The Swan at Tarporley

The Swan at Tarporley
50 High Street
Tarporley
Cheshire
CW6 0AG
Tel: 01829 733838
Fax: 01829 732932

The Swan is an imposing hotel, bar and restaurant in the center of Tarporley in Cheshire. We were attracted by the rather fine menu for lunches and dinner displayed outside. It was lunchtime and only the snack and lighter meals were available, but we were advised that these were actually substantial.

We sat down in the front bar in looking out through the impressive bay window into the main street. We had the room to ourselves for the entire lunch.

There is an a la carte dining room and further loung and dining area to the rear of the hotel.

We ordered steak sandwich for Linda, a thinly sliced prime sirloin, pan fried with sauté of onions, mushrooms served over toasted chunky bread, accompanied by a sprinkling of chips and salad. I ordered the fresh home made chicken, ham and mushroom pie in a light creamy wholegrain mustard sauce, topped with shortcrust pastry, served with a dish of chips. As this is made to order we were advised it would be about 20 minutes. While we waited we had a drink from the bar and were served with fresh rolls and butter.

When the food arrived we were pleasantly surprised. The steak sandwich was very good and the pie was excellent. It had been individually baked with a thin shortcrust pastry top. My secret dread was that I would end up with a microwaved filling and puff pastry top. (Although the menu did say it was a shortcrust top). This is no reflection on the Swan at Tarporley, rather a reflection on pubs and restaurants in general that are too lazy or incompetent to bake a real pie.

The sauce was delicious, it was light and had a subtle hint of whole grain mustard and complimented the generous filling to perfection.

The steak sandwich was £5.95, the pie also £5.95. With a round of drinks the bill came to £15.60. We were very pleased with a filling and well prepared lunch that didn’t cost the Earth.

Verdict: Good value and a departure from the normal pub formula food that is now widely accepted. Individual preparation and cooking made the difference. Recommended.

Phil