Peels Arms Hotel

Every so often I get the desire to go to a cosy little pub, ideally a free house, where they are serving hearty home cooked meals in a traditional pub environment.

I'm talking exposed beams, a crackling fire perhaps even a selection of random copper pans on the wall and the occasional Toby Jug.

The Peels Arms in Padfield is just such a place, for those who are not familiar with the area it's just a stone's throw from Glossop town centre.

The pub is very discreetly placed in a quiet residential area of the village, there is a car park at the back but it is only small and one assumes gets very quickly full at popular times such as Sunday lunch etc.

I would say the building is on the smaller size for a pub, but this adds to the character and charm, I could tell when I was there that the pub is particularly popular with the walking and cycling community for a place to relax and recharge the batteries.

You can choose to eat in the main part of the pub or there is an ever so slightly more formal dining area, this is where we were placed which was fine apart from the cosy pub atmosphere is slightly more diluted and the position of our table was opposite and very close the kitchen door, which flung open and closed very often.

The menu covers everything you would want and more, I didn't have one of their salads but someone did on the table next to us and it looked extremely tempting.

The food is without a doubt home cooked, one of the most refreshing things to see was when the g/f ordered Battered Garlic Mushroom, when they arrived it was evident they had literally just been dipped in a fresh batter and deep fried that moment as they were presented in their beautiful golden crunchy coating, each one a tear drop shaped treat, with a garlic dip on the side.

Don't get me wrong their food is not Nuevo Cuisine with highly stylised plates, but some effort has been given to presentation. The quality of the produce is good and has that rustic homemade taste that I'd hoped for, other dishes at our table including Chicken Pie, Gammon and Monk Fish, all of which went down very well.

The service was friendly and about what I'd expect from a small pub like this, it wasn't the most prompt of service, but it was with a smile and I certainly have no complaints.

If you're in the High Peak area and considering your choices for some tasty tradition pub food, then you won't go far wrong with the Peels Arms.