Jacksters's Qype profile

The 'old' Farmers Arms closed a few years ago and was replaced by an Italian restaurant. The restaurant then closed down and the Farmers Arms has been reborn, and in a totally new guise! Bright, modern and spacious it is completely different from the original pub, which is a good thing as the original was pretty rough by the time it eventually closed down. In some respects it is almost like walking into a nightclub at first, albeit that it's a long time since I've been to a nightclub :-) The place sparkles with shiny flooring and light modern decor, in fact it is nothing like you would expect it to be when looking at the outer facade. They serve food and have a standard pub menu but at the time of our visit the star of the show, and also an absolute bargain, was a deal on home made pies. A choice of ten pies was available including chicken and bacon, steak and ale, cheese and onion, meat and potato etc. After deciding on the pie you then choose your choice of veg, type of potatoes (chips, new potatoes, roast etc.) and a sauce, if required. This together with a pint of your choice costs £6.95. I am always very cynical about cheap pub food as so often I've found that you get what you pay for and the quality is often poor but this really was lovely. I chose the chicken and bacon pie and I can honestly say it's the best pie I've had in a pub for a long time (see photo)! The young staff are friendly and welcoming and the place has a nice atmosphere. I was going to knock one star off the review because of the lack of any real ale but I can forgive them anything for those lovely pies! :-)  

Characterful pub in the heart of Lancaster dating back to the early 18th century. Its colourful history includes Jacobean generals billeting there in 1745 and also the artist William Turner who stayed in 1812 and sketched nearby Heysham during his visit. The pub has retained a lot of its character and has a friendly and welcoming feel to it. It has a range of Lancaster brewery beers, I had the Lancaster Amber whilst my husband had the Lancaster Straw and both were excellent. The food looked delicious, and was recommended to us by friends, however we were just popping by for a drink on this occasion and didn't dine. The only disappointing aspect of our visit was the toilets, my husband said the gents was awful (unclean) and the ladies wasn't too good either, we visited early afternoon so there's no excuse for it really. Maybe that was just a one off though and we will return again in the future if only to try some more of those Lancaster Brewery beers! 

This branch was undergoing refurbishment when I visited so it's hard to judge what its usual standards are. However, there was no easily accessible bin for you to empty your boxes in or leave your tray as per the usual McDonald's system so people were leaving them on the tables rather than go searching for one. I was advised there would be a wait for my choice of burger and many other people were being told the same which seems a bit odd for a 'fast food' joint. The food is standard McDonald's, that never varies. I rarely visit McDonald's these days but my companion was in the mood for a Big Mac so I went along, but I wish we'd had a sandwich at the nice little pub we'd been in earlier rather than visit this particular branch. 

Fairly standard town pub. We didn't dine but the food was in the budget price range, examples from the specials board included liver and onions £5.45 and stew and dumplings for a similar price. Soup £2.95 and desserts around £3.25. Beers included Wainwrights and Lancaster Bomber, my Wainwright's was smashing. An OK pub really but nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that would especially make me dash back there.

Old fashioned little pub with a rather dark interior. The front bar area is quite plain, however to the rear there is a pool table and dartboard and beyond that a really pleasant enclosed beer garden full of flowers. We didn't dine but the menu prided itself on being very cheap, most if not all items costing less than £4. There were a few real ales on including two from York brewery, I had the Guzzler which was light and refreshing, very pleasant. I'd return on another sunny day to enjoy the beer garden but I don't think I'd choose to visit if I had to sit inside, nothing wrong with it, just a bit dark and gloomy.

Smashing little chip shop in the village of Great Eccleston. There's a choice of dining in or takeaway and I chose the latter. My haddock and chips was excellent, great chips and a perfectly cooked and wonderfully fresh piece of haddock, moist on the inside and encased in a crispy batter. The menu contains all the usual fish and chip shop favourites and also has some less common options such as lemon sole and plaice. A nice touch was the option of a child's haddock meaning younger ones can enjoy their own portion of fish and chips without being too over faced or breaking the 'Bank of Mum' :-) The pies are Holland's which I must admit I'm not really a fan of but then again I rarely have a pie from a chip shop anyway. I'm not too keen on the polystyrene boxes that so many chip shops, including this one, use though. It's OK if you're going to eat them straight away but any more than a few minutes steaming inside one of these and the crispiest batter in the world loses its crunch. The staff are friendly and the whole place looks bright and clean, a quick check on the Food Standards Agency website confirms it has a 5/5 hygiene rating, the top score. I'll definitely be visiting again!