George and Dragon, Great Budworth (From Northwich Guardian)

George and Dragon, Great Budworth

12:11pm Sunday 19th August 2007 in Leisure By Frances Kindon

I HAD worked an extraordinarily long day and cooking was the last thing I felt like doing so I called a friend and arranged to meet at the George and Dragon pub in Great Budworth to grab a quick bite to eat.

I could not face the banging and clattering of a large, overcrowded restaurant so the intimate, cosy setting of the pub seemed like just the thing to help me wind down.

There are only eight or so tables to eat at, all tucked in little nooks, and even though it was only a Monday night, most of these were full with diners, which is always a good sign.

We ordered some drinks at the bar and it sounds trivial but I was thrilled to find my diet coke was full of fizz; nothing gets my goat more than paying for flat drinks.

Seeing as I was near on ravenous, I decided to abandon the diet and go for a prawn cocktail to start followed by steak and ale pie, chips and veg.

To be honest, the prawn cocktail was quite average. The portion was generous and came with triangles of buttered wholemeal bread and the prawns were definitely fresh but its fair to say I have had better.

The duck literally fell off the bone and melted in my mouth when I stole a sneaky mouthful.

The pie and chips, on the other hand, was out of this world. The chips were homemade and had the gorgeous sweet taste that only homemade chips do. The puff pastry on top of the pie was beautifully cooked and the huge chunks of juicy steak in rich ale gravy went down a treat. The green beans and broccoli were nicely cooked - not too soft but not al dente.

My companion went for the duck leg in hoi sin sauce to start followed by sirloin steak and chips.

His starter was absolutely delicious; the duck literally fell off the bone and melted in my mouth when I stole a sneaky mouthful. I think my view of my own starter was probably skewed somewhat by how wonderful my companion's was - the duck really was outstanding.

As requested, his steak came rare and I was pleased to see that rare really does mean rare at this pub. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have ordered rare steak and sat eagerly awaiting that bloody juiciness, only to be presented with an unrecognisable charred piece of carcass.

As we went to settle the bill, a lady walked in who was quite clearly in a foul mood. After insulting the barmaid for making her wait so long, which was not the case at all, she ordered a diet coke with ice. Despite the fact that both the barmaid, my companion and I all heard the woman ask for ice, she started insisting that she had not in a very rude manor and ordered the barmaid to remove it. She then launched into a series of insults under her breath about the poor barmaid, which she could clearly hear and to her credit, she simply apologised and smiled politely. I was bowled over by her professionalism, given how annoyed I felt towards this bossy woman; the barmaid did extremely well to keep her cool.

The combination of quality food, cosy atmosphere and friendly staff means I will most definitely be calling at the George and Dragon again. Rumour has it they do a cracking Sunday roast so my next visit may be sooner rather than later.