By LOUISE ALLONBY

SAFE in the knowledge that fruit is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, I headed this week to the Strawberry pub in Barrow. 

It was supposed to be a girly catch-up with one of my oldest friends. But we ended up with a gatecrasher in the shape of my husband who, having offered to chauffeur us there, decided to pop in for "a swift pint", which turned into a swift pint plus a three-course meal with us.

 It's years since I've been in "the Berry". I used to pop in for after-work drinks in another life, but it's probably at least 25 years since I last set foot in the place. 

Not much seemed to have changed on my visit on Tuesday evening. Apart from the fact that smokers are now exiled to an outdoor area near the side door. Inside, it's not the most glamorous of pubs; and the decor and furnishings seem to be showing their age. 

But it's clearly very popular, and even on a wet and miserable Tuesday teatime there were plenty of punters - including families dining and others who, like my husband, had popped in just for a swift pint. 

Overhead lighting and television screens don't make for great ambience for diners; but I get that pubs such as The Strawberry get a lot of trade from people who want to watch sport. 

Part of the Greene King chain, the Berry has a "meet and eat" menu. It's standard fare of this type of pub: cheap, cheerful and plentiful, with no gastronomic surprises and lots of carb-heavy dishes. 

There isn't a great choice of starters - garlic mushrooms, prawn cocktail and tomato soup being about as interesting as it gets for individual dishes, all great value, though, at around £2.50. 

We decided to try the sharing platter at £8.49, which was more than enough for the three of us; and we were all pretty impressed. There was scampi, garlic bread (which could have been a lot more garlicky for my taste), chicken wings, breaded garlic mushrooms, potato wedges, onion rings, salad and dips. 

All nicely presented and tasty (apart from the onion rings which were poor).

 Hopeless if you're on the Atkins diet, though. Had we not already ordered mains, we would not have left feeling hungry. While we waited for our main courses to arrive, we girls enjoyed a second glass of wine each; and my friend Maureen entertained us with a hilarious tale of being chased through Barrow (many years ago) by a dog, after she had just left a house containing an on-heat bitch. The image of her legging it along Cavendish Street with an amorous Alsation clinging on to her back had Gordon and me guffawing into our drinks. "Luckily, I was wearing Jesus sandals, so I managed to outrun it," was the droll payoff to the story.

For our main courses, I had chosen a cheeseburger for a very reasonable £4-something, after being advised by the very friendly woman behind the bar not to "go large" for another £1 - you'll never manage it, was her advice. 

And I wouldn't have. It was a really thick burger, served with a bucket of chips and a generous salad. Gordon (who hadn't actually ordered a main, what with him only staying for a few minutes) ended up eating a good half of it. 

He then polished off what Maureen couldn't manage of her chicken tikka with rice, chips and poppadoms - great value at under £7. 

We all stuck a fork in - and it was very good for the price. I've had far less tasty curries in local pubs for a lot more money. 

Gordon had apple pie and custard for pudding, to round off a very enjoyable early evening meal. 

This is not gastropub food - it's cheap and cheerful pub grub which is great value and unpretentious. 

Our meal at the Strawberry was considerably better than meals we have tried at other pubs in this chain. The food service was good, although the bar service suffered slightly as a result. 

The Strawberry might be showing its age in terms of decor and atmosphere; but despite that, we all enjoyed our visit.

Pros

Good pub grub 

Friendly staff

Cons

Limited parking 

Jaded interior 

TV screens are distracting

Scores

Food 3 

Service 3 

Value 4 

Atmosphere 2