I put the day in my header, because for a mid-week local inn-turned-restaurant, this was packed with enthusiastic locals. I did not get the chance to look in at lunchtime to find out if it was more like a pub, but this was so packed with diners at tables in the evening, that there was no room for drinkers, and no where I could see where they might be hidden. So my first word of advice is if you want to go there, book a table (which being foreigners to the area, we had).
According to the web site on https://broughtonarmsatbalterley.wordpress.com/about/ (not sure why it is an https address) it is on the Cheshire/Staffordshire border near the village of Weston. There is little local competition except for a hotel conference center and another pub about two or three miles away. The web site is a little strange as the home page is the set menus for functions, but if you dig, all the information is there. I chose this place on the basis of good tripadvisor reviews, which by and large were supported by my visit.
The place looks half traditional, half country pub restaurant cliche. Whilst this is not intended to be a negative comment, it is exactly what you would expect except for the lack of locals drinking at night. Food service stops at 2100, so do not go there late.
The menu for the restaurant is shown on the web site under the heading 'bar menu', presumably because seating is in the bar, and you order your meal at the bar. Drink also comes from the bar at pub prices. The menu is pretty predictable and fairly extensive.
For starter I had the garlic mushrooms.
I am guessing based on their uniformity, that they were not hand made on the premises. Nevertheless, they were numerous, fairly tasty, hot at at CHOF of 8.2 and came with a tartare sauce.
For main course I had steak and kidney pie.
As you can see this is a big portion with chips, and could have been home made. There was probably more steak than kidney and it was a hearty meal at a superlative temperature scoring a 9.5 on the scale. There were also accompanying vegetables which are out of shot.
For desert, I shared a creme brulee
This tasted very eggy and as if it had not been prepared in a big batch for consumption over a period of time. The top had been flamed recently.
There is no pretention factor for this establishment. It appears to be very popular with the older generation of locals and is clearly the place to come. It is exactly what it says on the box, and there were absolutely no surprises. It was middle of the road pricing, and a meal for two with a small cider and glass of wine came to about £50. Things shut down early, and by about 9 the place was emptying out. This is an ideal place to come if you are at the Wychwood Park Venue and want to eat somewhere else.
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