A cold, snowy evening and access to a rental car meant a drive out into the Cheshire village of Mobberley for a warming pub meal by a roaring fire.
The Bull’s Head was unbeknown to me, but came highly recommended and did indeed have two roaring fires blazing – a pre-requisite when snow drifts abound.
The menu is fairly standard pub grub with a few unique exceptions. As our intrigue was larger than our appetites, we chose to share a starter of the crispy squid with lemon mayonnaise.
I usually shy away from squid as much as possible due to the inevitable chewiness that often comes with British restaurant ‘calamari’, but I was buoyed by a recent delicious starter of the husband’s that I envied at the Inn at Whitewell, which spurred me to create a new resolution.
Unfortunately, this squid was on the chewy side, although the batter was super-light. There actually wasn’t any of the advertised lemon mayonnaise – only a perfectly decent tartare sauce – but as pub nibbles go, it wasn’t a bad start.
I opted for the ale-battered haddock with chips and minted ‘not-so-mushy’ peas (their words, not mine). I know, I know – I can almost hear the groans about how I seemingly always order fish and chips, but dammit, I love fish and chips and I won’t apologise. Haters be damned.
Anyways, my second fried portion of seafood did not disappoint. The fish was perfectly cooked and again, the batter was light and completely non-greasy. The peas were nicely minted and still had a bit of a bite to them (so I won’t be calling trading standards over their description anytime soon). The only ‘meh’ of the dish was the chips; they were fairly plain and, although not bad, they just didn’t blow my socks off.
Which was a shame, as my husband had ordered a side dish of them to accompany his (already potato-laden) main meal. The side came with a bloody mary ketchup which definitely had a unique flavour, but was a little unnecessary – regular tomato sauce or a homemade mayonnaise would have worked equally as well.
His main course was on the other end of the spectrum to the chips. It was the lentil and carrot cottage pie and was rich and decadent, even in its meat-free state. The ragu was deeply flavoured and would have likely satisfied even a hearty beef chief. Garlic buttered greens were a nice touch on the side, too.
Dessert was by far the best part of the meal. It was the Irish whiskey sticky toffee pudding and although it was more cake-like in texture than pudding (lighter and less dense) it was in no way less hearty than Cartmel’s finest. I’d liken it to a parkin in both taste and texture, with chewy pieces of date studded throughout.
The ice cream was crammed with honeycomb, which managed to distract us from the fact that you couldn’t really taste the advertised whiskey in either the sauce or the cake. Nevertheless, it was our pleasure to completely lick the plate clean.
The verdict? This is a cosy, welcoming village pub with roaring fires, making it the perfect place to take visiting foreigners who imagine every British pub to be like that. The extensive whiskey selection (and accompanying dog-friendly snug) make it a great place for lovers of a wee dram and you can tell that the owners and chefs here are really trying to offer something comforting.
- Mill Lane, Mobberley, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 7HX
- Food is served all day every day, from 12pm onwards
Very nice review, thoroughly enjoyed it.