The Rope & Anchor

Rescued from the rural pub doldrums a few years back, Dunham Massey’s The Rope & Anchor, close to Bowdon, Hale and Altrincham, now offers a full food menu and Sunday roast, a range of JW Lees cask ales and lagers, a big beer garden with play area, and The Barn function space.

Lunch or dinner, the eating offer gets a regular refresh to match the season and there are “options to suit all occasions, whether it be a quick snack or a leisurely meal”. Smaller plates include goats cheese salad, whole baked Camembert with dippers, and button mushrooms in a creamy Stilton sauce; for less cheesey options, think chicken and brandy pâté with toasted sourdough and apple and cider chutney, garlic-baked shell-on king prawns, or chorizo and butter bean “plato pequeño” (where plato pequeño means small plate). Pub favourites take in a slice of The Rope & Anchor’s own legendary homemade three cheese and onion pie and classic fish and chips, the cod fried in a batter made from Lees’ own golden Manchester Pale Ale, brewed in Manchester entirely from all British malt. Other freshly prepared dishes include slow-braised lamb shank on a bed of spring onion champ and grilled pork loin marinated in garlic and herbs and served in a flatbread with houmous, tzatziki, pomegranate, and tomato and red onion salad. From the grill, you can order steaks – sirloin, ribeye, gammon and cauliflower – and, indeed, other meat-free choices include a plant-based burger, vegan “meatball” linguine and red pepper, mixed bean and aubergine chilli with rice and tortilla. Sundays see traditional roasts, such as perfectly pink roast beef, served with all the trimmings, bottomless gravy and unlimited giant Yorkshire puddings, sharing platters for two or daily specials such as pan-fried sea bass fillet with a light fresh garden salad.

Puds include baked cheesecake, chocolate brownie, cheese selection (of course) and the roast pineapple that features on the website – with boozy smoothie, maple syrup and ice cream, who blames them? Or you could just enjoy a pitstop pint as you pass by on one of the many nearby walking, cycling and indeed horseriding routes, such as the leafy Trans Pennine Trail.

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