The Parkers Arms

I’ve wanted to visit The Parkers Arms after seeing so many positive comments on Twitter and food blogs — every single comment I saw was positive. It does however take about an hour to drive there from Manchester (as it’s near Clitheroe), however all in all it was definitely worth the journey and I’m looking forward to go back in an evening to see more of their «restaurant» meals. Over the past year they’ve won Pub Restaurant Chef of the Year and have been voted into The 50 Pub Restaurants in the UK. If anyone does decide to go, send them a tweet beforehand and you’ll receive some complimentary «Tweet Treats»
Tweet Treats — Potato skins, pork cracking, crackers, cheese sticks and potato puffs with homemade chutney and aioli — I’d have happily eaten more of anything on here, especially the potato puffs and the chutney ⁸⁄₁₀
Rabbit and Ham Terrine with Piccalilli — this was a great terrine with really meaty flavours punctuated by the tartness of the piccalilli. The bread it came with was very good as well (homemade, as is everything they serve) — for £5.50 it was a bargain as it was a huge portion ⁸⁄₁₀
Sunday Roast — Pork — Unfortunately they only had pork on the menu and I’d have preferred beef but it made a nice change for a Sunday Roast — good quality meat (from within a few miles of the pub) with excellent roast potatoes and well-​cooked veg. I’d have liked a bit more crisp on the pork fat though 7.5÷10
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake — Wow, as silly as it sounds I didn’t expect this to taste as peanutty and chocolately as it did. Very rich and I struggled to finish it — it’s an award winning dessert but I’d have preferred a bit less peanut butter 7.5÷10

Twitter buzz, personal recommendations, a day out in the county with amazing weather — and ultimately a bit of meh! and disappointment.
So much has been said about the Parkers that it’s been on our «to-​do» list for a long time and with a day off and the sun shining we drove the 90 minutes there from South Manchester. Ok so the drive up there was amazing (after getting off the M60), with the scenery stunning and lovely country roads being a fitting antidote to city life. As we pulled up to the Parkers it was exactly how I thought it would be — charming and countryfied.
First off I have to say that I really enjoyed the hospitality and the service was excellent. It was just the food that really let this place down. We tried to go for the sharing platter’s of local gourmet delights, only to be told that the vast majority of it was out of stock and they only have it in on certain days when they think they’ll be busier. OH… Disappointment no 1!
After that I ended up ordering the fish and chips (£11). Basically the chips were really good and the fish was one of the worst I’ve ever eaten. The fish was basically just all batter with nothing inside — and alongside the chips was a bowl of tasteless, pale looking mushy peas. Basically the whole plate looked anaemic. My wife also had the skirt steak (£16.50) which she didn’t think was the best.
We did have the black pudding sausage rolls for a starter which were very tasty and they give you a few free nibbles if you book through and then contact them on Twitter in advance and these were probably the highlights of the meal.
So yeah quite a shame and although we had a fun day out, the food just wasn’t anything to get excited about when driving a 3 hour round trip so I doubt we’ll make the effort again.

Fab
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