The Queens Arms

When we moved into Oxton, a urban village just outside Birkenhead, almost ten years ago, there were four restaurants and two pubs here. The restaurants were The Bamboo, a thai come oriental, Villa Jazz, a double unit traditional restaurant doing lamb shank, ribs and steaks, a mad Italian and Beedles.

Beedles was run by a husband and wife, he ran front of house and she ran the kitchen. The property was owned by her mother, there was a row and she sold from under them. its a fish and chip shop now. Bamboo closed after the couple who ran that had a bust up, although the lady of the relationship has opened a new outlet in the same unit, Halligan's,  which will be reviewed in due course.

Villa Jazz closed amidst a cloud of urban myths, and nobody quite knows the ins and outs of it, but it is being redeveloped and should open during 2011 as a new bar and grill.

The mad Italian just had enough of turning people away when he did not fancy the cut of their jib. He shut at 9pm, which meant you were out at 9pm so it was a very eccentric operation. It is now a Michelin starred restaurant and we have a booking for April, when you can read our reviews here then.

The two pubs, the Shrewsbury Arms and the Oxton Bar and Grill (OBT for short) have stood the test of time and have been established in the area since the mid-1800's. Both do food, but it was a third pub which we chose to visit and review this week.

The Queens Arms sits on Storeton Road, between the Halfway House in Prenton, and Oxton village. It has been a pub since 1845 and has changed little in external appearance, although it has become a modern wood and chrome place inside.
The reason for the visit though was to test the increasing reputation it has for its bar food. The new owner was fortunate enough to employ the services of a chef from each of the Villa Jazz and Bamboo, so although the food is pretty standard pub grub, it is turned out to a high standard, cooked to order and does not have the microwave packaged appearance of the Hungry Horse or Country Fayre type catering.

Our steak pie and fish and chips were first rate, and as Thursday was curry night, the neighbouring tables which had selected those seemed very pleased with the result. We washed ours down with draft Courage Best, although there was an adequate wine list should we have been so inclined. Mains were priced at about £7 for 'pub grub' up to £12 for steaks and mixed grills, the curries were £8.

The place was pretty full and most people were eating, we shall definitely be going back. As for the waitresses, would they know the offside law? would they care? probably not. They were very helpful and pleasant, and just what you need from a serving wench. The only thing that bugs me, and it's a general criticism of busy pubs, is that the staff  keep saying 'who is next please?' instead of having the wherewithal to spot the punters as they get to the bar. A good skill to have and one which makes all the difference on the punters side of the bar.

The Cock and Pullet

Yes, really that is the name of the first establishment the Wirriallian has visited in 2011. I found it hard to believe that's what they called this revamped pub in the heart of Tranmere, but they have!!. It used to be called The Royal, and had been in disrepair for a while.

Rumour had it that a chef/owner from one of the other restaurants in the area had taken it on and was relaunching it as a gastro pub. So why not pop down to see.

Well, that rumour was clearly  unfounded as we entered the 'parlour'. The unit has one bar, with a large pool table in the original public bar. The lounge bar had been tastefully decorated and festooned with old black and white pictures of the area from the late 1800s hundreds and early 1900s. The floor was newly laid too. imitation leather bench seating hugged the walls and the round traditional pub tables and chairs completed the look. Loud music played from the various speakers perched near the ceiling

It takes a brave man to open a pub which is going to major on wet sales, these days, and one of the problems for a relaunch, is how do you manage the clientele? This pub had previously been a blokes boozer and the current punters continued that stereotype. About ten people hung at the bar watching the racing from the all weather at Wolverhampton, drinking lager and Guinness while occasionally popping out for a roll-up in the porch.

They were all very pleasant, but not the sort the aristocrats and artistic types from Oxton would want to mingle with. That said, the bitter on view was an eclectic mixture of local microbrewery and  St Austell from Cornwall so that might tempt a few in.

There seemed to be storehouse or stables outside which could easily embrace a kitchen and some outdoor seating for better climes, so I am going to  put this one on the back burner at the moment  and see how it gets on during the Spring and early Summer. Hopefully by then the place will be rocking.

2011, food heaven.....

It really is frustrating trying to find sensible constructive comments about restaurants by searching on the Web. One is never sure whether the owner is posting, or whether you only get to hear about the one or two bad experiences, and rarely about the good times.

A lot of basic information seems to be missing as well. Can you park, is it on a bus route, and if so, which one? What are the staff like? Is it a 'regulars' place and do they make you feel like one? Is it child and dog friendly, and should, therefore, be avoided by the dinkies and grey pounders amongst us?

So, I am going to try to be a restaurant critic for the Wirral, and see if I can produce a useful web site based on my experience of restaurants, take-aways and pub grub. I am not a foodie, or a wino, so don't expect specialist comment on here. It's really about whether I like somewhere and more important whether it likes me.

I could start with a few reviews of the regular outlets I use , but I won't. I am going to slip those into the Blog as it starts to get established. So watch this space, I will try to do a unit a week, and see whether I develop a following and see some of the comments I get.

If people do not like what I say or have a different view of a place, it could get lively, bring on the starters!!!!