I only ever drove past The Blundell Arms. It's very near where I live, so I drive past it a lot! It just looked like another pub, and not very popular, as I never saw anyone parked outside. But in recent times I noticed A-boards outside mentioning food, so after a long time of realising this, I decided to look online, and lo and behold, it's not just a pub that has "food available", but a full on food-centric pub! Hoorah!

When I drove there, I realised that the reason it looked so quiet and lacking in cars is because there's actually a sizeable car park BEHIND it, and that in turn is the entrance people tend to use to access it.

When I walked in, I was very pleasantly surprised, this pub was not only very expansive in side (perhaps not in terms of headroom in some of the older parts!) but was wonderfully traditional, with beautiful rustic beams running throughout, and many nods to its past as a court house, showing the old stone placard, and a window showing the traditional wattle and daub construction.

The other thing I noticed is that this was a very bright space. The winter sunshine truly cascades through the windows, giving a wonderfully comfortable feeling. This place had a 'good' feeling as soon as I entered. 

I was greeted by a friendly staff member who took me to a table nestled amongst the rustic beams, where I was given the menus, and had chance to also peruse the lunch menu. The lunch menu was really good value, and I'd happily order from it, but in this instance I noticed on the main menu, amongst all the delicious traditional and classic pub food offerings, and "chef's inspired dishes"  was a gourmet burger. So I opted for that!

I took the time waiting to have a look round at the rest of the place, which is where Ashleigh, the staff member, told me about the building's previous uses, and how pleasant the place looks at night with all the lights lighting up the corners of this old building. 

When my burger arrived, I was quite pleased. The presentation was simple but that's all it needed to be, as it was a big burger, and a pot of triple-cooked chips. The chips were great, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. The burger was tasty, but I wouldn't call it 'gourmet', as it was quite a standard burger, but grilled fully through rather than pink (due to health and safety demands usually), so it wasn't juicy, but was still tasty, regardless. The bacon on the burger was a bit fatty though, I had to pull strands of it off, but that's merely my personal preference. For the price, it was a good burger, and a tasty lunch. I'd certainly order it again.

After an enjoyable and filling main course, we decided to take a breather so that we could order dessert! It seemed like a shame to skip dessert after such an enjoyable meal! After mulling over the dessert menu, my partner went for the home made apple pie with custard, whilst I opted for the more intriguing "love in a cup". 

http://www.thebankcafebargrill.co.uk/

The dining room itself is a lovely open space with modern dark furniture and reclaimed church pews, with features including a large coal-burning open fireplace (amazing in the winter when accompanied by the under-tile heating!) and a baby grand piano, which is frequently played by a pianist, to accompany your meal. The windows facing water-side all open fully concertina-style allowing a semi al-fresco feel in the warmer summer months, and offering some beautiful views right the way to the Fylde coast. On a clear day, you can even see Blackpool Tower! I love the way the menu is presented as the "Daily Catch" newspaper, telling the story of how the café started and developed, along with photos, and then inside the menu is designed in a similar newspaper style. The menu offers a great variety of fish dishes as well as classic favourites, salads, hot and cold drinks, snacks, and desserts, all of which I'm happy to say are at pretty decent prices considering the quality of the offerings! The fish has a perfectly crisp batter, and lovely fresh hot chips, accompanied by a wonderful home-made tartare sauce and a wedge of lemon. The fish is presented on a gigantic fish-shaped plate, which as well as perfectly containing the very large fish offered, is a fantastically theatrical statement when it arrives.

I ordered the prime cod, which although my photo does it no justice, was colossal! There was a menu option for an 'extra large cod', which considering the size of the standard cod, must require the concertina windows to be opened to get it into the dining room, surely! As you can imagine, after this beast, I couldn't manage a dessert, but the cake cabinet at the front of the dining room only taunted me that I wouldn't be able to try what looked like some very tasty cakes! Bank Top Brewery providing the beer and wine means that if you don't quite fancy traditional chippy fare, you can still have a tasty and well prepared meal, and a pleasant evening, and equally if you wanted to simply pop in during the daytime for a slice of cake and a cup of tea, you'd get just as pleasant experience.

I'm making myself hungry simply remembering this visit. I really must visit again soon!

Curley's Dining Rooms

Wallsuches

Off Chorley New Road

Horwich

Bolton

BL6 6PP

(01204) 691 783

www.curleysdiningrooms.co.uk

The serving staff here are friendly and helpful, but for many of them it seems English is not their first language. This isn't a criticism as much as an observation, and a note that a few times we had to say things a couple of times before they understood, as we were often asked "sorry, what was that?". My only criticism might be a one off, as we asked the head waiter for our bill, but it didn't arrive, and after 15 minutes we asked another waiter about it, but as we did so, we saw the head waiter walk in, see us, and have a moment of realisation, before he dashed off to the bar to collect our bill. Everyone forgets something now and then, but as soon as he realised, he was on it!

Although there are many vegetarian dishes available, I do have to say that the Rivington's forté is their meat! All of their steaks are dry aged for 32 days hung on the bone, and all of their beef is from traditional breed cattle. My personal favourite dish here is the rare breed minute flash-steak, which is tender, juicy, and full of flavour (as were my dining companions' above dishes too!). My flash steak came a specific way, but for other meats you are asked how you want it cooked, and obviously which sauces and accompaniments you would like. Steaks cooked without a sauce get lightly drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. I personally love their chips! Big, chunky, old fashioned chips. Proper comfort food!

Herdwick lamb chops

You see the photo of the Herdwick lamb chops here on the left? I feel I must point out that when asked what he thought of them, my father-in-law, who is a very difficult man to impress, declared them "excellent!", which frankly blew the rest of us away (my mother-in-law dropped her fork!). This is an old fashioned man who would usually say something was "not bad" or at most "not bad at all!", but to declare a food 'excellent' is something we've not heard before... so that's saying something!

They offer a nice selection of after-dinner goodies, from teas and coffees to after-dinner tipples, but as beautiful as their desserts sound, I have yet only ever had their sticky toffee pudding, which is home-made and very light (not stodgy and heavy like you'd imagine) and served with vanilla icecream and butterscotch sauce (my favourite!). It's not that I don't want to try their other desserts, but I can't resist their sticky toffee pudding whenever I'm given the choice!! Frankly I should go there one day and JUST have a couple of desserts!

The Rivington Pub and Grill is superb basically, and if you've only ever been there when it was The Ridgeway, I emplore you to go along and give it a try! Maybe have one of their amazing sunday roast dinners. It's the sort of place you could go as a couple, with friends, your parents, or even the whole family. It's a good example of a traditional English dining pub done right! I look forward to my next visit.

The Rivington Pub & Grill

Station Road

Blackrod

Bolton

BL6 5JF

(01204) 696 027

www.rivingtonpubandgrill.co.uk