Bar Lounge – The Dr Who of Hospitality #Review

Stephen Wundke
25th May 2018

In the 1990’s the pub scene in Chester was, well, dated would be fair, poor would be cruel but true; and boring would be unanimously agreed and then along came Bar Lounge. They were the first in Chester to take a crumbling old pub (The Axe if you are wracking your brain) and created Chester’s first dedicated bar that you actually, really, wanted to go to. It was vibrant, different and genuinely exciting. Twenty years later and with no fewer than 9 Best Bar, Gold awards, it is still the most exciting place in Chester to visit and yet again they have re-invented themselves. They are the Dr Who of the hospitality industry, never aging and chameleon like in appearance, constantly intriguing, the problem solver of the what to do in Chester.

We have come to expect that every few years Bar Lounge will refurb and spruce up, that’s a given – when you are that busy, sheer wear and tear sees to that but this time they really have cracked it – update V2018 is a belter. They have now taken the stand alone eating area and made it an integral part of the whole experience and what a difference that has made; gone the dark corners and imposing no go areas for the uninitiated, the whole place is now one classy, relaxed, top quality Pub for everyone. Not a pub as we used to know it, a 21st century, updated version but still a pub, by definition nonetheless, a place where friends gather to have great drinks in comfort and enjoy honest food with outstanding service and yes, yet again they have achieved the next version, except this time no need for any hasty downloadable updates, right first time.

Our job? (nice job I hear you say), well that’s what it was trendsetters, to help critique the new menu. Firstly I wanted to ask Jason Bligh, him of the impossible flawless features, not an ounce over weight – you know, the good looking one of the partnership, what were they trying to achieve? The simple answer was, as he put it, to move forward with the food offering in the city and for their many customers. To provide flavours and tastes that were relevant to todays eating habits and preferences. To allow people to share the flavours around the table so everyone got that immense pleasure that goes with discovering a new taste or an unctious bite that you simply cant get enough of. Big ambitions I thought, can you back it up was the question on everyone’s lips?

It should come as no surpirise, for they simply dont do failure, that the menu does exactly that, delivers big on flavour and fun. There are flavours from Korea and Malayasia from the Middle East, from Italy, Spain and of course UK classics with a modern twist as well. Our personal favourites were the Devonshire Crab with its mix of white and brown crab meat with apple, celery and lemon aoili on Sourdough; the Smoky Black Pig Gyoza, pasta parcels with smoky pork; Chargrilled Tomahawk Pork with the star being the pimento romesco and the crowd pleaser was surprisingly a superb vegetarian dish of Crispy Cauliflower with a parsley puree, toasted almonds, roast pepper and an almond cream sauce. There are 25 dishes and across the tasting session they all appeared and were presented beautifully, whether they will all make the final selection remains in the hands of the Head Chef, Ben who was, at the end of it, all smiles and rightly so.

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Barlounge all food -12
Tasting is a real job!!

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Barlounge Chef Ben -1
Ben – happy with his days work

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CH1 Bid Team and Jason

It’s another first for Chester’s leading bar and its no surprise they have pulled it off again with food that now perfectly matches the feel and look of this amazing bar. The only thing that hasnt changed in 20 years is that which makes them unique. Their dedication to staff training and customer service. If you want to know why they keep winning awards and keep at the top of their game it’s because more than anywhere else that we have ever been, they dont just understand customer service, it is their entire ethos and that works from the very top to the bottom. Well done again Bar Lounge – it’s your Bar and you just raised it again. Chester’s must go to Bar now becomes a must go to Restaurant as well.