The Duckworth Arms — Restaurant in Bury

Visited for lunch on a Wednesday afternoon. Went for the light lunch option. This is served Monday to Friday between 12 and 3 pm. This gives 4 options for starters, 4 for mains and 4 for pudding. 2 course option is £ 14.95. The 3 course £17.45.

Plenty of choice on where to sit and lots of different seating options. Was a little surprised how large it was inside. One downside to that was we did think it was a little bit cold during our meal. But it was a shocking day out.

I ordered the Ale Battered Black Pudding Fritters as my starter. This comes with English mustard mayonnaise. You got a decent portion for a starter on a fixed price menu. I enjoyed the black pudding but the mustard mayonnaise didn’t do anything for me. Would have liked it to have a bit of a kick.

For mains my fellow diner and I went with pie of the day. This was Minced Meat and Onion. You get the option of either garden or mushy peas or beans. The food was piping hot. Enjoyed the chips and the gravy that was served with it in a little gravy boat was delicious. Didn’t really need the gravy for the pie. Would have liked a few more chips but can’t really complain about the size of the portion when you consider the price.

For pudding we both went with Apple Crumble. This came with ice cream and a choice of either custard or cream. We both went for the custard. The ice cream was delicious. The custard and the apple lovely. But both of us weren’t over keen on the crumble. It was more the texture than the taste.

We finished with coffees. One cappuccino and one flat white. Not the best coffees we have ever had but certainly not the worst. And we got plenty of sugar brought to the table. It’s so annoying in some places were they bring one or two small lumps with your drink. Or even in some places no sugar at all and you have to ask for it.

Total bill with the addition of 2 pints of San Miguel at £6.00 each and a Lime and Soda at £2.10 was £53.25. You just cannot fault this for value for money.

And I must add a note about the service. It was great. Right from the off we were made to feel welcome. We were asked if we had any allergies. After every course, during our mains and when we went to pay we were asked if everything had been ok. It was. Great value for money with service that was friendly, good humoured and competent.

I have no problem in recommending this establishment for an inexpensive but filling lunch. This will definitely be going onto our places to...

The food was adequate. Visited Sunday lunch and got the impression anything other than a roast was an effort. In general, all our party commented too much salt in the dishes. Caesar salad - chicken was good but the salad was megre and ropey. Looked like dregs. Caesar sauce ... tesco own is better, not restaurant quality! (Small) Fish and chips was good. Perfect for someone without ravenous appetite. Pan fried Salmon Fillet - like alot of pub restaurants, the salmon was a little over cooked, however despite this the skin was not crispy. Potatoes were soggy. Veg good. Sauce nice but over salted. Nicely presented. Tower Burger - no complaints. A hearty meal well prepared and presented. Steak and ale pie. Overall, very nice but again, over salted. Overall, with a round of drinks, 6 plates came to £150. So now overpriced. Not desperately atmospheric- standard bistro-pub. Had the weather been nice, we would have say outside .. lovely views. Reasonable parking but, considering the average customer age, why only 1 disabled space when the regular spaces...

The actual place and staff are really nice but the food did disappoint a bit. I ordered the duck breast main and at £20 I was expecting something pretty sizeable. It was extremely small unfortunately and goes to show why steaks have to show a weight. I'm not sure if they had cut a breast down or managed to source some really small ones but it was much smaller than even a chicken breast even though a duck breast is even larger. I don't mind paying inflated prices but when they are decreasing sizes of things as well it's a bit much. It was also a bit overcooked but I appreciate not everyone wants it pink. My son had the 'basket of chicken' which was actually just two pieces not much bigger than a large nugget and not indeed a basket. I wouldn't go back based on this, I find it really quite annoying when places start putting prices up and decreasing portions. Their should have been twice as much chicken at least on the kids meal, which we have had many other places,...