The Salt Barge — Restaurant in England

Been out of the country for a while and let my posts go on the back burner, not good really. But decided a visit to Northwich new picture house on Saturday followed by a bit of Pub food was the order of the day. So pre booked in to the "Salt Barge in Marston" This is a pub iv driven past many times and often wondered what it's like. I went with my wife and our best friends. We where welcomed at the bar with a big smile by the bar maid and ordered a bottle of Chilean Chardonnay, I have to say the wine was wonderful. Our friends arrived a few mins later ordered drinks and we made our way to our table. The young gentleman who's name I didn't get gave us the menu and talked us through the specials for the evening. The waitress who looked after us Lynn was very pleasant and attentive. On to the food ! I ordered garlic mushrooms on Ciabatta as a starter, which came as a decent portion and was very tasty,this was shared between two and enjoyed by both. My better half ordered prawn cocktail, which was a half a pint of prawns, shared between two and thoroughly enjoyed by both. Main meals; I had a cajun sizzler platter with chips and polished off every bit. Jeanie had the 8oz Rump medium, accompanied with sauteed mushrooms, roasted cherry vine tomatoes and hand cut onion rings, choice of potato and salad garnish. Shaun had the belly busting Mixed Grill Pork chop, gammon steak, lamb chop, rump steak, black pudding and sausage, cooked over the chargrill with sauteed mushrooms, roasted cherry vine tomatoes and hand cut onion rings. Sue had cottage pie with seasoned vegetables. The mains where all prepared really well and enjoyed by all. We where to full for sweet but did make room for another bottle of the Chilean Chardonnay. Overall food was good, service good and wine gorgeous. Price wise very reasonable. Would recommend as a good place to eat decent pub food. Couldn't fault anything that we ate or drank. So a very good dining...

We visited here on a random midweek night in July 2024 from the canal where we were holidaying. We had moored for the night very close by and had plans to visit the Lion Salt Works museum the next morning.

Photos online had led us to think food would be available. However, when we were there, the kitchen was out of action due to a problem with the gas supply, no fault of the management. Despite this setback, the staff were super lovely and helpful, the beer was great, and the locals very welcoming, kindly offering my husband a lift to the next town to go pick up some takeaway for the family, which the pub then allowed us to eat in the garden.

On chatting with everyone there, it seems new people took on the pub late 2023 and are trying to build the business back up from it having dwindled previously.

From the tour guide given by the boat company this place doesn't get a mention, but it is very deserving of some canal holiday business. Maybe phone ahead of your hoping on food as they should get the gas sorted eventually, but we all know how it is waiting on...

If you're travelling along the Trent and Mersey Canal then the Salt Barge is a very convenient place to stop for quick refreshment. The quality of the food is very mixed, however.

The nachos we ordered came with BBQ sauce instead of salsa, had too much cheese (if that's possible) and were missing the jalapeños that the menu said it included. It's a shame because the nacho chips were homemade and good; it only required a bit of effort to make it a very good starter.

Similarly, the main dinners all lacked any presentation skills. The pork belly I ordered tasted very nice, but looked like it had been plated by tossing the contents into the bowl from across the room. My friend who had the mushroom stroganoff said it tasted burnt but another friend enjoyed his hunter's chicken.

That said, the service we all received was good. The chap behind the bar was very friendly and approachable. It's a nice pub and I'd definitely stop for another drink but the kitchen sadly isn't keeping up with the...