Fradley Arms Hotel, Fradley back to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Good old canalside pub on the Junctions of the Coventry and Trent & Mersey Canals. Thought I would give the Swan a try, after an absence of a fair while. The old building and decor are unchanged from my memories as a youth, and I really thought from my last visit, some 5 years ago, that it would not survive. Pleased to report it retains the charm of a byegone age being a bit rough round the edges and happily without the stamp of a uniform corporate offering. However it is definitely still doing what it has always done. In other words it's a real pub, run by people who care about the beer and value to their customers. OK you won't get gastro food or high priced drinks..... You'll get basic straightforward pub food from an extensive keenly priced menu, and a great selection of ever changing guest cask ales, overlooked by a cellarman who knows his beer. From previous reviews it looks as if it has had a good kicking in the right direction. The basics are there, so be prepared for delay at busy times as the barstaff are swamped by their success. Tried the excellent local Holden's Bitter.....a gift at £3. Very nice. Well worth a trip out on a summer's evening but unless you are local a bit difficult to find as an industrial estate and new village have been built on the main rural route to Fradley Junction.
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Recently the Royal Dragoons held a reunion here and we found everyone to be very obliging and the service was excellent, after reading some of the posts I am at a loss to see why so many people had any complaints as we found it to be a very well run establishment and I know that they now have a new Chef whose food I found did not turn up on my table cold.
I know that we will be back there again next year.
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Recently the
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Very poor. I went on monday afternoon and i had a bad time. There were no ales on and the Guinness was poor, tried the food and was very dissapointed. even for a chain pub the food was poor, very dry. The whole place was in need of a bit of a clean and it was cold in there, so cold! Won't be visiting again, next time i'm in the area i'll stick to Alrewas, or the Swan at Fradley Junction. Not worth stopping your car for.
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If you want lukewarm food that has been, obviously, microwaved and then left on the side for ages before being delivered to your table as an afterthought then this is the pub for you!
Great if you want to sit and eat and have loads of screaming brats dragged past you. Unfortunately, they usually hang about whilst one of their parents waits for the other and they squabble like hell and stab each other in the eye with their fingers and scream.
Food ranges from expensive fish, chips and mushy peas (�7.75) to prawn and salmon taglietelle (tinned salmon even though the manager denies this, does she think I am stupid???) and the strangest tasting sauce in the world. Truly thought this food was off. Looked like it had been left out for months and the green stuff scraped off and then heated up.
If you want to wait approx 15 minutes for a drink whilst they staff service the blinking Whacky Warehouse adjoining the pub then this is fabulous. Really tiny no smoking area near the door where it is freezing and it doesn't make any difference because the pub stinks of stale cigarette smoke. Lovely!!!
anonymous - 21 Jan 2007 18:30 |
Dont bother. Staff to busy chatting to serve customers. Food ranges from ok'ish, to dismal.
Better to drive a couple of miles up the road to the Little chef, at least you get a picture of what you are paying for and you know what to expect there.
One to avoid i'm afraid.
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Suits flock to its doors in the afternoons to put some of its bland nosh on expenses. Its dismal. There's a restaurant where children are allowed and there's a creche where adults are allowed. The place stinks of fat and smoke. The beer tastes like cough syrup. What a waste of brick.
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