DESPITE an invasion of Slugs and Lettuces, the most common pub names in Britain remain The Red Lion, The Crown and The Royal Oak. So a quality of the name Pointing Dog is that it’s straight in at number one when Googled.
Just a bit of gentle advice, and coaxing from the Pointing Dog kitchen and ‘kidney-gate’ could have been avoided.
It’s also Cheadle Hulme’s very own ‘gastropub’. The place has been given a new lease of life by the owners of the mini-group Felicini and the city centre Grinch wine bar. The refit cost in excess of £1.5 million.
Dining Room
Impressed by my visit soon after the pub opened last July, I’ve been back a number of occasions. Often I’ve been pleased to observe one of the owners on hand looking after his investment: straightening place settings, chairs and adjusting the heating. This attention to detail pays off and the venue is always spotlessly clean and well-presented.
Service has consistently been very good too and my most recent visit was no exception. Greeted warmly, I was promptly seated and informed about the specials. Despite occasional niggles, I have generally had decent meals - the fish and chips is a particular favourite.
Sometimes things don’t work out.
On my most recent visit - the Manchester Confidential review stop-off - I opted for the daily set lunch, offering a starter and main for £12.95.
Baby steak and kidney pudding, creamy mash with chicken gravy, to start sounded just the ticket. Before it was brought to the table, I could smell the intoxicatingly richly scented jus. It was delivered like a dish for a king, carried and placed with care to avoid slop.
It looked as good as it smelt.
The dinky pudding and mash topping the large plump kidney kromeski was a picture, and the flavour and texture of the pudding and mash were excellent.
Cutting into the kidney though, looked carnal, a festival of blood. I usually have steaks rare and even enjoy raw liver but not being knowledgeable about kidney I beckoned over the waitress.
Kidney-gate
“Could you check with the chef to see if he’s happy with this being so bloody?" I asked. “I’ll happily eat it, if the kitchen feels it's right.”
The waitress went away, she came back. I was promptly informed of the kitchen's decision to prepare a replacement dish.
'Would have been better to explain to me about kidneys,' I thought, but I saw no reason to view it as a real problem. (Subsequently I’ve learnt that pink kidneys with a little blood is considered correct - and that’s all I’d needed to be told.)
The replacement dish was maybe making a point.
It was a third the size of the first one and the kidneys were cooked through so that no pinkness remained whatsoever. The pudding had also suffered. It wasn’t pert like the original but appeared to have been pushed into the mash.
Hopefully my main would fare better. This was the pan fried monkfish, grilled caper and shallot sauce and grilled vegetable pavé - see main picture above.
Starting with a positive, the pavé of aubergine, tomato, potato and courgette was very attractively done – sliced thinly and flecked with fresh herbs. More negatively, I found the accompanying caper and shallot sauce to be insipid. But the small size of the monkfish for the price had me shaking my head in disbelief. I got two decent bites from it, followed by a flat dry end.
Fat chips
The impressive fish and chips, being enjoyed by the two businessmen seated at the next table, reminded me of previous good experiences.
Thankfully, the fat chips for £2.75, served in a camping mug were up to their usual high standard. As was the 'warm chocolate fondant with runny chocolate middle, peanut butter ice cream, salted peanut brittle' for £5.50. This seemed a good reflection of the level of cooking I've encountered before at the Pointing Dog.
Good pudd
If a pub is man’s best friend it should be welcoming, friendly and reliable. Sadly, based on this disapPointing Dog experience, there is a question mark over the last of these.
Or rather there’s a lesson to be learned that stems from the brutal nature of catering. Unlike so many professions those cooking and providing our food and drink are under permanent examination, especially if they are making the food the main feature of the establishment.
Just a bit of gentle advice, and coaxing from the Pointing Dog kitchen - maybe one of the brigade could have popped out for two minutes, or at least the chef could have told the waitress what to say - and ‘kidney-gate’ could have been avoided.
Still taking all my visits together - and it would be artificial not too - then this is a cracking boozer and one of the best in the area for food. With that huge terrace it should be a summer favourite as well.
Let's just hope, should you visit, that you don't get the kitchen on a surly day.
Hungry Hoss is a man who likes his food. We may be seeing a lot more of him. And his nosh. You can follow him @HungryHoss
Pointing Dog, Grove Lane, Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, SK8 7NE, 0161 485 6031
Rating: 12.5/20
Food: 5/10 (I have rated my most recent meal. although, for an average over previous visits you could easily add 2 to the food.)
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Bar area
Terrace
