The Faulkner – most definitely a Pub and so much more. #Review
Stephen Wundke
3rd October 2018
The residents and businesses of Hoole have jealously guarded their status as a village and not just a suburb of Chester for sometime and rightly so. Faulkner Street is a thriving hub of everything that makes up the quintessential British High St. They even fought the arrival of a Sainsbury’s Local to stop the conglomerates taking over, but in essence this one is just a much better corner shop; so that seems to have earnt its place in the line-up. You can find everything in Hoole, all run by people who own and care about what they sell – it’s sort of like a mini Taste Cheshire and that’s the way a village should be. They also have an excellent car park which when the council puts in the pay and display, will be even better as it will stop those parking in this free car park and walking to work in the city, which means no more parking problems to visit these wonderful shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes and of course to visit the Hoole flagship – The Faulkner, which is why we were there.
The Faulkner is a real pub, it has a great bar, lots of real ales as well as lagers, real, fresh cooked pub food, decent prices and the moment you walk inside it feels friendly and as though they genuinely want you to have a good time, not as somewhere you feel they are just there to make money. This feels real and it is.
We had done a review of the Faulkner before but it was some time ago. We picked up on their social media that they had a new menu and knowing Darren, the owner and his love of food, we were keen to see his autumnal twist on his food offer. It didn’t disappoint.
There was plenty to choose from on the menu and whilst we did that, we enjoyed a little “tapas selection” to excite the palette, great value with 3 for £12.50. We opted for some really nice sticky, sweet and sour BBQ Buffalo Chicken Wings with a blue cheese dip, a small bowl of homemade crisp, moist Onion Bhajis & mango chutney and some Crispy Squid with sweet chilli sauce. While we ploughed through the menu to make our choices these nibbles went down a treat and were all cooked and presented perfectly. A very nice start. It’s a clever part of this pub that all the dishes that the food are served in looks like they belong in a pub; not a pub trying to be a restaurant, like some. This place knows what it is, so few do.
Gaile asked about the Ham Hock (£7.50) on the starter menu and it was described as a deconstructed terrine, when it arrived it was on a board with a lovely pot that included inside it succulent chunks of salty ham hock, some superb pea puree and cooked peas, pickled shallots and it was served with some homemade bread and mustard butter. She described it as one of the best starters she had eaten in a long time. The blend of flavours with the salty ham and the sweet peas, with the sharp shallots was superb. This was truly innovative and excellent cooking and proper pub food. I opted for the Scallops (£9), which were cooked extremely well, just opaque and sitting on a bed of pureed cauliflower served with slivers of prosciutto and black pudding. A classic dish and extremely well executed. We were delighted with our starters and could see this was quality cooking at its best.
Our mains, were they the equal of what we had experienced so far? Would mean we were experiencing something special in a pub and when they arrived we were hopeful. My choice was Lamb Rump (£16.95), it said served pink on the menu and it was. Again, the presentation was rustic and spot on for the dish. The dauphinoise potato was sitting on spinach – a personal favourite and the baby carrot was sweet, with a pea puree that had mint run through it, a lovely touch. However, the star of the dish was the raspberry lamb jus, it just made the whole dish sing and brought everything together. The sharpness of the raspberry was inspired as it cut through the lamb and then you added to that with the sweetness of the peas and it was a most wonderful autumn mouthful of food. Top notch. Meanwhile Gaile was served the Crispy Confit Duck Leg (£16.50) and this too was packed with flavour. It was crispy, the duck that is and the whole plump blackberries that sat in the kale and blackberry sauce looked and tasted oh so nice. The accompaniment of the braised red cabbage and pear was again a sweet and sharp treat, with the warm, creamy mashed potato like a hug at the end of each mouthful. This again was cooking of the highest order.
We decided to call it quits at this stage as we were now full to bursting after our three courses but we were simply delighted with our choices. The Faulkner is an outstanding pub, has been for some time. It does the village of Hoole proud in every way. When I started Taste Cheshire many years ago the definition of those places I wanted to include was “if we were on holidays where would we like to find that was off the beaten track” Well Hoole isn’t so much off the beaten track but if I was staying in Cheshire in a hotel or on holidays I would like someone to tell me about the Faulkner because it would make my stay. The Faulkner is very, very good everyone and its time you paid it a visit. Darren and his team should be very proud.
Ratings:
Service 10/10 Ambience and Setting 9/10 Food 9/10 Value for Money 9/10 Total Score: 37/40
Private: The Faulkner Pub, Bar and Restaurant
48 Faulkner Street, Hoole, Chester, CH2 3BE
The Faulkner is the must visit pub in Chester for those looking for great restaurant standard food, cask marque recognised ales & a fabulous wine list, in modern cosy surroundings
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