The Swan with Two Necks - A Tasteem Review

It has been several weeks since we hiked around the Pendleton area of East Lancashire, concluding in a huge need to eat and drink whatever was on offer at whatever venue was in sight.

The Swan with Two Necks public house was that place in this instance but this was not the first time we had frequented this country pub.

Years can dull the memories of a place, especially if it was mediocre on the previous visit but we were willing to give it another crack and so sat ourselves down in the beer garden located at the rear.

If I can say something positive, then the beer garden is large, spacious and nicely laid out.

I went inside and attempted to order some food and drinks and was told presumptuously to ‘not to wait' as there was a 45-minute queue by some bloke who may have been the landlord.

This took me by surprise and I looked around to find the place somewhat busy, but not packed to the hilt.

The Swan with Two Necks boasts openly about its awards but are they for the beer, food or customer service? Possibly not the latter.

I explained to @bingbabe that they didn’t really want our business but she was too knackered to go anywhere else, forcing me back inside on threats of death and starvation by other means.

I had no choice and so meekly crept back inside.

The mean-looking would be landlord was gone; was this my chance to order food and possibly get fed?

I approached an unfriendly looking middle-aged woman who took my drinks order, AND food though she told me, ‘It may take a while'.

A much better response I felt, though a smile would have been nice.

Despite all these awards, the food on offer was quite plain and basic, myself ordering Plate Meat Pie and Chips, with @bingbabe trying the Cheese and Onion Pie and Chips with Mushy Peas (ugh).

Plain food is fine in my book if it’s good.

I failed to photograph the menus on this occasion but the meals were around £11 each, not overly expensive.

Our food arrived much earlier than expected, delivered by the young friendly waitress and the older unfriendly one. Well, at least there was one friendly face!

I can still taste the pastry of this pie in my mouth if I think about it enough. Imagine basic suet? This is what the pastry tasted like, the contents of meat being only slightly better. The chips were OK but that’s the best I can rate them.

@bingbabe informed me of a similar suet flavour though her cheese interior content looked a lot better than mine.

Was this food really home-baked? I can't imagine this being the case unless the cook learned his trade from a bunch of bricklayers or scaffolders.

Now I know why The Swan with Two Necks never got a second chance unless it was a case of starving to death or eat what’s on offer.

At a guess, I would say all these awards are for the different beers that they serve. There were plenty to choose from.

As far as the food is concerned, I would probably rather have visited KFC, and this is not sour grapes over the grumpy landlord's attitude. It simply was far below par.

I cannot recommend The Swan with Two Necks for any kind of gastronomic pleasures, but some of those ‘different' beers with several bags of crisps might work well, while sitting in the pleasant beer garden.

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Restaurant Information

The Swan with Two Necks

Clitheroe BB7 1PX, UK

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The Swan with Two Necks - A Tasteem Review
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