Can the Lord Nelson sail against the prevailing economic wind? Nottingham's gastropub future depends on it

So I've been in Nottingham five minutes when a bloke comes up to me on the street. "Excuse me, pal, you wanna buy a pair of jeans?" he says. "I just stole them from Gap." I shake my head. They're clearly not my size.

Nottingham is not exactly booming. The only restaurants that appear to be doing any real business in the city centre are those that put on two courses for £8.95 before 7pm. Even Vienna, the new, glam, high-profile opening by award-winning restaurant manager Dave Caddick and the Marco Pierre White-trained chef David Lem, is pin-droppingly quiet.

The Moleface Pub Company, however, seems to have judged the prevailing mood more astutely, opening its first gastropub, Larwood and Voce, in Trent Bridge in 2007. After walking off with three big gongs at this year's Nottingham Restaurant Awards, including Best Young Chef for 21-year-old sous chef Nichola Thompson, it says its weekly covers are up from 800 to 1,200. Now Moleface is aiming to repeat its success in Burton Joyce, a sedate village just outside the city, where the former Famous Lord Nelson has been reborn as just plain old Lord Nelson.

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It's the kind of place that those with landlord aspirations dream of running in their twilight years. You know the sort of thing: solid beams, island bar draped with chatty locals, studded leather seats, old paintings on the half-panelled walls, and a series of cosy, linked dining-rooms decked out with bare, wooden tables and chairs. Old-fashioned glass jars of nuts and sweets sit on the bar next to a stack of brown paper bags and a set of scales.

Young Nichola has been installed as head chef in the on-view kitchen, with a menu largely devised by Moleface's director/chef John Molnar. It's one of those pub-of-my-dreams menus where everything begs to be ordered, from potted chicken livers on toast to pot-roast beef rib with bashed roots, and extra large, beer-battered haddock with dripping-cooked chips and marrowfat peas. Food styling is rife, with the chips tucked into a paper bag, tartare sauce in a screw-top jar, and freshly baked breads piled on the kitchen counter.

A half pint o' prawn cocktail (£5.50) sets the traditional prawn cocktail and pink Marie Rose sauce on shredded lettuce in a half-pint glass mug, with three prawns hanging on the rim like budgies on a perch. All you really taste is the Marie Rose, but it's fun. Devilled kidneys on toast (£5.50) look darkly delicious, but are soft and mushy from too low a heat, and the watercress salad is gritty.

Again, the presentation is dramatic with a slow-cooked duck leg with potato cake, black pudding and a pineapple pickle (£12.50), but it's all a bit "over". The duck confit is over-cooked and tight, the potato cake is over-baked to the point of seeming deep-fried, the black pudding is over-done and crumbly.

A smallish grilled pink-bream fillet with parsnip purée and buttered cabbage (£12.95) feels like an also-ran; and a "Posh Queen of Puddings" is strangely watery underneath its meringue topping. I find the wine list is a nod too far to the credit crunch with an ordinary selection low in classy labels, although a 2000 Remoissenet Bourgogne (£23.50) is supple enough to cope with both duck and fish.

There is absolutely no need to order a side-order of chips and gravy (£2.50), except for the fact that the phrase "chips and gravy" has a hypnotically compelling effect. Cooked in beef dripping and served in an enamelled bucket with a little gravy boat nestled on top, the chips are blissfully crisp, golden and dry, with real flavour.

The Lord Nelson gets a lot of things right. It is generous, hospitable, wellrun, fairly priced and full of good ideas, bringing a sense of fun and freshness to good-value dining. It's not perfect, doing too much too far ahead of time like a nervous new bride, but that's easily fixed. The economy isn't.

13/20

Scores: 1-9 stay home and cook 10-11 needs help 12 ok 13 pleasant enough 14 good 15 very good 16 capable of greatness 17 special, can't wait to go back 18 highly honourable 19 unique and memorable 20 as good as it gets

The Lord Nelson, Chestnut Grove, Burton Joyce, Nottingham, tel: 0115 931 1800. Lunch daily; dinner Mon-Sat. Around £75 for two, including wine and service

The crunch bunch: Good-value gastropubs

The Hardwick

Old Raglan Road, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, tel: 01873 854 220

After cooking at a string of London hotspots, Stephen Terry has settled in at this gastropub, showcasing local produce. Its £16.50 two-course set lunch is a winner

Fox & Hounds

2 High Street, Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, tel: 01279 843 999

James Rix, former head chef of The Cow, brings a London gastropub feel to this reborn boozer, including a global-roaming menu with most main courses around £14

Princess Victoria

217 Uxbridge Road, London W12, tel: 020 8749 5886

Award-winning sommelier Matt Wilkin has transformed this former gin palace into a buzzy gastropub with top-notch British bistro cooking and fair prices

Read 'Eat', Terry Durack's blog, at independent.co.uk/eat