The Brewery Tap – Peterborough

I have been itching to get some reviews done in Peterborough for a while now. People read ‘Cambridge Foodies’ but fail to realise we cover the entirety of Cambridgeshire. Perhaps I should have named it the ‘Cambridgeshire Foodies’ but I think we can all agree that it does not have the same zing to it!

I live sandwiched between Cambridge and Peterborough, in the heart of the fens, and I have found myself coming to Peterborough more and more lately. This is mostly due to Cambridge’s hostility towards drivers and ridiculous ‘traffic calming’ initiatives which add 10 minus into my journey for no reason other than making me fed up with coming in. It’s always so easy to get in and out of Peterborough with little fuss, so I decided to pop by this bank holiday weekend to experience some of the great places the city has to offer.

The Brewery Tap is located on Westgate and I would describe it as an industrial, open-plan microbrewery. It is incredibly spacious and can easily fit hundreds of people inside. This is a venue which offers Thai food, live music, and beer made on site, so has something for everyone.

The end result of their brewing is a selection of Oakham IPA’s. There is a ‘session IPA’ at 4.2% called Oakham Citra, a ‘golden ale’ called Bishops Farewell coming at 4.6%, a ‘bitter’ called JHB at 3.8%, and a ‘blonde ale’ called Inferno coming in at 4%.

I decided to go for an Oakhams Citra as I am a big fan of sessionable easy-going beers. It tasted great and is zesty, hoppy, with a hint of citrus.

As mentioned above, the bar is open planned with lots of space. This is perfect for their live music events, especially since there is an open plan upstairs where you can look down at the band. If I had to choose I would say The Brewery Tap is quite an industrial look with a mix of traditional. Two wooden doors stole my heart which reminded me of something from the Gothic or Renaissance period. These are tucked away behind the microbrewerie but are well worth a look for anyone who admits this sort of thing.

There is a Thai restaurant which works in the pub with an extensive list of dishes. I was quite impressed with what they had to offer for a pub restaurant and saw classic dishes that should be enough to satisfy anyone.

For starters, we ordered a rib, Thai fries, and some tempura king prawns. I did not get the rib for myself but it was well received. It was a pork rib served in Thai spices. The portion for a starter was above average.

My son also had some ‘Thai chips’. I struggled to understand the difference between this and regular chips but they were very nice and a generous portion. They were slightly spiced and served with a sweet chilli dip.

We thoroughly enjoyed the tempura king prawns which were cooked in a very light and delicate batter. There were four in total and a fair size. They were presented with a wasabi mayonnaise dip.

My wife had the roast duck noodles. This is stir fried with egg, spring onions, bean sprouts, soy sauce and sesame oil. She thoroughly enjoyed her dish and for £11 was a fair price for the portions she got.

I had the ‘spicy crispy roast pork noodles’. This is flat rice noodles which gives a wonderfully thick noodle with a lovely texture. The fried pork belly was superb. The extra fat from the pork belly really made the flavour pop in the dish. This, coupled with the chillis made it as exciting as it was flavourful. Top marks!

The Brewery Tap is a unique place. I don’t really know anywhere else quite like it. It is an unusual building in all the right ways, it is spacious, open, and has a great selection of drinks. Heck, they even make their own on site with their microbrewery. This is an absolute must for anyone visiting Peterborough for the day, if not for the beer but for the Thai food.

Thanks for reading