Friday, April 1, 2011
No. 21 The Oaklands
Visited on 31/3/11. Everybody's got a 'Hungry Horse'. This place was full of ...how can I put this ? - fat blokes. Some fat birds an' all. Situated on the opposite side of Hoole rd. to the Olive tree restaurant in the Green Bough hotel and it's 'la-di-da' exorbitantly priced 'fine dining', the Oaklands serves up a diametrically opposite gastronomic experience. And that largely means fried stuff - with the emphasis on the 'largely'. The signature dish is the '20 ring stack' - a tower of deep fried battered rings looped around a pole with dipping sauces. Even a detailed examination of the menu doesn't reveal what the 'rings' are actually made of though. Could be onion, could be, er squid. Could be (probably is) just batter. Anyhow, on to the ale - a good range including Morland Speckled Hen and Northgate bitter was on offer - all served at cellar temperature - assuming the cellar also doubles as a sauna. The clientele seemed to consist mainly of travelling labourers, hence the popularity of the mega-calorific food. A half acre flat screen TV was showing live darts. This kind of place serves a purpose I suppose. It's certainly popular. Not with us, obviously.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As a family living just across the park, we used to eat out here quite a lot. Cheap 'n' cheerful, food not too bad and generally a decent-ish pint to accompany. Bit of a beer garden out the back for the kids to let off steam.
ReplyDeleteAll that changed with the coming of the Hungry Horse. The food went right downhill and every available corner, including in the seating booths, was taken up with a TV screen blasting out footie, darts, boxing- which few of the family groups there seemed at all interested in watching.
What were they thinking? The place was fine as it was but some marketing type patently thought otherwise. They've lost our custom anyway.