Mad O'Rourkes Pie Factory

I’ve been to the pie factory three times now, and this visit was another reminder that the food here is a lot more exciting than standard pub grub. I started with the black pudding cake and egg. It was like a fishcake, but with good-quality black pudding tucked into smooth mash, coated in golden crumbs, and topped with a runny egg. So tasty with a Lump Hammer ale. For my main, I had a bolognaise pie with cheese and garlic bread on top, plus battered chips. Everything was freshly made, and the flavours worked brilliantly. The battered onion rings, made in fish-and-chip-shop batter, were some of the best I’ve had. The food is locally sourced, the meal was great value, service was quick, and the staff were really friendly. There are other goodies too, and I’d definitely recommend it if you want to excite your taste buds.

My husband found this place and convinced the family to come for a Twixmas lunch. I’m glad he did. There are lots of tempting choices for meat eaters, but we don’t eat meat and still felt well catered for. The two veggie and vegan options we shared tasted great, and we added the optional Stilton to our vegan pie. We liked the humour and atmosphere, and I’m sure we’ll make the trip back. There’s a decent-sized free car park, a separate kids’ menu, and dishes besides pies as well.

We stopped in for a couple of drinks while our dog was at the groomer’s. The atmosphere was friendly and the drinks were reasonably priced. We didn’t eat, so I can’t comment on the food, but we’ll definitely come back.

My dad’s pie and my sirloin steak were lovely, and the starter was hot, tasty and gave us hope for the rest of the meal. Mum’s fish with mash was disappointing, though. The fish seemed to have been cooked from frozen, the mushy peas were lukewarm, and the mash wasn’t much better. We’d heard good things from a friend and were looking forward to dinner with the family, but even though the place was nearly empty, it took ages for anyone to take our food and drink orders. There seemed to be more staff than customers, which should have been a sign to leave. After we finished eating, nobody asked about more drinks or dessert. We gave up, paid and left. The staff seemed more interested in standing around chatting than serving, so we won’t return.