The Antrobus Arms – Serving Cheshire, extremely well #Review

Stephen Wundke
28th September 2018

I remembered the Antrobus Arms from my earlier cricketing days. Having arrived here in the UK, I was often taken to a number of pubs by friends who described the place we would visit as “their local”. Given that it often appeared to be a remote location I was always surprised that it was a bustling busy pub. The thing I couldn’t work out was back in the day when having a drink or two and driving a car didn’t seem to be an issue, people would regularly say to me, “You must come and have a drink at my local”, and being a sociable kind of guy I would get in to their car and we would then drive for anything up to 20 minutes, past more than a dozen places that would, geographically, all have more right to be called a “local” before we would arrive at said local pub. After a few such visits I got it. It wasn’t that the pub was local to your house it was that you were considered a local within the pub and that’s what people liked, that feeling of belonging. Back then, The Antrobus Arms was one of these places, full of locals. People from the posh end of Warrington met people from the posh end of Northwhich and they laughed, drank, had great food and did business. So, with a certain sense of nostalgia I happily returned and the reason – because the award winning people who own the George and Dragon in Holmes Chapel (a must visit) have taken it over and we wanted to try their food.

On first inspection, as we arrived it was obvious that good money had been spent wisely making this once again a very attractive Cheshire country pub. Big car park, lovely grassed beer garden, immaculately kept grounds and nicely decorated pub. When we walked in Gaile commented on how soothing the décor was and how it immediately had a lovely feel about it. She was again right (woman know about these things), it did feel welcoming and was made even more so as the Manager (we discovered he was called Martin) and his staff were again so friendly and keen to please, not just us but every person who came through the door. That they did as there was a steady stream of people who have re-discovered this place. It was a good indication that things might just be ok here.

They do a fabulous lunchtime deal of 2 courses for £9.95 and if you had seen the size of the Yorkshire puddings that came out with the roast option on the set menu you would have been amazed. We quickly started to understand that the philosophy was fresh cooked food, done well and plenty of it. Now that has to be a recipe for success in any pub. We decided to have a few dishes off the main menu just to see if this generousness was across everything. We were also pleased to see that they had a page in the menu dedicated to their local suppliers and 5+ wines by the glass. So many ticks in the right boxes for us already and we hadn’t eaten yet!!

Gaile ordered the Black Pudding Bon Bons as her starter. When it arrived, it looked great straight away, three generous golf balls sized bon bons filled with black pudding and garlic (maybe just a tad heavy on the garlic) and dipped in bread crumbs, deep fried and gorgeous, served with a beetroot and caramelised apple compote which worked extremely well. If you don’t always fancy black pudding give it a try. This is quite a mild one and it is very unctuous and very filling. I opted for the Salt and Pepper Calamari and it was terrific. All the flavours of the sea, a quality mayonnaise served with it. Cooked well, so it was soft and not rubbery and beautifully presented again.  Starters finished we were very pleased with our choices and meanwhile the Roasts just kept going past with the Yorkshires and teasing us. Food envy is a terrible thing, particularly when, as you get older your eyes can eat more than your stomach but when our mains arrived we were definitely happy.

Gaile had decided she would have another starter for her main course as two courses at lunch is a lot. The Caribbean Chicken Kebab delivered flavour in spades. Perfectly cooked chicken pieces that had been marinated in a Caribbean rub and it gave the meat a good hit of spiceyness, with pineapple, lime and a sweet chilli sauce. It was just lovely. So easy to overcook the chicken on a skewer but this had been handled extremely well by a chef who has a lovely touch. My main though, was the triumph. It was a homemade, shortcrust pastry, Beef and Ale pie and it was sensational. Cooked to perfection, pastry as short as you like, so much beef and onion and celery inside but you could genuinely taste the Tatton Ale (thanks Greg) in what was a triumph of a sauce. It came with chips and peas and a lovely jug of gravy and it was like turning back the clock. The true definition of homemade, before it was hijacked by people like Aunt Bessie etc, etc. It was Lynnes, recipe and although she has left, her recipe remains and its worth the journey just for this dish.

Having finished our mains there really wasn’t room for anything else so we settled up and waddled out to the car. As we drove home we discussed what was good about the Antrobus Arms and we came to the following conclusion. It was out in the lovely Cheshire countryside (The Hollies is just down the road), it was a nice looking place with a homely feel, the staff were very, very nice and knowledgeable and the food was great. They didn’t try to do anything too complicated, they just did everything extremely well and that’s why it was so good.

So, check it out on the map. I worked out it is right in the middle of Cheshire, which means it is only 20 minutes from everywhere and that means you can all go. Take the time and you won’t be disappointed. We loved it.

Ratings:   

Service 10/10        Ambience and Setting 9/10          Food 8/10         Value for Money 9/10              Total Score: 36/40