Win a Meal for 2 at the Moss Trooper.
Just answer this simple question for a chance to win dinner for 2 plus a bottle of wine…
Dunham Massey Brewing Company first brewed their first batch of bitters in 2007. What was the name of either of the two bitters called?
The Closing date for entries is 29 February 2012.
Please send this completed entry form together with your contact details to:
HAAH, Caidan House, Canal Road, Timperley, WA14 1TD Or email your answer plus contact details to: competition@haahandbook.co.uk
The Hale Kitchen and Bar
The Hale Kitchen & Bar, 149 Ashley Road, Hale WA14 2UE
Telephone 0161 9926 4670
Previously I have lunched here and remember having an excellent calves liver and bacon, so when She Who Must be Obeyed said there was a new chef and that she had heard good reports a mid-week treat was promptly arranged.
We parked nearby at Hale station, no charge, walked through the crossing gates and arrived shortly after 7 p.m. There were a group of businessmen at the far end of the bar swapping tales and unwinding from the day over a few pints.
We sat at the bar and I had a bottle of beer (my turn to drive) whilst SWMBO had a well made Cosmopolitan.
The room didn’t seem too much different from my last visit except there is now a large plasma screen on the wall that is linked to the kitchen and, if you are short of conversation and so inclined, you can watch the chef prepare your food.
A couple and a threesome of ladies came in and sat down to eat.
We asked for menus and ordered at the bar. There is a selection of starters and main courses on one side of the menu and a tapas style selection on the other. It all looked a bit interchangeable.
I wasn’t ravenously hungry so I ordered the homemade soup to start and then the meat balls as a main course. SWMBO ordered rabbit terrine to start and lamb for her main course.
When the food was ready to be served we were seated at a nearby table.
The starters were excellent. The soup was tomato with a good, sharp, piquant flavour and the rabbit terrine was very well put together.
SWMBO has a glass of house red with her lamb. I tried both and they were very good. She was a happy lady. I was not so happy in that I didn’t like the meatballs. There were chopped herbs in there that totally overpowered all of the other flavours.
Our table was cleared and we were literally left to our own devices. A few more couples had come in to drink at the bar. I can’t comment on the desserts or the coffee because we weren’t offered any. No, really.
After waiting for a while I went over to the bar and asked for my bill, which was £47.
The service was friendly when it was present, but very bar orientated. This is a bar with an area to eat rather than a restaurant with a bar facility.
Atmosphere 6/10
Service 4/10
Food 7/10
Will we return? Not for a while.
Editor’s note: If there is a restaurant you think our TMD should visit, good or bad, then let us know with an email to Helen@haahandbook or call us on 0161 975 4925.