Strawberry, Barrow (post-£100,000 revamp)

Back in April, I reviewed the Strawberry pub in Barrow. While I praised the food generally and staff particularly, I described its interior as "jaded" and in need of an update.

Clearly, I wasn't the only person who thought the pub was due an overhaul. Its owner, Greene King, being of the same impression, has very recently spent a reported £100,000 on a revamp of this most well-known pub – so well-known it has a set of traffic controls colloquially named after it: the Strawberry Lights.

Time for a revisit to see how that £100,000 has been spent; so on Wednesday afternoon, my husband and I headed to Barrow and turned left into the car park just after the Strawberry Lights. And what a transformation.

Inside, gone are the tatty carpets, the old-fashioned booths, the chipped wallpaper and the general air of whatever the opposite of shabby-chic is. Smart checked carpets, new furniture, signature lighting and feature wallpapers abound.

Quirky and well-chosen artwork plus a wall of eclectic mirrors add a stylish touch – but not painfully so. This is clearly still very much the Strawberry (the television screens remain in abundance) but with extra cream.

We settled ourselves in the area which was formerly occupied by booths. The new arrangement (banquette one side, chairs the other) is far more customer friendly – and means a group of about 20 could easily be catered for should the need arise.

At nearly 4pm, we were out for a very, very late lunch/early dinner; but we were by no means the only dining customers. I'm a great fan of all-day dining and wonder why more places don't do it. Lots of tables were booked for that evening, I noticed – a sign of a pub doing well.

The menu is as extensive as ever – with meal deals galore. One gripe is that there could be far more starters. There are a mere three single starters (garlic bread, garlic mushrooms or tomato soup, ranging from £1.49 to £2.49), along with a sharing platter for £8.49.

We shared some garlic mushrooms, which were plentiful and tasty, with a well-dressed salad garnish.

The Strawberry appears to be particularly popular for its fish and chips. Two customers were prepared to wait for half an hour when the brilliantly-bantering barmaid informed them they were waiting on a delivery; and plenty more punters who came in while they were there also ordered the fish and chips.

I chose a lasagne – but that was unavailable as, in addition to the fish, there had been a run on lasagne that lunchtime, apparently. Fine by me – there is certainly plenty to choose from on the menu, so I ordered gammon, egg and chips for a fantastically reasonable £4.99.

Gordon went for the mixed grill at £9.99, from the "giant plates" section of the menu. There are some seriously good meal deals here – pensioners (or "seniors", to give them their politically correct title) for example, can have two courses for just £3.99 – or three for another quid. Why bother cooking at that price?

Our main courses were both seriously good as pub grub goes. Gordon's mixed grill included a beautifully-tender piece of steak, cooked exactly to his requirement of rare. There was sausage, gammon, fried egg, chicken, onions rings, mushrooms, chips, tomatoes, peas... a gargantuan feast.

My gammon came with two perfectly-fried eggs, chips and peas. I donated my grilled tomato to Gordon, just case he felt he might go hungry.

Throughout, the service was just excellent. The barmaid, who was also busy serving food (along with a very cheerful and helpful young man) was great; bringing drinks to the table and keeping up a cheerful repartee with the customers. How refreshing to see staff who so clearly enjoy dealing with the public.

I nipped to the loo to see how the revamp has affected the ladies, so to speak. It's all smart grey tiles (a tad severe to some eyes, perhaps, but I rather liked it) and very spacious cubicles. Needless to say, everything is spotlessly clean.

Having both been unable to finish our meat, the young waiter who took Gordon's pudding order kindly took it away and wrapped it up for our dogs, who had a field day when we got home.

Gordon's cherry and apple slice with custard (£2.29) was generous and delicious. A nice touch is that 20p from each portion sold goes to Macmillan, the cancer nursing charity. While we were there, the barmaid brought round leaflets for all the tables about the Strawberry Fizzy Fridays which began yesterday; and which I am sure will go down a storm – fizzy Fridays seemingly quite the in-thing these days, along with vintage afternoon teas.

In all, with drinks, our meal came to an immensely good value £25. The Strawberry revamp is a real success, providing smart surroundings which entirely do justice to the great value food and – even more importantly – the superb staff.

Louise Allonby


Ratings

Food 4

Service 5

Atmosphere 4

Value 5

Pros

Great meal deals

Serves food all day

Smart decor

Cons

Not enough starter choices

Limited parking