Hatton Arms — Restaurant in England

5/5 Back again on 7TH MAY….. (see this dates review on Tripadvisor as Google will only allow one review!)

16TH APRIL 2025

‘Wandering Wednesday’ this week took both Hubby Neil and I, to a place we haven’t been to before…. To ‘The Hatton Arms’ in Hatton, (just past Daresbury) this is another hidden gem….. the pub itself is Olde Worlde in a stunning old village…..the pub was absolutely spotless. Looking at all the tables dressed, the glasses were all sparkling and not one sign of a watermark anywhere!! Our server was a lady named Leah, giving service with a smile, she polite, professional and very attentive.

We both went straight to entree’s…. Neil had: Chicken Balmoral, which was chicken supreme on top of Hatton Haggis, mashed potato and peppercorn sauce, garnished with pea shoots, the only thing he’ll do next time is to order a side of buttered vegetables as he just assumed vegetables would accompany the dish….. but that didn’t knock any points off this dish at all, Neil said it was absolutely beautiful, presentation was perfect and the chicken was that succulent it melted in the mouth. I had…. Haddock, proper crispy homemade chips, mushy peas with tartare sauce…. The Haddock was huge, it was freshly battered, lovely and crisp with every bite, the flakes just fell apart….. without a doubt I’d have this again. I ordered a portion of homemade onion rings and couldn’t believe how big they were! again nice and crispy….. a side of thick bread and butter, we both had a slice. All portions were generous and reasonably priced….. everything was delicious…..

Would we go...

Twice a year I end up on a family meal and I dread it. Maybe I'm just fussy, but it's usually mediocre food. Hopeful I came to this place........oh dear! We were there 3 hours for 3 courses (considering we had to pre book meals that's a LONG time!). Starter was pate, which was ok. The toast was burnt bread (i.e. Not crispy but black) and the serving was small but it was ok. Main was beef wellington. The veg (what there was of it) was coating in a garlic oil which was completely inedible. Beef was tough, mash (the tiniest morsel I tried, with it being coated in this oil stuff was very lumpy). My partner had the turkey. She compared it to school dinners, the carrots being completely raw (she didn't get the weird garlic chemical on hers, as it was Christmas dinner) So I thought bring on desert......baked Alaska! Yum! Sadly not. Frozen solid, cold and made of coffee ice cream.......weird! All in all I'd advise save your money and eat in, I've eaten at better wetherspoons! The staff were nice hence it isn't a one. Hopefully next year the family will come to us, and we don't have to stomach another...

This was mine and my partners second visit to the Hatton Arms as we enjoyed our meals here first time round but this visit was certainly very disappointing. After we had our drinks order taken it took the waitress nearly 25 minutes to take our food order baring in mind there was only a table of 4 and a table of 2 in the restaurant. Once our food order had been taken we waited over an hour to get the food and a table of 6 came in about half an hour after we had ordered and somehow got their drinks and their starters before our meals had arrived. My partner ordered a fillet steak med/rare and when it came it was over done which is terrible considering it is not a cheap meal but he ate anyway as we did not want to wait any longer for food. My fish crumble was bland and apparently the reason our food took so long. Just a very disappointing experience and when we came to pay the manager was no where to be found to complain too. I am only giving one star purely based on the fact the waitress was a sweet girl and from what I gather had not been there...