The Pickering Arms — Restaurant in England

It's with a heavy heart that I write this as I've lived in Warrington all my life and was is our local pub. I visited here with my disabled sister, my 1 year old son and our dog for Sunday lunch during June this year. We'd booked a table for 12.30 and arrived at 12.15 to find the pub wasn't open, even though on Google it states the pub opens at 12.00. I ordered my sister the chicken schnitzel, my son chicken and chips from the children's menu and myself a roast dinner. When the food arrived I saw that my son's chicken was drenched in oil so I sent it back. As a parent with a weaning child who feeds himself with his hands, I felt uncomfortable with him eating so much oil. Hopefully any parent can understand this. His replacement took so long to arrive, I ended up cancelling it as my son was getting agitated, so I instead fed him the snacks from my bag. Unfortunately, I then found a hair in my roast so I sent that back. The replacement roast took so long to arrive, my sister had finished her meal so I decided to leave as my son was getting distressed. Upon paying the bill, I stated I was happy to pay for our drinks and my sister's meal but not for mine and my son's meal and I asked to speak to the manager. With this being a local pub, I wanted to politely explain our experience.

However before I even had a chance to explain, the manager raised his voice and shouted over me in an abusive manner as I held my 1 year old in my arms, ordered me not to pay for anything, insisted there was nothing wrong with the food and that the hair in my food was mine because it was black. He then stomped off leaving me and his staff in shock. His staff profusely apologised repeatedly. I explained to them if they thought the hair was mine, why didn't they tell me right then when I sent the meal back. His staff kept saying sorry, that the manager was 'hot-headed' and I was left wondering if his behaviour was racially aggravated, as I am of Chinese descent and he commented on my hair colour. I also recall the hair found in my food was not black otherwise I wouldn't have sent it back.

My sister left the pub pushing my baby out in the pram in distress and I was trying to hide my own distress as I left the pub.

Upon leaving, I briefly acknowledged some locals and saw the manager walk towards me in an angry manner. I explained to him not to worry, that I was leaving. He clearly wanted me out of his pub.

As I left, I tried one more time to reason with him. I said he was rude and I was upset with his behaviour and he shouted at me again, saying that I was rude. Looking back now, I felt gaslighted as I had never even raised my voice or been rude towards him. All I did was feedback on food which I thought was unsatisfactory. He maintained there was nothing wrong with his food and that I had disrupted his whole kitchen. I cannot understand how I could have done this with his pub being empty during lunchtime and I clearly didn't think a manager of a local pub would handle feedback in this manner. I would not have fed back had this not been my local pub.

In a final bid to calm the situation, I told him I was willing to pay for the whole bill. He then proceeded to stomp off again in a petulant manner.

With my sister being disabled, we eat out every Sunday in Warrington as a treat and this pub had always been one of our favourite places to frequent. It is dog friendly, in a lovely picturesque area of the village and the staff are lovely. However, our latest experience has been ruined by the poor management.

I have never left a poor review on any pub/restaurant I've visited and I have visited a lot, especially in our local area. However, I contacted Punch Pubs who own this pub and never got a response.

This was by far the worst experience we've ever had. Deeply...

Oh no what happened, I really want the Pick to do really well. It's had a several changes of management recently and probably changes in bar staff and the cook also.

We had a family meal here on 7th June 2024. The starter took about 40 minutes to arrive and eventually arrived with an apology.

The garlic mushroom starter was ok. The squid starter was awful, it was like elastic bands, unable to snap and stretchy which is all due to being over cooked. They forgot to bring out the toddlers meal with our starters and didn't get it until just before our main meal. Which meant our 4 year old was waiting over 1 hour which is a big no no for children. They did apologise.

We asked for some water for our dog from the main server but she forgot it. Another lady / manager saw the empty bowl and offered to fill it for our dog but she forgot it. Eventually another customer saw what was happening and went to the toilet and filled it for us (thank you customer) as we couldn't easily get away having a dog a young child and a baby

Then the main courses arrived fish and chips for both of us, all the chips were awful including those with the child's meal, stodgy like old reheated greasy chips. The fish was poor, only partly edible and both of us left half of it. Even the garden peas were some cooked and some raw tasting.

We had a large glass of white wine which was served very warm at room temperature on a warm day, they hadn't attempted to chill it even a little. Wet had to get a full glass of ice in it which completely diluted it with water and ruined the wine.

It's such a pity as it was great under the previous management and we all want our local pub to succeed.

We had already been pre warned by some locals not to bother going but we always like to try places for ourselves.

Maybe the new team need time to settle in and get things right, come on Pickering Arms please make this a great pub with great food.

On a positive note, the staff were lovely, friendly and welcoming. I would go only for a drink but would not eat here again unless others say the food has had a significant improvement. A huge positive is the pub is dog friendly.

I hope...

‘Wandering Wednesday’ this week took Hubby Neil and I to The Pickering Arms at Thelwall. A great Dog friendly pub.

Starters: We had a board to share of 4 different dishes….. *Hummus, with ras el hanout, beautifully garnished with sunflower and pomegranate seeds….. accompanied with plenty of fresh flatbread. *Crisp Pork belly bites with red chilli, balsamic glaze and apple sauce to dip. *Salt and chilli Calamari with miso mayonnaise. *Large chicken wings, sticky goshujang, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Entrée’s: Neil had double Pattie beef burger (The patties cooked to perfection) smoked cheese, house sauce, with skin on fries. I had the Korean sesame seed chicken burger, (the coating was beautifully crisp and the chicken was so tender.) accompanied with Asian slaw and skin on fries. The fries were beautiful, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the in. Each of the dishes were absolutely faultless, so tasty, piping hot and very well presented, compliments and thanks to the chef….. we didn’t have to wait long at all, just cooking time, which is a good sign that all is fresh….. and it was! Both had a hot, pot of tea to wash it down….. good cuppa! Our server was a very courteous lady named Elise, this lady was very attentive, extremely polite, nothing was too much trouble, her service was always with a smile… The pub itself is Olde Worlde, with a big open fire which looked and felt very welcoming (Obviously it was down to the Fire Master who set and lit it!) The pub itself was absolutely spotless with many little nooks to take your pick to be seated at. The star of the show was ‘Bella’ the pubs dog, she is a black Cane Corso, soooooo gently, an extremely friendly giant pooch. We also spoke with the lovely Landlady, who is getting ready to move to The Dog and Partridge, Woolston near the end of March….. we will most definitely be paying it a visit in one of our ‘Wandering Wednesday’s to come…. In the meantime Would we return to The Pickering Arms….. 100%...