’s horror I went back up to the bar to query it, expecting at best to be brushed off. Apparently though, a question from a customer who might not be happy with a product is something that is taken very seriously by this gentleman (tattooed with dark hair). Firstly he apologised that we’d not received the same glass as 2 the same hadn’t been available. Then he explained the volume differences of each glass. Then he put out 4 different glasses on the bar and carefully explained how each held the same amount of liquid - not in a patronising way mind, but in a way that showed he was really very determined that I understood that consistent service was important to the bar. I explained that I was really happy he’d taken the time to demonstrate this (it being Saturday night and the bar being busy) and he asked me whether I would like a new drink in the larger looking glass. I said no because I could see they were the same size and he asked me about four more times if I would like another. I said no and thanked him for being so lovely and sat down! Well blow me away but doesn’t he come over 15 minutes later when we weren’t even thinking about it, with another espresso martini and an explanation that customers are very important to him so he just wanted to make doubly sure we were happy. This was above and beyond. I work in a premium service business and we call this ‘unreasonable hospitality’. You rarely experience it - someone going out of their way to make sure you enjoy the experience, but to Plau and your staff member that went completely out of your way tonight, can I just say you absolutely nailed it and I’ll definitely be spreading the word. Thank you

Gorgeous! What a stunning venue with four floors all with different vibes in each. The food was top class and the staff were awesome

Fabulous venue from the vault to the restaurant. Food and drinks both top quality without being prohibitively expensive - friendly helpful staff too

Fantastic bar. Really good atmosphere. Great building with bags of history inside. Brilliant choice of beers and cocktails and good on price too. The pumpkin spiced expresso Martini was unreal 😋

Four years ago I reviewed the Plau and was not impressed. I revisited recently and it was much better. The beer choice was good, the bar man made a recommendation which proved to be a great beer. We were a little early to go downstairs so will have to visit again. Oh and it is dog friendly.

Love coming here! One of our favourites. The bar manager is really chatty and welcoming, the other staff very friendly. Haven’t eaten here yet, we have only been for drinks. The building is beautiful and well worth a bit of exploring! Downstairs is a feature in itself with the well and original curved brick walls. The outdoor terrace upstairs is small but a great place to sit on a nice day. Always a great atmosphere whether you go for one or a few.

Terrible service. 3 bar staff who somehow took so long to serve the 4 people in front of us that we gave up after 15 mins and went elsewhere.

This is a gem of a find. We dropped into the upstairs tapas. Lovely service, gorgeous food and delicious sangria.

Not my kind of thing but I am 57 so would say younger generation would love this place

Food was lovely, the guy that showed us up to the terrace had lovely customer service but the girl who was looking after tables upstairs didn't ask if we wanted more drinks or attended to us at all after the intial order was taken. Not sure if she was new and needed to gain confidence

Great food in fino tapas, good evening drinks in both

Visited Plau Gin & Beer House, Preston for a meal in April 2024. Excellent food and service. Quite noisy, as it was busy, and obviously popular bar downstairs and dining room upstairs.

Very cool and quirky bar in Preston, has a vault, bar area, restaurant and roof terrace.

Ended up in Plau tonight on an impromptu night out. Staff gave us a history of this unique building and lead us to the hidden cellar beneath the bar. Loads of atmosphere and an exceptional range of cocktails and local craft ales. You must try this place!!

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.

Fabulous cocktails and attentive knowledgeable bar staff. Love the spin on old classics.

Popped in with friends for early tea. Cannot fault the service - very friendly and extremely quick. The place is absolutely stunning, with nooks and crannies, little rooms here, steps to different levels there and fantastic lighting. What a lovely gem of a place. We enjoyed our food - no doubt, but it was all quite expensive for what we had and I would have liked some more healthy side options on the menu as spending the best part of £7 for a salad tapas option seemed a tad over the top. We paid £31 each and we each had 3 tapas, one to share between us and a zero alcohol drink each. But, it didn't put me off and the place itself is somewhere I want to revisit.

Food was well received although the service was definitely lacking in both speed and delivery.

A friend had told us about 'this pub with a well' she'd been to in Preston, so we decided to find it when next in town. Quick search on google and it came up with 'Plau' so we followed the directions to a part of Preston we would never normally venture into. The place certainly looks inviting from outside but once inside, we were greeted with a friendly smile at the first of a few bars inside. The rooms inter connect across various levels and going upstairs and then along and downstairs, we found a very nice room were the well is situated although sadly couldn't see a thing through the glass cover. This room is lovely, very nicely lit and with it's own bar serving beers and shorts but not wine, so another walk was needed for my wife. I settled down with a pint of a pale ale, nice but not really to my taste, should have bought half pints. Draughty room so not as cosy as it looks. We'll certainly visit again, would be a great place to go with friends, perhaps sit in the 'middle' area though

Good place to visit with friends

Delicious food, excellent real ales, and stunning interior.

What a lovely find on a Sunday morning, welcomed in to a lovely table in the window . Beautiful bar , insence burning just a lovely cool vibe …. Cocktails….. paloma was actually one of the best ive had and it was lovely that the bar man ( mixologist) checked in to actually see if we enjoyed our cocktails … great to see someone so enthusiastic about his work … loved it , will deffo return and recommend ❤️

Good place for a beer and bar lunch. 9 beers available when we were in. Good food to be had at a reasonable price. There is also a fantastic cellar pop up bar from Rivington Brewing. The wow venue matches the wow beers.

Popped in for a drink and tapas for a post Christmas family celebration. Wonderful food and service. Will definitely be returning.

Great selection of drinks, great atmosphere

Lovely building and great staff

Worst service ever, maybe invest in more staff

Booked in Fino months ago, table crammed into the middle of the floor.asked to be moved but head waiter declined and really rude.food average and expensive, will not be going back.

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.

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.

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.

Remarkable restoration of this unusual building...check the well out !

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

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.

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.

Daniel is an absolute star. Awesome Espresso Martinis. Thanks mate!!

Nice bar, only 1 real ale which was on its last legs

Posted lunchtime tapas menu very good only second time I've had tapas

Didn't have food but lovely bar and quirky in the vaults, drinks were great

Lovely building & interior design, It looks fabulous all through. All in all Only slightly above average food though (we tried Alioli potato's chorizo meetballs to name a few) we tried 2 dishes each. Service was pretty poor (the food arrived over a 20min period, one of our party's food arrived 5 mins after the rest of us had already finished, no idea why?) On the bill the tip was already added. Guys this always looks poor etticate/Unconfident on the pubs part. You can easily fix that. We knocked of 2 stars for that. Would we return? Not just at the moment sorry.

Beautiful spot in the heart of Preston for lovely food and a nice selection of drinks, very polite staff and gorgeous venue :) definitely recommend

I can’t comment on the food as we walked out after only five minutes due to extremely rude staff. This place is going downhill extremely fast and hopefully something can be done about it before it goes completely to pot.

I used to love coming here for a drink, what has happened to the staff, young staff that were so rude we ended up walking out, if I was the owners I’d be extremely worried, saturday afternoon and it was empty, I was shocked, but then after being on the receiving end of two bar staff, who were extremely rude, we walked out, after their patronising comments. So shocked.

The guy behind the bar was exceptional. Really attentive and happy to discuss the beers for sale. I can’t think of a better place for an afternoon beer or two. Thanks for having us. 8/9/2023

Quality service from Iggy, I asked for a custom drink and it was perfect. Will be back to check out the food!

Visited at 3PM on a weekday with my wife and dog. As soon as we walked in we were told quite abruptly that ‘anywhere other than the ground floor with the dog was a no go’. We sat down and waited 10 minutes for menus which did not arrive. I had to go to the bar to ask for menus and drinks. The menus arrived and after 30 minutes nobody came to take our order. I paid for the drinks and told the bartender that nobody came to take our order even when the place was empty. To be fair, he was very apologetic but I just told him we would be taking our busyness elsewhere and that the service was appalling. The beer choice isn’t even what it used to be. Plau used to be great. Great service, drinks and food. It is now a shadow of its former self. I won’t be returning and by the looks of many of the recent reviews, most other people won’t either.

Won't answer the phone? Message states memory full. Is this place still operating?

We used to love the brunch here but have turned up twice in the last month and been told they're not serving it. It's so unreliable that we've just stopped trying now. It was so good before it was taken over by Fino tapas. Such a shame as it was a lovely place and now always looks empty.

Hmm...A lovely pub which has been well and truly messed with. The decor has been lightened and a cocktail bar installed..all of which take away the previous excellent 'atmosphere'. The bar staff were disinterested and the real ale line up was supremely underwhelming. I foresee the Plau slowly going downhill and I am not at all keen on returning. Very sad 😟.

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

First time being here. I loved it.

Very disappointing and will not eat there again. One of my tapas dishes was fillet steak which I have cooked myself on many occasions and eaten in numerous restaurants. It was chewy and stringy and unlike any fillet steak I have ever had. On complaining, I was assured it was definitely fillet steak to which I replied that the chef has a unique way of cooking it!

Stunning building. Friendly staff and good selection of drinks. No wait time either even though they were busy.

My favourite bar in Preston! Fantastic building with a great ambience day and night. Had an amazing cocktail brunch! Staff attentive.Highly recommended!

Really upset to see the character from this place has gone. Tables shoved up against the main bar so you can’t sit there and the nice comfortable furniture replaced with cheaper alternatives. The wine list that was previously eclectic is now basic boring bottom of the range. Food is now average at best, tastes precooked. Such a shame a beautiful establishment has fallen into ignorant and unable hands.

A good range of beers from which to choose, served by a very friendly barman when I visited. My only criticism is that it's a little dark and lacking in atmosphere, but that won't stop me keeping it on my list of places to visit whenever I'm wobbling around Preston on an ale quest.

If ou are over certain age bring your reading classes. Menu font for bar and restaurant menus is tiny.

All I will say is… go downstairs and have a drink over the top of a well! The atmosphere is stunning. Adore this bar! A must.

Disappointed to receive an email cancelling my long awaited meal with friends.I had told them how excellent the resteraunt was. Just phoned and told it is due to staff shortages on a Wednesday. Unfortunate as my family and I have been longstanding visitors to this once great place.

Strange and quirky place with good ales

One of the best eateries in Preston..Food is always 10/10

Quirky place, abit dark but a nice atmosphere

Very disappointed with the service and food in the restaurant. Was expecting higher standards from the reviews. We booked for 8pm and they had already run out of one of the mains I wanted (lamb shoulder) The bottle of white wine took 15 mins to arrive at our table and it was warm not cooled at all. After just over another 15 mins we had to ask where the wine was! My fish skin was burnt black! I had to scrape it off it was like charcoal. The starter was disappointing also, asparagus with an overcooked fried egg on top. The dessert was the only saving grace. The table of four next to us ordered three mains that they had run out of! The manager offered no compensation or reason for why the service and food was so poor. There were only 3 tables dinning the whole time we were there. It is not fine dining. You pay £30 for 2 courses and £35 for 3 course, but then pay for the side dishes an extra £5 and they didn't match the mains very well. Just random dishes. The bar itself is amazing just a shame the restaurant doesn't match it

Taken my sister and partner out for her birthday meal I had booked 3 weeks in advanced , When we arrived was told 2 things of the menu had been sold out of a very limited menu when we reordered was told most of the menu was sold out this was 8.00pm on a Saturday day before mothers day Could of expected it day after. they should ask when booking if you would like to order what food you would like. Manager very rude Food was ok 5 tables complained that night . Need to put more veg on menu . Waitress very good, again can not believe had bad the manager behaved to us and other tables

Atmospheric old pub with quirky features. Food menu a bit small. Food when it came was better than expected from menu description.

We came to Plau on a Wednesday night and the food was sensationally good. Particular highlights were the quail starter and the pear soufflé dessert. We absolutely loved all 6 of the dishes we ordered and would encourage anyone to come here and enjoy superb food at reasonable prices.

Really pleasant sitting under the windows in the sun. Lovely old atmospheric place and very well kept beer

8 of us wanted to go for Sunday roast, we booked Plau. The Sunday menu is just roasts, £25 for 2 courses, £30 for 3. Not cheap, but delicious! Our veggie contingent loved the celeriac, the pork was amazing, the beef was more of a steak ( served rare, heads up for those who don’t like blood), fab. A chicken was brought to us due to a mix up, that looked great too. Roast spuds were crispy, Yorkshire puds huge, carrots and cabbage really tasty. Puddings were delicious too. Staff were lovely and the dining room is beautiful. I will go again, but for us it is special occasion prices.

The building itself is extremely beautiful and evocative, with a feeling of ancient history and even magic - check out the well in the basement. They really care about gin as well. But as a non-gin drinker, the vegetarian options are inadequate. Dishes are so thick with garlic that they stick to the inside of your mouth for days.

Travelled to Preston specifically on a recommendation of a friend about how good the Plau was but find it’s closed on Saturday afternoon with no note about the fact they were closed either on the Website or on the door really poor

Amazing food and beer, incredible setting.

Beautiful, historic setting for a beautiful meal. Highly recommend the hanger steak starter. I had the hake main and it was gorgeous. The gentleman serving us was the perfect waiter, attentive yet demure.

Lovely place for a quiet drink, no tvs or music, so if you are wish to ha e a catch up with friends this is the place to be. It also has a few of its very own unique charms, as when you head down to the lower level, the original well is exposed, along with the bare brickwork, and low lighting it is a very nice and different place to go for a drink.

Went here for a drink over the weekend. Spot on place! Love the underground area with the well etc,. Will be going back to try the food :)

Food was ace. Staff were brilliant. Definitely go again. Beautiful quirky building. Loved the well in the vault.

Nice town centre bar offering 4 real ales. Friendly staff and customers. I will visit again!

Food delicious and excellent service from Ella our waitress however the ambience was spoilt by a banging door to the bar area.

This has been our favourite place to eat for some time. We loved the tapas style food, all arriving at different times with some great flavours and foods. Sadly the menu has changed to something more normal. The service is still great and the food was very good but the excitement we felt when eating there has disappeared. I did ask if the old menu might return but unfortunately, it won’t be. Still a good place to eat but not the same magic.

Nice food drinks are priced as you'd expect for this kind of place, generally nice atmosphere.

Absolutely beautiful premises, anyone looking for an alternative venue with good food, interesting and well presented drinks, great service - look no further. We had a wonderful meal today at lunchtime, served by Andra, she gave us a tour of the vaults and the impressive well in the cellars. We will be back soon, ready to sample some new ales and spirits. Thank you for a wonderful experience. Please thank her personally from us, a real credit to the venue.

Magical place to spend an evening

Wodacheck, This party of my, Explosion in the pants!

A day in Preston to check out the Uni for my daughter...I expected to find somewhere to eat just to do the job. We walked into the restaurant with zero expectations. It was empty too so not a good sign. First impressions were, however, positive. We were greeted in a very welcoming way and shown to our table on the top floor. A light, airy room. All good so far. The menu looked great. The food arrived in good time. I ordered the Sunday roast. Wow! Tasty, succulent roast chicken. Crisp roasties. Perfectly cooked veg, topped with tasty gravy. All piping hot and beautifully presented. Service was friendly and efficient and the prices very reasonable. I would have happily paid more for my meal. (I have paid more for considerably worse.) Highly recommend you give this little gem a try. And I can tell you, I am hard to please.

£96 (Inc 10 % service charge) and nowt to write home about. Think we'd finished our first 2 courses - prawns, spring rolls, duck and chicken - in less than an hr.... Abit wham bam which I hate...food okish, can't say awful but not fab...

Beautiful and original place, old Geneva factory, very good service, quite attentive, the food we ordered was very delicious

Travelled to Preston to try this place, Emailed in advance to discuss mu girlfriend's food intolerance (garlic and onions), and was told that they could definitely accommodate. We called to confirm. On arrival, the staff took our drinks orders and then dragged their feet on...

Always have a good selection of craft beer on offer

Loved it. Great atmosphere. Great beer and a hidden gem. From the well in the ex gin cellar through the vast array of well kept real ales up to the roof terrace it's an experience. Well done to whomever sarted this venture and saw it through. Can't have been easy but looks like it's paying off

Ambience good, staff good however food okayish and pricey. Additionally, beer was expensive compared to others. And the bill comes with gratuity added... The staff tells us about it and also says to remove it if you want to... But it's kinda awkward to have to remove it. I think it would be best if we could voluntary add gratuity if we please not being pushed for it. Expensive experience lol.

Was recommended this place by friends, menu looked very appealing, however was some of the worst service I have experienced in a restaurant. One of our parties starters didn’t arrive at all and upon informing the waiter we hadn’t received it and would like to...

Nice bar friendly staff good range of ales lagers and cocktails

I loved it here just been with fella, I have never been and been showed twice to well which was very interesting 🤔, very nice place, I will be back soon

Selection if real ales. Nice place

A great place with lovely staff

Wonderful lunch at Plau today! Great menu, executed beautifully, very good service and a lovely ambience. Couldn’t fault anything.

The food here was so good I should really downgrade anything else I gave five stars, everything was amazing right down to the coffee

It was the first time that my daughter and I had eaten at the Plau and all the recommendations were absolutely right. The menu was interesting and different with lots of things we both would have liked to try. The food was so tasty and...