Applewood Farm

Applewood Farm is a traditional style large food pub in Tyldsley. It serves classic pub grub along with some other interesting additions, and prides itself on its dessert offerings, particularly its cake and ice cream. I've heard a lot of praise for it, so decided to finally give it a try for lunch whilst I was nearby.

The first thing you notice is that this big traditional style pub is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. You drive along, and it suddenly pops up out of thin air. It has a big car park, but seems to get busy pretty quickly.

I must admit, my first impression on walking through the door wasn't positive. It was very busy, and a frantic looking female staff stood behind a large stack of dirty plates sitting on the "please wait here" podium, and then simply said "two?", before dashing off and then coming back to say "just through there on the right hand side". I would've liked to have been taken there really.

The décor is a modern interpretation of a classic pub style, and it works pretty well, remaining efficient and clean looking with bright colours and various bits of art and knick-knacks whilst retaining a traditional atmosphere. It was surprisingly busy throughout the pub for a thursday afternoon, with a bustling but pleasant feel. Once inside you realise the size of the place, with different rooms leading off the main thoroughfare, to booth seating along it. As well as the dining pub option, there is also a large carvery counter further into the pub, where you can choose a plate size for a set price, then go and check out the tasty looking carvery options. 

We ordered a couple of classics in the form of beer battered cod and chips, and steak and ale pie. The wait time for both was reasonable, and the first thing that hit us was the sheer size of the portions! The food was delicious. I loved the crispy bubbly batter, and the tartare sauce, and my partner loved the quality of the "oh god, it's half a pie!" he was tucking into.

We didn't have room for dessert, but had a good look through the huge book of desserts, puddings and ice creams, and as delicious the descriptions of the sweet treats were, we decided that we'd try their "cake-away" option, where you can take a slice of their cakes home with you to enjoy later. Knowing that their target customer would probably be full by now, but priding themselves on their desserts, this is a clever move!

When you get to the desserts counter, you can see how crazy their ice cream presentation is, bordering on American in presentation, but also very tempting! The one thing you'll notice though is the sheer size of the cakes! They're colossal!

The slices are £4+ in the menu, which might make you bawk a little until you see the sheer size of the things! We opted for the Millionaire's Cheesecake, and the Banana Chocolate Chip cake, which come in a plastic box with a small tub of cream each. Lovely. We ate them many many hours later, but enjoyed the flavour lots. The banana cake was tasty and moist with lots of flavour, and the cheesecake was tasty, but just too big. The middle layer was a solid 6 inches of pure cheesecake, meaning that you didn't get so much of the base or the top with it, which made it a little hard going. Some of the other cakes appeared similar to me, where the middle was just a bit too large unless it was in layers, but with how popular they obviously are, who am I to question?!

I loved it here, it's somewhere I'd be happy to bring my mum and dad sometime and know that they'd enjoy it, and the same with friends and colleagues. It has something for everyone. 

My partner has already stated that he wants to return there next month for his birthday! That's that then!

Applewood Farm

Astley Park Way
Chaddock Lane
Manchester
M28 1DP
(0161) 703 3611

www.farmhouseinns.co.uk/pubs/applewood-farm