Wakefield CAMRA Homepage back to "A Good Meal and a Decent Pint"
The Thatched House
434 Aberford Road, Stanley WF3 4AA reviewed in the Autumn 2011 Edition of O-to-K, branch magazine of Wakefield CAMRA
In response to a recent
decision that as a branch we probably need to get out more, one June evening, a
small but enthusiastic inspectorate set out on a comprehensive tour of Stanley.
Several pleasant surprises were uncovered, proving that we definitely need to
get out more. One such discovery was the Thatched House, Stanley and a quick
glance at the menu earmarked the pub for possible inclusion in this column.
It's certainly easy to find
as it's on the A642 between Wakefield centre and M62 Junction 30. Look out for
the sad sight of the only twin spired church in Yorkshire, currently not in use
although the church continues to flourish in the church hall. Several buses
serve the area but the best bet seems to be the 446; get off where Lake Lock
Road joins Aberford Road. It has all the hallmarks of a former roadside Bass
house including some nice Bass windows and the photo on the menu shows the pub
before the "Bass Yorkshire" signs were removed. You can even imagine that red
triangle sign over the entrance. The interior is pleasantly unspoilt featuring
some old photos; there are two separate bars, a pleasant looking terrace with a
lovely rural view and a function room which is available free to groups and
private parties. We wondered what someone was doing with a pile of red rosettes
and it turned out that the dog breeders were about to hold their meeting.
Two cask ales were on offer
and what looked like an Old Speckled Hen pumpclip was facing the wrong way. The
choice was between the less-ubiquitous-than-it used-to-be John Smith's Cask and
the increasingly popular Black Sheep Bitter. The Black Sheep was in very good
order but did cost �3 a pint which, even in these inflationary times, is at the
higher end of what we're used to round here. To compensate for this, however, we
were about to sample one of the best bargains this column has reported on.
Food is served Tues-Sat,
1200-1400 and 1700-2000 and there is a Sunday carvery 1200-1600. Steak Night is
on a Thursday when a two course steak meal for two comes with a bottle of wine.
The price depends on which steak you choose but it sounds very good value. The
main menu is quite a varied one; it includes Minted Lamb Shanks (�8.25), steak
and eggs (�7.95), all day breakfast (�5.95) and an intriguingly named 3-2-1
(�4.95) which consists of 3 sausages, 2 eggs and more than 1 chip. There is a
decent vegetarian selection at �6.25 including deep fried brie, or you might
prefer mushroom ravioli. In addition there are the usual burgers, baguettes and
so on and the sweets are unusually well priced at �2.50. A chicken-themed
specials board offered 4 variations on chicken; Hunters, Tikka Masala, Basil and
Tomato and a Chicken, Ham and Leek Pie. I couldn't help thinking about Basil
Fawlty's famous "If you don't like duck, you're rather stuck" but that doesn't
really work with the word "chicken".
Now comes the bargain. Served
lunchtime and evening Tues-Sat there is a two courses for �5 menu. It features a
choice of soups, the main courses are roast of the day, fish and chips, liver
and onions, bangers and mash, quiche or fried breakfast and the sweets are apple
pie and custard, jam roly poly, ice cream or "a chocolate bar of your choice".
Good meal deals often come
with draconian portion control (mentioning no chains) but that was not the case
here. Between us we sampled the liver and onions and the fish and chips. There
was certainly plenty of good, tasty liver and the fish,chips and mushy peas came
in generous portions too. For sweet we sampled the apple pie and the jam roly
poly; both came swimming in very hot custard and the latter was particularly
substantial. We did have to wait a fair while but there were quite a few people
waiting in the other bar, eagerly anticipating (in vain, as it turned out) a
televised England thrashing of one of the other home footballing nations.
If anyone knows of a better
bargain than this �5 meal deal, served in an establishment where decent cask ale
can be drunk, we'd like to hear of it.
The Thatched
House, 434 Aberford Road, Stanley, WF3 4AA. 01924 823361
Colin Williams