CityLife Rating
Merlin
MOST pubs fail to move swiftly when it comes to Sunday lunch and the Great British weather.
I can’t recall spotting a fantastic salad or light fish dish making it on to the specials board of many pubs during a glorious summer’s afternoon – most stick to the usual gravy train of roast dinners, despite temperatures hitting the 80s.
The only concession most landlords make to the weather is that dodgy last-minute rustle-up: the barbecue.
But I suppose if all you want from of a meal is a salad, you can throw one together yourself, and that mindset ruled our thinking at The Merlin, just outside Alderley Edge’s centre.
Inventive salads
There is a wide variety of food on the Merlin’s menu – and for a decent price compared to some places nearby – with lighter meals, including pasta, pizza and inventive salads.
But though summer had come early, all the Merlin’s better value Sunday two-course options came on a hot plate. They sounded too good to miss, though.
The pub was a palatial home when it was built in the 1880s and it still looks like a small, traditional country house, with ivy sneaking around the lattice windows.
Modern Cheshire chic
But inside, The Merlin is full-on modern Cheshire chic with tasteful, complementary colours and expensive furniture, all designed with its reputation as a hangout for wannabe wags in mind.
But it being the hottest day of the year so far, we opted for a table in the beer garden, which fronts the pub. It is a little noisy, with the A34 roaring by next to it, but I suppose The Merlin is place people like to be seen drinking outside.
However, my drink was rather sub-standard – the real ale at least. My pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was flat as the Cheshire Plain the pub stands on and their Black Sheep was even more lifeless. There is a decent, Italian-heavy wine list, though.
Food is much better. Our kids had mini versions of the stone-baked pizzas, which were cracking value at just £3.30 apiece.
Marauding pet
My flavour-heavy roast mushroom starter was followed by a roast chicken dinner (£11.45) while opposite a big wodge of taramasalata came before a good loin of pork (£10.95) with great, crunchy crackling.
And that crackling seemed to be the favourite of The Merlin’s marauding pet, a smoky grey cat, which was bagging food at each table. He also didn’t go for the salad.
The Merlin, 5-9 Wilmslow Road, Alderley Edge, Cheshire SK9 7QN (01625 599 959)
Reviewed: Tue, 09 June, 2009
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