Pub review: The Greyhound, Birstall

THERE are few more satisfying feelings than visiting an old pub and finding it in good shape.

I remember the Greyhound at the Birstall Smithies junction with fondness from my youth. Sunday lunches were particularly good.

But it must be 20 years, maybe longer, since I last visited this place. I have been passed it countless times over the years and kept saying to myself I must call in sometime.

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A recent lick of paint and a new menu made me all the more determined to visit. So a family lunch seemed like a good reason to visit. We were not disappointed.

The pub is as bright, clean and well cared for as ever and the menu just as simple and straightforward as expected. And the value for money is tremendous.

We’re told by equally friendly locals that Sunday lunches are the best offerings here, which may explain why it was quieter than we expected on a Saturday.

There were five starters to choose from – Caesar salad, mushrooms on toast, fishcakes, soup and chicken liver parfait – costing £4 to £5.50, but we went straight for the main courses.

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Gammon steak (£9.95), chicken pot pie (£9.50), steak sandwich and fries (£4.95 plus £1.50) and grilled chicken Caesar (£8.95) plus hand-cut chips (£2.45) were all well and good.

The gammon was particularly well received, a 12oz dish with chips, egg or pineapple and garden peas. My chicken pot pie was tasty too. I prefer shortcrust pastry to flaky but it was a tasty and well-filled pie in a cream reduction served with either mash. It looked a little lost without a side order of vegetables – my mistake, the menu doesn’t make any mention of them so presumably you have to order them separately.

The chicken Caesar was a fine and plentiful dish, well presented and freshly cooked, while the steak sandwich with cheese and red onion chutney was fabulous.

One nice touch was that children’s meals were simply smaller versions of the adult meals, rather than alphabet spaghetti or some other nonsense. Much better to allow children to taste proper dishes.

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Our drinks were good. A Famous Grouse whisky for £2.50, a delightful Pinto Grigio Corte Verde (£4.95 for a 250ml glass and £3.80 for a 175ml top-up), £5.20 for a Merlot and a fantastic Stod Fold ale (3.8 per cent and £2.90 for a pint). This is a new one on me but Stod Fold is a hand-crafted Halifax light ale, quite ‘quaffable’.

We were tempted by puddings: sticky toffee and a very good cheesecake (£3.50) each). The food was good and the service even better. With seven handpulls, a wide choice of lager and a good selection of wine, the Greyhound is a good, non-fussy traditional pub.

The Greyhound, Huddersfield Road, Birstall. Phone 01924 474519

Scores: 3/5