Grosvenor Arms

Spacious place with buoyantly chatty atmosphere, impressive range of drinks, well balanced sensibly imaginative menu, good service; lovely big terrace and gardens

They dispense a very wide array of drinks here from a fine-looking bar counter, including more than 20 wines served by the glass, an impressive range of whiskies, distinctive soft drinks such as peachy and elderflower cordial and Willington Fruit Farm pressed apple juice, as well as seven real ales, with Thwaites Original and Weetwood Eastgate alongside interesting guests such as Northumberland Original, Thwaites Nutty Black and Weetwood Oast House Gold. Cream-painted areas are sectioned by big knocked-through arches and a variety of wood, quarry tile, flagstone and black and white tiled floor finishes - some good richly coloured turkey rugs look well against these natural materials. Good solid pieces of traditional furniture, plenty of interesting pictures and attractive lighting keep it all intimate enough. A big panelled library room has tall bookshelves lining one wall, and lots of substantial tables well spaced on its handsomely boarded floor. Lovely on summer evenings, the airy terracotta-floored conservatory has lots of gigantic low hanging flowering baskets and chunky pale wood garden furniture. This opens out to a large elegant suntrap terrace, and a neat lawn with picnic-sets, young trees and an old tractor. Attentive service is friendly and reliable, and they keep a good selection of board games.

Food is very good: well balanced changing menu includes something to please most tastes, and local ingredients include asparagus from a nearby farm. As well as sandwiches, there might be starters such as shropshire blue cheesecake or scallops with pressed ham hock and cauliflower purée, and a choice of light bites like mussels or steak sandwich on ciabatta or main courses including roast pork fillet with chorizo faggots, thai seafood curry, and cambozola and roast butternut squash salad. Their puddings might feature belgian waffle with ice cream and butterscotch sauce, cherry crumble tart, or raspberry and amaretti trifle. They also run special food weeks.