Vale Royal Abbey Arms

Someone from this business manages this listing.

839 reviews

#1 of 3 Restaurants in Oakmere££ - £££, Bar, British, Pub

+44 1606 882747+ Add website

Hours

Sun

12:00 - 20:00

Mon

12:00 - 21:00

Tue

12:00 - 21:00

Wed

12:00 - 21:00

Thu

12:00 - 21:00

Fri

12:00 - 21:00

Sat

12:00 - 21:00

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.0

839 reviews

#1 of 3 Restaurants in Oakmere

Travellers' Choice 2023

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, Bar, British, Pub, Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options

“Next time a little bit more curry with the fish and chips please haha it’s am...”

“We enjoyed our Sunday roast dinner immensely!!”

Special Occasion Dining, Groups, Bar Scene, Business meetings

“What a warm, friendly, busy pub”

“... the staff are really friendly and knowledgeable about their business.”

Location and contact

Chester Road At Junction of A556 and B5152 Abbey Lane, Oakmere CW8 2HB England

+44 1606 882747

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Is this location primarily known for Bars & Pubs?

Yes

Unsure

Details

Manage this business?

About

Part of JWLees brewery, providing a warm, friendly welcome to diners and drinkers alike. Situated in Oakmere next to beautiful Delmaere with a large beer garden and plenty of parking. We serve the best Ales from JWLees along with fresh and tasty home made food & a great selection of wines and spirits. Not to mention we are dog friendly. The perfect place to stop after a long walk!

PRICE RANGE

£4.00 – £18.00

CUISINES

Bar, British, Pub

Special Diets

Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Buffet, Seating, Parking Available, Validated Parking, Free off-street parking, Television, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Digital Payments, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Dog Friendly

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4.0

839 reviews

Excellent

498

Very good

154

Average

Poor

Terrible

GloriaChris M

Chester10 contributions

Excellent food and service

Dec 2019 • none

We have had 3/4 visits to this restaurant/pub and it’s always been very good food. It’s a big place so you can usually get a table easy enough. Car park is huge too. The Sunday lunch is exceptionally good. We had 4 people with wine and 2 courses for 100 pounds which is very fair I think.

Written 3 January 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

samantha.kingsley

Frodsham8 contributions

Average at Best

Jul 2020 • family

Ate here with my mum and we were pretty much one of the first tables in. All social distancing was impressive, the pub is always beautiful and clean. Food was average at best, salad was missing ingredients - these were brought but no apology offered. We ordered a small wine but got a medium, waited a decent while for the tasteless pâté starter to be taken away, the staff never checked on the food once, surely this could be done if the pub is quiet at the time? Just generally disappointed with the service. You can get much friendlier, more attentive service elsewhere and with nicer food in our opinion.

Written 24 July 2020

Kathryn C

51 contributions

Fantastic food and service

Jan 2020 • none

Visited on a quiet Monday evening. Welcome was warm and friendly. The decor and ambience was smart but relaxed. Beautiful real fire in the bar area added to the atmosphere and comfortable surroundings. If you have dogs there is a nice touch at the front entrance including dog snacks and some water and just leave a donation to a dog charity. I thought a real thoughtful thing was the newspapers and books to read but with the option to use a selection of reading glasses incase you have forgotten your own. There were also colouring sheets for little ones. Our orders were taken and specials explained and recommendations made when asked. The food arrived and the first thing we all said was wow. The pesentation was second to none. Then came the taste ,absolutely exceptional. Between us we had the small fish and chips ( small in name only ,but not complaining) My dad who is 90 and a connoisseur on fish and said at last someone who knows how to cook fish and chips. Both were light an crispy and the homemade tartare sauce was delicious. I decided to plumb for steak baguette with all the trimmings. It was delicious and the gluten free buns that I swapped for the baguette were divine and crusty and did not crumble or fall apart which is what normally happens. My husband opted for the gammon chop which he devoured saying it was moist,tasty and cooked to perfection. Then the must do ,the desserts, Yum,Yum yum lemon meringue fantastic with a homemade taste no fake lemon filling here,sticky toffee pudding with custard perfect and lastly the special of salted caramel chocolate tart and raspberries and ice cream. All in all a fantastic meal which will see us definitely returning again and again. There were specials also of Venison Wellington and a salmon dish.

Written 20 January 2020

Courtenay

Hilton Head2 contributions

Excellent food and ambiance

Jan 2020 • none

We enjoyed a family dinner at your restaurant last Sunday evening and were highly impressed with the quality and quantity of food that was provided. It was my first time having a traditional English roast and it did not disappoint. The food was delicious and with a large table of 10 ppl it was delivered in a timely fashion by a very accommodating server. Thanks for a great experience, as I'm sure we will be back again on our next visit.

Written 9 January 2020

terribthorium

Paderborn111 contributions

Joyful New Year's dinner

Dec 2019 • couples

We have been here for the New Year's dinner with a special 5 course menu. The food but also the staff was wonderful and everyone celebrated together in the end. A very pleasant way to start into 2020. The portions have just been right and not overwhelming. Neither for me not my girlfriend. Handmade sweet potatoes gnocchis were fabulous and the fillet was on point medium rate. Just lovely!

Written 1 January 2020

Raymond P

Crewe395 contributions

Cheeky Sunday Lunch

Oct 2020 • none

Booked Sunday Lunch at The Royal Vale Abbey Arms. We had traditional Sunday Lunch , Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding with all that goes with it. Our meals were cooked to perfection with a little pot of extra gravy as standard. Generous portions, plenty of beef, mashed and roast potatoes a varied assortment of vegetables. All the staff we came into contact with were cheerful ,friendly, helpful and clearly enjoyed what they were doing. Daniel, our waiter was just fantastic, a natural at customer service , who genuinely wanted to help and look after his customers, sometimes in difficult circumstances where individuals were just not nice. Always kept a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. Well done Daniel definately another visit to be had.

Written 8 October 2020

Suzanne D

Old Colwyn17 contributions

Ok good but poor service

Feb 2022 • family

We visited on a Sunday evening, we’d booked a table, we’re asked to stand by the bar whilst the table was cleaned (not ideal with 3 children) but they sorted within 5 minutes and seated us. We ordered fairly quickly, and the waitress was friendly and efficient. I don’t know if it’s because we didn’t order a Sunday lunch but our food took 30 minutes to arrive(chicken burger, cheese and onion pie and 3 children’s meals). The food was ok, the pie was yummy And children’s meals were good. Chicken burger was dry and lacking in taste - nobody did a check back to feed back about the burger. After waiting with dirty plates for over ten minutes someone finally came to clear the table, another long wait to order the kids ice creams and another long wait for them to arrive (3 children’s ice creams shouldn’t take ten minutes - especially when there were 4 waiting on staff standing around talking in the restaurant). Overall, value for money it was exactly what we expected. However, the service was a lot to be desired - and as there were only 4 tables in the restaurant side when we were finally getting our mains they were not rushed off their feet.

Written 26 February 2022

Sam S

Hi Suzanne D, Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. With Sunday being the busiest day of the week im glad to you didn't have to wait too long for a table. I will say that as we cook from fresh, not pre cooked 20-30 minutes on a busy day is quite expected. I do apologise if the service fell below standard on this day however and will look into the chicken burger further to ensure this doesn't happen again. This isn't like our usual high standards so i hope we will see you again.

Written 21 April 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Kelly W

95 contributions

Awful steak, just don’t buy it!

May 2021 • family

Whilst mine and my daughter’s meals were lovely, my partner had to return his £18.95 sirloin as it was mainly fat. It looked disgusting and had been covered in sauce & greenery almost as if trying to hide the poor quality. The menu boasts that each steak is selected by their own butcher.. well the butcher should be spoken to! We upgraded to the £22 fillet, which then took 25 minutes to come out. So partner ate alone as we had completely finished our food by then. Slow service & the waitress was defensive / unhelpful. Such a shame as this is our local pub but we won’t return. The bill totalled £73 and a discount would have been the professional thing to do but they honestly couldn’t have cared less. So disappointed as we’ve highly recommended this place to other, who have visited because of it. I will always praise the food in general but do NOT BUY ANY STEAK. And the staff should be trained in how to handle returned poor quality meals.

Written 4 June 2021

Bosschippy

Liverpool233 contributions

Nicest Sunday roast ever

Mar 2020 • friends

Called into The Vale Royal Arms after walking one sunday afternoon in Delamere forest. It is a dog friendly establishment. We all ordered a sunday roast, I ordered 3 meat sunday roast, all of us thoroughly enjoyed our meals, it was the nicest I can remember having in a long time. Recommended, looking forward to returning soon.

Written 1 March 2020

LairdIanOfGlencairn

Runcorn35 contributions

Excellent meal

Jan 2020 • couples

Took my wife for a meal last night, she had Salmon Provencale from the New Healthy menu, which was really tasty, I had the Sea bass fillet with pasta and white wine sauce off the main menu which was fantastic. We also had dessert, lemon meringue was great as was the apple crumble. Service couldn't be faulted, service with a smile every time, nothing is too much trouble. I very highly recommend the Vale Royal Abbey Arms.

Written 15 January 2020

amronkram

Cheshire17 contributions

Amazing

Aug 2020 • friends

Visited here Friday night was very efficient all the staff had face shields on which I feel is utmost important, staff could not do enough, sanitizers as you come on & on leaving. Food very good we all had the large fish & chips was lovely but far too large for all of us so that tells you how big it was first meal that I didn't finish. Would recommend this place to all my friends as I felt very safe with this coronavirus.

Written 22 August 2020

jacqui l

3 contributions

Disappointing

Aug 2022 • couples

My husband and I rarely eat out and this is why. What looked like a good value lunch menu the food was distinctly average (that is being generous) we can do a lot better cooking at home. However not bad enough to write a negative review what was disappointing was that I had to return my meal as it contained a long black hair (I am blonde) and fair enough they apologised and replaced it which meant my meal arrived after my husband had finished his but we weren't offered any compensation such as a free drink or dessert. This will be our first and last visit I'm afraid.

Written 31 August 2022

Sam S

Hi jacqui l Sorry to hear of your disappointment. Our lunch menu is usually such a hit so apologies if it wasn't up to standard on your visit. We do try to correct things before customers leave if any problems arise. Kind regards

Written 2 September 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Joe

Manchester30 contributions

Good pub food

Apr 2021 • couples

My girlfriend and I ate here a few weeks ago and although it was a little chilly, we still enjoyed our experience here. We ate at 6 o’clock and by that time the sun had gone for the day, hence why it was chilly. We both had the cheese and onion pie and chips and it was a lovely, big, thick slice. In fact so big, my girlfriend struggled to finish hers. To wash it down, I enjoyed a nice cold pint, whist my girlfriend went for a cocktail, an espresso martini - her favourite. We finished by sharing a cheese cake which was very small for the price and didn’t taste great but we still found room for it. Other than that, nice time and I’m sure you’ll be likely to see us again in the near future.

Written 13 May 2021

andybell123

Delamere185 contributions

The best place in Delamere for delicious food and drinks, and a real asset to our community

May 2021 • none

Following the last lockdown, I was really keen to try and support the Abbey Arms in any way I could as a resident in Delamere. The booking process was really simple and on arrival I was warmly welcomed by the team and told the COVID secure processes that were in place. There are a wide variety of dishes to choose from, most notable is the LEGENDARY Cheese and Onion pie, which I had with Chips and Garden peas. The beer was lovely and chilled, and there's always something different to try. The desserts were also very tempting, I decided to try the cheesecake which was lovely. The Abbey Arms is an incredible place which has amazing food and wonderful caring staff, and I would have no doubts in recommending the Abbey to any visitor who visits Delamere Thank you Steve and the Abbey Arms team for everything you have done for making our community such an amazing place and for all your hard work.

Written 21 May 2021

Kate

Merseyside9 contributions

Poor service

Apr 2023 • none

We ordered 2 children’s meals and 2 sides. After we had finished we were made aware that the children’s meals came with free ice cream. We asked for a normal dessert menu and when she bought the menu to the table we requested two children’s ice creams. The place had emptied by the time we had finished our food but the staff continued to ignore us and focus on setting up for a large booking. No children’s ice creams arrived and even though I had asked for a dessert menu no one came to check what I wanted. We waited so long with multiple staff walking past us that after a long time of trying to get their attention and waiting we requested the bill and left. We have visited before in 2018 and loved it but after our last visit we would not come again.

Written 15 April 2023

Sam Stafford

Hi 1498kate, Thank you for taking the time to provide valuable feedback about our service. We apologize that your experience wasn't up to our usual standards. We hope you‘ll give us another chance to prove ourselves. Kind regards

Written 5 May 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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