The Royal Oak

The Royal Oak

Chester Rd.

Kelsall, Chester, UK 

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2x visits on the weekend of 21^st/22^nd June!

The Royal Oak has always held a little place in my heart; I had my 21^st birthday here and had a lovely time with my family. It always provided great service and food, particularly the chicken Caesar salad which was prepped at your table so you could pick exactly how you wanted it. I know of nowhere I’ve been in the last few years that’s offering that. It’s a small thing but hey…

Anyway! After much turmoil at this venue, with various closures, reinventions and re-openings, The Royal Oak seems to have returned to how it was a few years ago, great service and excellent pub food offered in a quiet and well decorated atmosphere.

We decided to visit on the Saturday because I’d had a look at the menu online. It was extensive (which I concede can sometimes lead to diminished quality of the dishes…I needn’t have worried, read on!) and well priced. So, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, we arrived to a somewhat quiet Royal Oak (I worried, because usually you expect a pub to be busy on a weekend) and got our drinks. I got a cranberry and lemonade, which isn’t a standard drink, but as I’m not drinking at all, I like having something fruity. A lot of places don’t tend to nail this, but I got a lovely pint of this drink. My dining partner got a standard pint of beer, so nothing to report there!

We were seated in one of the small side dining rooms, dark wood panelling, nicely spaced tables, comfortable chairs (so often places just give you any old port in a storm to sit on!), and handed a vast menu. It was like one page of a broadsheet newspaper, full of tempting choices. As soon as I spied the pork and apple burger however, I was all over it. You don’t get places that offer many variations on the standard beef burger, so seeing this, it was hard to resist. It was a pork and apple burger, with smoked bacon, onion rings, tomato, lettuce, cheese and apple sauce on a toasted bun with chips, coleslaw and salad. My dining partner also went for a burger; he chose the minty lamb burger, with smoked bacon, onion rings, mint and lime mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce, tomato and the standard sides as with mine

We waited around 15-20 minutes for our food to arrive. We certainly weren’t disappointed. The burgers were presented wonderfully on wooden boards, the salad (which so often is a groaning point for me because it usually looks so sad!) was crisp, varied and had a lovely dressing on it, the coleslaw was in a small pot, chips were in a very cute little wire basket and looked absolutely delicious, and wow, the burger was mountainous. I’ve not got a small mouth (haha!) but this was going to be a challenge for a snake with a penchant for unhinging its mouth.

Suffice to say the food was fantastic; my pork burger was well cooked and juicy, well seasoned with salt and pepper and perfectly complimented by the tang of the apple sauce (generous amount, hurrah!) and smoky bacon. The cheese was nicely melted and not overpowering, tomato and lettuce were fresh and crisp. The chips were to die for, so perfectly done, crispy outside and fluffy. Far too often, places will sacrifice the chips for the main and expect you to be ok with it. Chips are rubbish in a lot of places but these? Lush. The side salad was mixed leaves, cucumber and pepper with a fresh dressing and the coleslaw didn’t look like it’d been sat out for a month prior to service. I love coleslaw and this was tip top!

Apparently, my dining partner enjoyed his burger because all I heard was “Mmmm”, and “This is really good” and not much else for about twenty minutes! Unfortunately, we didn’t have room for a pudding (which I did the next day haha) but safe to say the main menu is a delight. They have various reasonably priced dishes, deals on for burgers and pizzas (done in a proper oven, which you can see in the open kitchen as you enter the building); the service from the staff is friendly, not intrusive and appreciated. The atmosphere is lovely, with visitors able to enjoy their meals in a calm quiet venue, even when the room is busier.

I was so impressed; I booked for me and my mum to visit the next day for Sunday lunch! So, we returned the next day, sat on the same table, I had the same drink, although I have to say I was a tad disappointed as I ordered it at the table rather than the bar and it turned up in a small glass and wasn’t as good as the one from the day before, yet still refreshing enough. We ordered the standard beef and Yorkshire pudding roast dinner. Disappointing to note that “Yorkies” aren’t offered as standard with all roast dinners, people love them, so get them on everything, Royal Oak!

Once the food arrived, yet again, beautifully presented. Two thick, medium cooked slices of beef, three lush looking well sized roast potatoes, a vast Yorkshire pudding (more like a popover in the way it was cooked, you Americans will know what I mean!) and all covered in a rich and thick gravy. The vegetables arrived separately. On offer was red cabbage, carrot and swede mash, broccoli and cauliflower cheese. Only one small criticism – not enough! We split between us as was expected but ended up with a bit of a measly amount, although it was well cooked, which seems to be something that eludes a lot of pubs nowadays in the search for speed of service. Can’t complaint about the food itself at all, it was all flavoursome, well seasoned, well cooked and very enjoyable, so much so we decided on a pudding to share!!

We ordered a sticky toffee and apple sponge with crème anglais and caramel sauce. It came beautifully presented (although I’d have loved a lot more crème anglais!), lovely and hot as well. The flavour was lovely, very caramelized and warming, not a massive amount of apple flavour but still lovely. The crème anglais was beautiful and creamy with a light flavour.

All in all, two successful visits to a pub which should rightfully be a lot busier than it was on the two days we went. It’s in a great rural location; it’s got adequate parking, great atmosphere and offering. So please people, get down there and support it. I don’t want to read it’s had to close or has been taken over and changed again. They’ve got the format right and need the support of Chester and the surrounding area to get its name out there, hence my review.

It’s well situated, well priced, well staffed and great quality – what are you waiting for!?

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Tiffany