The Bull Inn at Shocklach – Taste Cheshire Review #Review

Gaile Wundke
14th January 2016

January – cold, dark and often wet, the merriment of Christmas and New Year already a distant memory, so an invitation to sample the menu at The Bull at Shocklach was just the thing to lift our spirits and lifted they most certainly were!

We visited early on a Thursday night having negotiated our way through flooded lanes, but the trip was worth it.  We arrived to a warm welcome, candles twinkling on every table and even though they were only a few diners, due to our early booking, there was still a lovely upbeat atmosphere.

We were shown to a corner table, always a bonus for me as I enjoy being able to watch the comings and goings of the whole restaurant.  We were given menus and told about the specials of the day.  The menu has something for all palates, including vegetarian options and it didn’t take us long to make our selections.  For starters we chose the Beef Koftas from the specials menu, the Tempura Battered King Prawns with Sweet Chilli Sauce and Moules Mariniere with locally sourced bread.

Shortly after placing our orders, appropriate cutlery was brought to the table and we noticed that the member of staff was wearing gloves in true silver service style.  This is not something often seen in a pub, but for reasons of hygiene, should quite possibly be adopted across the board.

Our starters arrived and were most impressive, my beef koftas were accompanied by grilled halloumi cheese, figs and a mint and yoghurt sauce, all the flavours worked really well together and I enjoyed it so much that my husband’s request to try some fell on deaf ears!  Our son chose the Tempura prawns and his face lit up as they were put in front of him, at least six large prawns, with a perfectly crisp batter, attractively presented in a little basket.  My husband’s moules were excellent, fat and juicy in a very flavoursome sauce, with a good chunk of bread to mop up the juices!  All in all, a first-rate start to our meal.

For our mains we chose the 10oz Rib eye, cooked rare, the Sea bass with Asparagus and Lemon & Parsley Hollandaise and a portion of Beef Dripping Chips and the Aberdeen Angus Steak Burger.  All three mains were once again impressive both in the way they were cooked and their presentation.  My husband said that the rib eye was the best he had had in a pub or restaurant and it was perfectly rare, just as he’d asked.  The burger was topped with crispy onion rings and accompanied with what appeared to be, home-made coleslaw.
My son said it was delicious and again one of the best he’d had.  My sea bass was beautiful and the sharpness of the lemon in the hollandaise sauce gave just the right amount of acidity to cut through the richness of the dish.  My only tiny niggle would be that there was no mention on the menu that the sea bass came with crushed potatoes and made my order of a portion of chips unnecessary.

We would have loved to have tried one of the delicious sounding desserts, but the portions at The Bull are generous and so having polished off everything on our plates, there simply wasn’t room for any more!

The people of Shocklach are very, very lucky.  The Bull as a pub is lovely, but to have a pub that can also do really good food is a rarity.  That coupled with excellent staff who seem to appear just as you need them, but leave you to enjoy your meal, make The Bull a special place that deserves to do really well.  I for one can’t wait to go back!