Gamston Lock
📍 1.5 miles from The City Ground
About this Pub
Why it's great for Matchdays
On matchdays, Gamston Lock is a practical base because the kitchen runs long hours (breakfast from 7am on weekdays and from 8am at weekends, with food served into the evening), making it easy to eat before early kick-offs or after night games. It serves cask ale, with real ale on the bar including Marston’s Pedigree. There’s on-site parking for those driving to the game, and an adjacent 27-bed Marston’s Inn if you’re staying over for a fixture.
Recent Fan Reviews
Mixed experience: good carvery food, poor vegetarian main We visited for a family birthday meal. Overall, the venue seems to do well for traditional pub/carvery food: the beef was described as absolutely delicious, tender and flaky, and the roast potatoes, vegetables, red cabbage and gravy were all good. The green vegetables were nicely cooked, the red cabbage had a pleasant vinegary lift, and the roast potatoes were soft and well done. The main issue was the vegetarian offering. I chose the butternut squash pie, and unfortunately it felt like a token vegetarian option rather than a properly thought-through meal. The pie did contain some butternut squash, spinach, pumpkin seeds and a few other vegetables, but the flavour was almost entirely dominated by dry crumb, pastry and oil. It had very little vegetable flavour, very little seasoning, and essentially no meaningful protein beyond a few seeds. It was dry enough that it needed gravy to work, but then the gravy became the main flavour of the dish. To be fair, the vegetarian gravy itself was surprisingly good and had plenty of body, assuming it was indeed vegetarian gravy. The problem was the pie. It is frustrating that vegetarian food is still so often treated as pastry, breadcrumbs and a few vegetables, rather than as a balanced meal with proper flavour and protein. If someone involved in creating or approving that menu actually ate vegetarian food regularly, I suspect this dish would have been reconsidered. There was also an issue with the draught lemonade, which had an unpleasant chemical taste, though it was swapped without fuss. Dessert was mixed: one dessert order was initially wrong but corrected, the sticky toffee pudding was fine, and the crumble was reportedly a little too sweet with not quite enough crumble topping. The payment process was also slightly awkward, as we had to go to the bar to pay rather than paying at the table, which felt a bit unusual for a group meal where people were paying separately. In short: probably a decent choice for meat eaters wanting a carvery-style pub meal, but the vegetarian main needs serious attention. The rest of the meal showed the kitchen can do better; the vegetarian option just did not receive the same care.
“Rump of lamb” apparently not sure what happened to the rest of my rump , chef must of been hungry 😆 service fantastic as always seated fast looked after, food was quick wasn’t great which is quite sad tbh ordered it medium rare it was medium well absolutely 0 seasoning on anything. The only good thing on the plate was the mini pie, fresh flavoursome lovely. I avoid the roasts as Everytime I order the pork I’m missing cracking and stuffing. And the beef is 1000% not sirloin it’s a top side joint. “Why didn’t u tell us when u was here” well it’s very busy you all looked busy and I was hungry not the end of the world.
I came as a party of 10 for breakfast for my 50th at 9am. Just want to say Tracey who looked after us was very nice. The service was good and friendly. She took a group photo and brought my cake out ,very nice person . Thank you
Absolutely love The Gamston Lock! 🐾 It’s one of the best dog-friendly pubs around — the staff always make a fuss of our pup, and there’s plenty of space inside and out. The food is always spot on too — tasty, freshly cooked and good portions. it never disappoints. Great atmosphere, great service, and our dog gives it five paws up! Terry the General manager is always friendly.
We got an amazing night here. Food was delicious and the staffs are very attentive. Shout out to Tracey and Bella they were very helpful and attention to details. Will definitely comeback.