The Rivington Pub & Grill (formerly The Ridgeway Arms) in Blackrod is a warm, cosy, and comfortable…read moretraditional English pub, with a large focus on dining. If you enter the Rivington from the car park, you would firstly think that you've walked into a the bar of a pleasant restaurant, complete with leather winged armchairs, candles, and historical photos of the area. If you walked into the Rivington from the other entrance, you would think that you've walked into a traditional and friendly pub, complete with a roaring fireplace, wood panelling, and comfortable chairs. Fortunately, both are true. Whether you're there for a pint, or there for your dinner, the warm and pleasantly decorated and furnished surroundings automatically make you feel relaxed and comfortable. The main dining area for the restaurant side of the pub is in a horseshoe shape, with open fireplaces on each end, and a raised seating area in the centre. The food offered has something for everyone, ranging from the traditional to the modern, but done superbly well, and in good portions. The head waiter told us how nothing is ever frozen, and everything is bought and created freshly, hence sometimes there can be a wait for your food, but frankly if you want good food created fresh, you should anticipate a bit of a wait. It only makes sense For starters, I had the Saddleback Ribs, which were in a delicious BBQ sauce, which was very much a home made sauce, rather than the thick ketchup-like BBQ sauce you seem to find everywhere today. The meat was so tender, that I was able to simply lift it up, and the bone fell out! Very tasty indeed! The serving staff here are friendly and helpful, but for many of them it seems English is not their first language. This isn't a criticism as much as an observation, and a note that a few times we had to say things a couple of times before they understood, as we were often asked "sorry, what was that?". My only criticism might be a one off, as we asked the head waiter for our bill, but it didn't arrive, and after 15 minutes we asked another waiter about it, but as we did so, we saw the head waiter walk in, see us, and have a moment of realisation, before he dashed off to the bar to collect our bill. Everyone forgets something now and then, but as soon as he realised, he was on it! Although there are many vegetarian dishes available, I do have to say that the Rivington's forté is their meat! All of their steaks are dry aged for 32 days hung on the bone, and all of their beef is from traditional breed cattle. My personal favourite dish here is the rare breed minute flash-steak, which is tender, juicy, and full of flavour (as were my dining companions' above dishes too!). My flash steak came a specific way, but for other meats you are asked how you want it cooked, and obviously which sauces and accompaniments you would like. Steaks cooked without a sauce get lightly drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. I personally love their chips! Big, chunky, old fashioned chips. Proper comfort food! I feel I must point out that when asked what he thought of the Herdwick Lamb Chops, my father-in-law, who is a very difficult man to impress, declared them "excellent!", which frankly blew the rest of us away (my mother-in-law dropped her fork!). This is an old fashioned man who would usually say something was "not bad" or at most "not bad at all!", but to declare a food 'excellent' is something we've not heard before... so that's saying something! They offer a nice selection of after-dinner goodies, from teas and coffees to after-dinner tipples, but as beautiful as their desserts sound, I have yet only ever had their sticky toffee pudding, which is home-made and very light (not stodgy and heavy like you'd imagine) and served with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce (my favourite!). It's not that I don't want to try their other desserts, but I can't resist their sticky toffee pudding whenever I'm given the choice!! Frankly I should go there one day and JUST have a couple of desserts! The Rivington Pub and Grill is superb basically, and if you've only ever been there when it was The Ridgeway, I emplore you to go along and give it a try! Maybe have one of their amazing sunday roast dinners. It's the sort of place you could go as a couple, with friends, your parents, or even the whole family. It's a good example of a traditional English dining pub done right! I look forward to my next visit.

If you are looking for a traditional cosy English pub then look no further!…read more The Rivington Pub and Grill, formerly the Ridgeway arms, is the perfect place for a quiet drink or tasty pub grub. The modern yet traditional interior with open log fires makes you feel right at home. The extensive menu has something for everyone and the prices are extremely reasonable for the quality of the food. There are truly no pubs like this around the local area, it's a gem! I am a regular customer!

We have been here a few times now, it's a brilliant place for a pint. We always get great service…read morefrom Ray at the bar, who's always on point. We would highly recommend.

Had a decent enough meal at an off-peak time on Sunday afternoon. The wait for both starters and…read moremain courses was just about 5 minutes longer than would be reasonable. I ordered a bottle of Barefoot wine, but the one I wanted was the only one not in stock. Typical! The barman did offer me a sample of an alternative to try which was very nice so I did order a bottle of 'Quando'. Most tables are in dimly lit corners unless you sit close to the front windows. Potato skins for starter were very nice, served with sour cream. The garlic mushrooms were served on a piece of bread and in a creamy sauce which looked a bit like baby food. For mains, I had the gammon steak and southern chicken skewers combo. The chicken was a bit dry and tough. However, having been to Louisiana, that's genuinely how they make it there. I have to say, the gammon was delicious. My dining companion had the scampi, that was delicious too. I'd happily go back if in the area, but would try for a table near a window and probably wouldn't bother with a starter as it just took too long.

I may be slightly bias as the owners are my sister-in-law to be and her husband. It has been open…read morefor about a year now. This is only the second time I have eaten here, they are very accommodating. We had our engagement party there and they were both helpful and professional. The restaurant occupies the bottom floor with a cocktail bar on the top floor, which has a fantastic lighting and music system. An equally amazing cocktail list to match, my personal personal favourite STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI, which takes me straight back to my holidays! We ate there Tuesday night with two good friends from Chorley, we had a drink in the bar then made our way to the table. There is a normal menu with starters and mains along with a tapas menu. I had the meatballs off the tapas as my starter, I was not let down by the juicy, succulent homemade meatballs. Main course normally I have a steak when we eat out, I thought I'd break the habit so I ordered chicken breast stuffed with garlic and basil, wrapped in pancetta services with new potato's (which were slightly roasted and amazing) along with a creamy tomato and chorizo sauce. Which was to die for!!!!!! After all that I was too full to have a pudding! Defiantly worth a visit!

Really liked it in here. Didn't know they do food so will definitely try that next time. the…read moreoutside bit is cool as well for those who wanna sit n smoke. Not me. No way. In the warmth upstairs. Reminds me of a cool little wine bar from the 90s. The waiters are nice eye candy and good and cocktails. And they are cheap. Music was good. Didn't check the toilets out which is unusual for Me. Would defo go back. Was very busy for Saturday. If you at loose end in chorley. Get your butt down here

But Adam, dubTAP is a new tap room and bottle shop from the guys behind Drink Up Brewing, and you…read moredon't drink, so why are you doing a Yelp review on dubTAP? Well I'll tell you why, you little scamp, you! Because I thought the same thing! I thought dubTAP were just a new drinking hole, and so despite the popularity and praises being sung, I didn't visit until recently, because I found out that they also do food, and also serve soft drinks and hot drinks. Hooray! The venue itself is on Lee Lane in Horwich, in a former small take-away unit, but despite their small size, they've used the space well, and I'm told have further plans to open the first floor for a more specific dining space, showing that they have every intent to keep the food coming, rather than it being an afterthought at a bar. As you walk in (mind your head, the doors are low in this place!), the first thing that strikes you is that with the wood cladding on the walls, lamp shades made from reclaimed metal containers, aspace saving seating, and long bar, it feels very much like somewhere you would find in Manchester's Northern Quarter, but slotted into Horwich. The welcome is warm, and as we walk in we notice a family on the left hand side sharing a table with some parents and their little girl, everyone having breakfast. This is a good sign. At some bars which are just simple boozers, you expect to walk in at 10:30am to simply find middle aged blokes called Frank sat around on their third pint, but dubTAP have realised that you can have a drink based venue, but one that still appeals to families and the non-drinking crowd by offering things like food, Fentimans soft drinks, and tea and coffee. As I mentioned, there's not a huge amount of seating in the downstairs space, but the best has been made of the space to allow people to sit without chairs and tables cramming all into the space. We sat on a side-bar with stools and read the food menu, which sounds very good, some really nice ideas for simple lunches, such as steak Canadian and black pudding scotch eggs, but today we fancied a bit of breakfast, and so opted for some toast, and the full breakfast, as well as a pot of tea for two. The tea came promptly, in a funky teapot and Le Creuset mugs, which kept them hot for ages, very nice. Breakfast however on this instance for us was a bit of a miss. We found the food to be a bit greasy and not of the highest quality, and also the toast was burnt, both the toast with the breakfast and the toast I had myself. But this of course is just our opinion, for a lot of people this would be just fine, and a good price. It's certainly on a par with many of the other breakfast offerings in Horwich. The reviews of the place for drink offerings are nothing short of stellar, and both the food reviews and photos of the general menu are also very complimenting, and look amazing to boot, but I think they've only just started doing breakfasts, and as the place has only been open a very short period, it stands to reason that they are still finding their footing in some regards, so I wouldn't judge the place on this one miss (for us). I think once they've been doing them for a while longer, get some better ingredients and they turn the toaster down a bit, they'll be on their way! The service was friendly and efficient, and it was nice to hear the plans for the future of the place, with a bigger focus on dining, so despite the underwhelming breakfast, I'd go back again to try some of those other dishes on the menu! What's also nice is that as it's right in the middle of Horwich, there's plenty of free parking on streets and free parking all around the area making it easy to visit. But clearly, dubTAP is aimed first and foremost at drinking, rather than eating, and for those visiting to try out the alcoholic refreshments on offer, I think you're in for a treat, as there is a massive selection available, from the cans and bottles displayed in the large chiller units opposite the bar, to wine menu, and the blackboard boasting the daily offerings such as "Beelzebub's Tears" and "Big Bertha". How could you resist?

I only ever drove past The Blundell Arms. It's very near where I live, so I drive past it a lot! It…read morejust looked like another pub, and not very popular, as I never saw anyone parked outside. But in recent times I noticed A-boards outside mentioning food, so after a long time of realising this, I decided to look online, and lo and behold, it's not just a pub that has "food available", but a full on food-centric pub! Hoorah! When I drove there, I realised that the reason it looked so quiet and lacking in cars is because there's actually a sizeable car park BEHIND it, and that in turn is the entrance people tend to use to access it. When I walked in, I was very pleasantly surprised, this pub was not only very expansive in side (perhaps not in terms of headroom in some of the older parts!) but was wonderfully traditional, with beautiful rustic beams running throughout, and many nods to its past as a court house, showing the old stone placard, and a window showing the traditional wattle and daub construction. The other thing I noticed is that this was a very bright space. The winter sunshine truly cascades through the windows, giving a wonderfully comfortable feeling. This place had a 'good' feeling as soon as I entered. I was greeted by a friendly staff member who took me to a table nestled amongst the rustic beams, where I was given the menus, and had chance to also peruse the lunch menu. The lunch menu was really good value, and I'd happily order from it, but in this instance I noticed on the main menu, amongst all the delicious traditional and classic pub food offerings, and "chef's inspired dishes" was a gourmet burger. So I opted for that! I took the time waiting to have a look round at the rest of the place, which is where Ashleigh, the staff member, told me about the building's previous uses, and how pleasant the place looks at night with all the lights lighting up the corners of this old building. When my burger arrived, I was quite pleased. The presentation was simple but that's all it needed to be, as it was a big burger, and a pot of triple-cooked chips. The chips were great, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. The burger was tasty, but I wouldn't call it 'gourmet', as it was quite a standard burger, but grilled fully through rather than pink (due to health and safety demands usually), so it wasn't juicy, but was still tasty, regardless. The bacon on the burger was a bit fatty though, I had to pull strands of it off, but that's merely my personal preference. For the price, it was a good burger, and a tasty lunch. I'd certainly order it again. All in all, I was pleased I came to The Blundell Arms! I didn't realise it was such a lovely building, and didn't realise they had such a large offering to eat, so I'll definitely be back to try some more of the menu, especially the dessert menu... there were a few things on there I very much liked the look of, but as the burger was so filling, I didn't quite have the room. Maybe next time I'll go for the lunch menu instead of my eyes being bigger than my belly! Next time, Blundell.... NEXT TIME!!!

A really nice pub/restaurant that dates back to when the world was black and white and everybody…read morehad a horse and cart. Food is good but can take a while to get to you as the service is a little slow. A liitle on the pricy side for nothing that is out of this world. Huge range of wines and beers all this in fantastic ye olde worldy settings.

The Original Bay Horse, for some reason, has the unflattering and unfair nickname of 'The Flea…read morePit'. This may be down to the fact that a couple of minutes of staggering and you'll find another pub called The Bay Horse. This is definitely the finer of the two and, arguably, the best pub in the area. You see, what we have here is a proper country pub. Exposed beams and brass topped table and a bar that serves some really wonderful real ales (including the fantastic local Bank Top brews). The price of a pint in here is outrageously cheap (especially if you're used to city prices) and out the back of the pub is a great outdoor seated area. If you do nip in for a pint and the weather is nice, be sure to check out the ashtrays on the tables in the garden as you'll find that they're metallic dog dishes that have been nailed down. It's the quirky things like that which really make a pub for me. A must visit and a stone's throw to the bracing and frankly gorgeous West Pennine Moors.

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