Withy Arms

Had a great meal here on a quiet uesday afernoon. I went for the salt and pepper chicken wings to start then the pulled chicken burger.
The starter was excellent and tasted very fresh. However, my burger was just ok… I felt it was just a litle to sloppy for my liking although it did taste great. The prices are reasonable which is a bonus. My dad had the chicken goujons which were fantastic and then the fish and chips.
The pint of beer which I had (awesome I think it was called) was a very tasty one. I will definitely be back when I next visit my parents.

Oh dear. Yet again a management change makes or destroys a business. And I’m afraid the change here is bad news. Destroy is probably too strong but the food which was once near perfect is now just a shadow of itself. Staff don’t seem as professional as they were either. I’m no snob but a 20ish barman shouldn’t be addressing me as «mate». They retain some credit for the real ale still being good but thats all I will be having until the food improves back to where it once was.
Last night’s visit cost 12 quid in cabs for one round of drinks. Oh well Withy’s loss was Bangla Spices gain.

Arrived at the venue and like others have mentioned, do not allow the drab grey exterior to put you off. You walk into a classic British bar setting purposely designed to look a little tattered but welcoming.
The menu is what you would expect from a pub, there is a specials board with 5 special dishes, minted lamb, steak and blue cheese salad, half pound Mexican burger (burger with chili con carne) chicken Tika masala, hand cut pork.
We went for the chicken goujons, black pudding and stuffed mushrooms for starters, pretty uninspiring start, although the batter over the chicken was nice and crispy and the black pudding was also very well sourced the plate missed any thing to exemplify the dish, the real looser was the stuffed mushrooms, way too much bland rubbery cheese which entirely stifled the dish, the addition of breadcrumbs to the cheese turned what may have been a grease apocalypse into sludge. But do not let that detract that all meals were served on a slab of slate… Yes a slab of slate, why? Does it add anything to the meal? Nope, not at all, but it doesn’t detract either, just seems a little cliché.
Onto the main course, a steak and ale pie and two ‘WA burgers’, the steak and ale pie itself was actually very good, full of nice big chunks of beef in a rich vegetable and gravy mixture. The burgers however, well, to be fair the presentation was very nice, this is what tempted us to them, however the product delivered was at best, very disappointing, the burger consists of a crown and heal, 3 patties, 2 onion rings and a salad garnish, the burgers were low quality chump meat burnt to a solid crispy state, the fries served with the burger were frozen cheap class fries, some how very very dry.
One burger went back to the kitchen the other was half eaten, after noticing plates being taken back into the kitchen this was a theme, immensely disappointing, after the starters and the beef pie there is certainly potential here, but if you can’t get a beef burger to be edible then that leaves the entire menu as suspect, disappointingly so.
Service was OK, not good but Ok, if a member of staff came near to the table during the meal then maybe the issue could have been recitified, only after clearly stating that I would not want be paying for the main dish did they offer to remove it. No substitute offer was made.
It’s a shame to spend 35 quid on a meal for 3 and for two people to leave hungry is a serious disappointment, for one diner to have an acceptable meal and the other two to have to hit McDonald’s should really indicate this is not somewhere to eat, sadly.
Going to give two stars as their ale is a huge saving grace.

This is by far the best pub in Bamber Bridge and the whole Preston area! The Withy Arms opened just over 3 years back and was remodelled from the former Top House pub, located centrally on Station Road.
The outside looks perhaps unimpressive painted in grey-​I think it personally complements the building-​but once inside you will find a welcoming, smart, rustic pub with a snug and main bar area. There is a wood burning stove which adds to the surroundings and is great for the cold winter months and a smart, well stocked bar offering a wide range of beers.
There are 5 real ales that include the specially brewed Withy Arms ale-​an impressive, good value session ale at just over £2 a pint!-this is brewed by the amazing Thwaites brewery. Additionally there are great world lagers and bottled beers including Stiegl Austrian lager and Belgian beers-​all are good value.
The food is amazing also-​excellent roast Sunday lunches, hearty pub classics, lighter lunch time snacks and a range of gastro-​pub specials.
There is a small car park and outdoor terraces at the back with small outdoor area at the front of the pub.
The wine list is also excellent with impressive house wines available for £9.99 and a range of quality world wines including reasonably prices champagnes if you are looking for something for celebrating!
I recently had half a rack of ribs with chips and salad from the lighter lunch time snack menu-​the food was delicious and I was full-​all for £ 4.50!
An outstanding local pub and worth visiting for food even if not travelling specifically to Bamber Bridge. The Withy Arms is a free house and the owners also own the local School Lane club and just over 1 year back opened The Withy Arms Leyland-​hopefully they will continue to open more great pubs soon!