The Cherry Tree in Blackrod is a traditional looking English country pub, complete with picturesque thatched roof, but aside being a pub, it is also a very popular restaurant, in which a party of four of us chose to spend a special occasion. I liked that the website itself allowed us to make a reservation without any fuss, and we were sent reminders about it nearer the time. Handy!
As we walked in, a member of staff greeted us and asked if we'd like to sit at the bar whilst we waited for the rest of our party. We ordered a few drinks, and it was helpfully suggested that we could put them on the table's tab instead of paying right away. It was nice to see that ale on offer was from local business,
Black Edge Brewery. The bar area also has a lovely log burning stove, which was singing away cheerfully, and a welcome feature on a cold evening!
After our party arrived, a manager took us through to the dining room where we took our place at a table (and all exchanged looks as the chairs were a little softer than you'd have thought!), and were asked if we'd like to place a drinks order, as we were handed the menus and the specials menu by the manager, who told us that the soup of the day was sold out, but luckily they had another on offer. They also ran out of the pie of the day, and the sticky toffee pudding, which is understandable on a sunday, and with both being popular dishes!
The starter I chose was the rustic bread board, which I thoroughly enjoyed! The bread was fresh and tasty, and as I remarked to our waiter, I think the balsamic vinegar was the best I've ever had! Bravo! The rest of the party were also pleased with their choices, and looking forward to their mains.
The mains we chose included smoked haddock, roast chicken, brisket, and a burger with pancetta and Monterey Jack cheese (and very tasty crunchy fries!). The meals were tasty, but there was one hiccup... the mashed potato on the roast chicken dinner was absolutely stone cold! The mash on the brisket however was warm. So after informing a waiter, he took it away and returned a little while later with a fresh meal. Although the rest of the party had nearly finished, I think that this incident was handled well. The replacement meal wasn't simply the same meal with re-heated mash, but a completely fresh meal. This is a very good point in my book, as we all know plenty of places that would whack the meal in a microwave for 2 minutes and bring it back out again with some herbs thrown on top. Nicely done, Cherry Tree.
We ordered two desserts (I just wanted a pot of tea, and one of the party was miffed that he was missing out on sticky toffee pudding as he was looking forward to it). The desserts ordered were an orange crème brulee with chocolate chip cookies (which we found odd... creme brulee with cookies? It didn't matter, I had them with my pot of tea instead!), and bread and butter pudding, At this point we all laughed, because the size of the bread and butter pudding was comical. It was the size of a
Mr Kipling Country Slice, and as pleasant as it was (including very tasty custard...sorry... crème Anglais), it was a stingy portion for £6.95! If the dish was two of these slices, then it might have been a little fairer.
Basically, the starters and main courses were good, but the desserts could be better, especially given that The Cherry Tree is not the cheapest of restaurants. I also found it funny that my pot of tea was only half full, and so only made one-and-a-quarter cups of tea, but luckily I was so stuffed on that big tasty burger that it wasn't really a problem!
The other issue was a service issue. It was a Sunday, and so granted it was busy, so staff were very busy too, however, aside Tom (the manager), nobody told us their names, and so we didn't have one particular waiter/waitress taking care of us, we had several who checked on us, brought out the food etc, but not a "main" waiter in particular, and so we weren't introduced to anyone or given any names. This normally wouldn't be so bad, but as we didn't have one particular waiter keeping an eye on the table, it meant that nobody asked us when we'd like the bill, and after an hour of sitting at an empty table, one of our party decided to go over to the bar to ask for the bill instead, which came a few minutes later. Our meal from start to finish took just under three hours, but despite this, it was a pleasant and relaxing experience.
During this time I popped to the loo, and found it amusing that although being an older pub, there is only one cubical, no loo roll holder, and an ancient hand-dryer, they offer amenities like a chic London or New York bar. Nothing fancy or expensive, but a nice gesture nonetheless. Certainly something different to other places I've been.
As we left, Tom asked us if everything was okay. The party member who didn't get his sticky toffee pudding had a whinge (to which we all rolled our eyes), but it seems that Tom hadn't been made aware of the cold mashed potato incident, but apologised, and explained that as they don't microwave anything, the mashed potato is heated to order, and that it was a simple oversight by the kitchen, and that a wrong pan was used during preparation. This was fair enough. It was dealt with pretty quickly anyhow.
My overall thoughts are that although the food was tasty, and the venue itself very pleasant and relaxing, the menu is a little pricier than other similar restaurants I've been to in the area, and although the staff were definitely friendly and professional, service was a bit slow and inattentive.
I would possibly visit again, perhaps on a quieter day when all of the food is still available, and service would be a little quicker, but I'd probably order from the lunch menu as the price is a little more palatable.
The Cherry Tree
A6, Chorley Road,
Blackrod
Bolton
BL6 5LA
(01257) 481 234
www.cherrytreeblackrod.com
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