Just the Tonic!!!

Tonic restyled and in stock

Tonic restyled and in stock

Premium Tonic waters with or indeed, without gin, are becoming so popular that ‘Schhhh you know who?’ Are having to take a back seat!! Most people have heard of Fever Tree Tonics who pioneered the premium tonic and no doubt drove up the demand for premium gins. The gin ‘explosion’ has been amazing and here at Cholmondeley we always felt the grand old G&T was at home here. We are also fussy and one of the vital ingredients to a great G&T is effervescence or fizz. We believe that Fever Tree hasn’t the bubbles needed to stand up versus some new ‘kids on the block’.

We have therefore introduced three ‘guest’ tonics that carry the effervescence through your complete enjoyment of a refreshing G&T. Two are Indi Tonics both organic, one infused with lime. Both are great on their own over ice simply with a fresh lime squeeze. The third tonic is 1724 and is wonderful over ice with a slice of orange. Perfect for those that have driven to our pub but still want to pretend!!

Adding Gin to these premium tonics always can be complicated but the lime infused Indi Tonic is perfect with something as traditional as Tanqueray. The botanical Indi Tonic is lovely with Tanqueray Rangpur.

As for 1724 add this to Whitley Neil Gin with a refreshing slice of orange and there you have a differentiated alternative to Gordon’s, Schweppes and a chunk of lemon!!!

indi

New Menu arrives

CholmondeleyMainMenu02Our Head Chef Christian and his brigade of chefs have once again worked exceptionally hard to develop some lovely new dishes for our winter in to spring menu…

New starters include…

A Cholmondeley Local Game Charcuterie Board featuring Christian’s choices of cured and smoked ‘in season’ game which he creates here at Cholmondeley, this is served with pickles, sticky nuts and granary bread

Other new appetisers include…

Salt and Pepper Squid, Yorkshire chorizo, poached rhubarb and ginger or Mr Bourne’s little Cheshire cheesecakes with smoked pear and watercress or indeed Cholmondeley Shot Crispy Wild Rabbit and Clonakilty Black Pudding with Jerusalem artichokes, braised baby gem and poached egg

On the mains we have

  • Smoked Chicken, ham hock and treacle suet pudding with parsley mash, greens and mustard sauce
  • Christian’s Fish Pie, with cod cheek, smoked haddock and spinach with crispy mash and spiced cauliflower
  • Local Lamb ‘Barnsley Chop’ with Devilled Kidneys, Boulangere potatoes and sweet pickled red cabbage
  • Slow Cooked Shin of Beef, Stout and Honey Stew with roasted celeriac and English mustard dumplings
  • Home Cured Venison Bresaola Salad with blood orange, sticky hazelnuts and liquorice dressing
  • Baked Spinach, Mushroom and Perl Las Blue Cheese Pancakes with a simply dressed salad
  • And a Prime 10oz 28 Day Aged Ribeye Steak served with homemade onion rings, chips and dressed salad

and for new puddings we have

  • Caramelised Apple and Amaretti Pancakes with vanilla ice cream
  • Steamed Yorkshire Rhubarb and Ginger Pudding with homemade custard
  • Sticky Toffee Pudding with caramelised bananas and clotted cream ice cream
  • Milk Chocolate Brownie with peanut praline and chocolate sauce

To look through the full menu click here and the Sunday menu please click here

Status Quo Live! At the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power – Friday 13th June 2014

We are very excited to announce that legendary rock band, Status Quo, are set to get the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power rocking when they play the Opening Concert on Friday 13th June.

Status Quo are one of the most recognised and successful bands in British history with 64 hit singles and 22 in the top ten. Lead guitarist and keen car enthusiast, Rick Parfitt, said: “The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power is all about noise, engine fumes and having some serious fun. Works for me! Whilst all the band love cars and the world of motoring, I have been a serious petrolhead for as long as I can remember. As well as getting to perform for what we know will be a great crowd, being in amongst the action with some serious machinery is going to be a real buzz for me! Cars, bikes, helicopters – count me in!”

Click here for ticket information

quo

At last our award is presented!!

The Award arrived finally to confirm the Cholmondeley Arms as the best server of Spirits In the North of England!! Our gin collection is what has brought us this great recognition and rightly so!! We now have 187 Gins on our back bar this is more than what is recorded in the ‘Guinness book of records’. We were also recognised for our Sunday Bloody Mary Club which kicks off at 10.30am every Sunday as well as bringing back nostalgic drinks such as the Classic ‘Snowball’ now being served over Christmas!!

Well done all the team for this accolade and good luck with the ‘Local Food’ nomination!!

A fun Christmas everywhere!!

What a great time over Christmas our teams have had. It is tiring work but there are plenty of smiles and fun around the place!! The Bulls Head in Mobberley held its annual Christmas Jumper competition and the judges moved around the pub secretly assessing the best. Pete had won it last year with his ‘snow man number’ so was a favourite again this year.

There were a number of good efforts but I am pleased to say Pete held on to his crown with an ‘elf jumper’ with matching hat!! Well done Pete! There must be someone out there who can out do Pete in 2014??!

The teams as you can see had a good go with our personal favourite being Tom at the Church Inn with his Christmas pudding version!! Thanks to all our teams for making the effort. At the Cholmondeley Arms the ‘Snow Ball’ Drink was re-incarnated by the team and you can see Miya sampling some for the camera behind the Cholmondeley Bar!!!

Thank you to all our customers who have added to the atmosphere at all our pubs. There have been Christmas Carol singers at Cholmondeley and Brass bands at The three Greyhounds Inn at Allostock and The Church Inn in Mobberley as we managed to squeeze them in our newly decorated Church Inn ‘boot room’.

On Christmas eve as the Carol service finished at St. Wilfs church opposite the Church Inn in Mobberley we were on hand to serve the masses (get it!!) with mulled wine on the terrace with warm chimineas  burning away. There were festive nibbles and roasted chestnuts and a lot of good cheer! A very happy Christmas to all!!

Thanks to all our teams for working so hard!!

Best in the business up for awards

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The Cholmondeley Arms in Malpas is the only pub to be a finalist in the Local Food category

The Cholmondeley Arms in Malpas is the only pub to be a finalist in the Local Food category

Countryside Alliance Awards’ North West finalists announced and Cheshire is riding high.

Cheshire businesses are celebrating after making it through to the regional finals of what have become known as the Rural Oscars.

Cheshire boasts competitors in three of the four categories after the North West received more than 300 nominations from the public for this year’s Countryside Alliance Awards – an increase of 100 from the 2012 awards.

The Cholmondeley Arms in Malpas is the only pub among the five finalists of the Local Food category.

Tim Bird, who owns the pub with his wife Mary McLaughlin, said: “We are a pub up against lovely bespoke artisan shops and that’s what pleases me most.

“The head chef has worked particularly hard with all sorts of people locally to bring different dishes to the table that actually reflect the effort that is going on locally. It is a collective effort.”

 

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Our Second Cholmondeley Car Meet gets bigger, even with the weather!!

CCC-Shield-Logo2-Col30 cars joined us on Sunday for our second ‘Car meet’ here at the Cholmondeley Arms. Thank you to everyone for braving the wind and rain in the earlier part of the morning. Thankfully it dried off and although it was chilly from the start time it didn’t rain again and the morning improved and brightened up making for a great meet. We had a wonderful array of cars and once again a massive thank you to you all for making the effort.

We had some wonderful cars from a 1955 Mercedes Ponton, to a fabulous left hand drive 1992 Porsche RS in a wonderful mauve colour which is a member of our 3p Car Club at the Bulls Head in Mobberley. We had a classic Morris Minor, a VW Campervan who camped out the night before. We had a 1928 Sunbeam and a 1936 Lagonda, six wonderful MG’s, three TVR’s, two Lotus’s, more Porsches, one from Yorkshire!! A VX 220 Turbo not to mention Three Lancias as well as Subaru’s, Spartans, an Aston, some BMW’S , a bright Merc and two Triumphs. In fact the day was a Triumph! The cars will be loaded on the website this week so check them out for yourselves.

Existing members rocked up and 23 enthusiasts joined the club on the day. Please email me if you didn’t get chance to register as a member on the day. Sophie was working hard to register everyone while I took the photos and Steve and the team did the coffee and sandwiches so apologies if we missed anyone.

The next bit of good news was that the morning was picked up by the Top Gear team and the picture below went on their website.

CAR-MEET-2

The next ‘Sports and Vintage day’ will be announced in the new year. We would like to thank everyone for attending with your fantastic cars and we really look forward to seeing you all again soon!!

mgs

rest

Our Autumn and early winter menu is here!!

seafoodHere at the Cholmondeley Arms Head Chef Christian and Sous Chef Dean and the kitchen team have developed a lovely menu for you all to enjoy with starters such as Local Pigeon ‘Kiev’ with blackberry butter, pickled mushroom ketchup and blue cheese salad or Pan-fried Scottish Scallops with curried cauliflower cream and apple crisps or Homemade Handcrafted Venison ‘Scotch’ Egg with Cumberland sauce.

There are heart- warming dishes such as Wild Rabbit, Smoked Bacon and Scrumpy Pie with chervil mash and winter greens or Wild Boar Faggots with cider and puy lentil stew, with smoked bacon and curly kale or Slow Cooked Pork Belly with crackling, sage and onion croquettes and fiery apple chutney.

For seafood fans we have caught Cornish ‘Salt and Pepper’ Squid Salad with poached quince and chilli caramel dressing or Smoked Haddock and Somerset Cheddar Rarebit with curried mussel kedgeree and crispy hens egg.

For Vegetarians we have Beetroot, Walnut and Swaledale Goats Cheese Sausages with wholegrain mustard mash and ‘Cholmondeley Best’ sauce or a main course version of our Westcombe Cheddar Cheese Beignets, Matt’s heritage tomatoes with sesame and roast garlic dressing.

There are dishes for everyone. To view the full menus click here.

We look forward to cooking for you…..

Gins go through the 180!!!!!

ginpiThis famous number normally shouted out with Gusto at a televised darts tournament is now being shouted out even louder by our team here at the Cholmondeley Arms!!! Yes it is true the gin tally has rocketed largely thanks to our wonderful customers who are travelling the world to bring back rare gins to add to the Cholmondeley collection!! A very big thank you to all who brought ‘Gin to the Inn’.

If you are a gin fan then pop in to the Cholmondeley Arms ask for Steve, Struan, Monika, Anna or Adam…if you can remember all those names!! They will take you through some of the best and rarest gins out there and of course mix you your preferred option!!

Gin classes too are becoming very popular and indeed that’s why we are now doing them on week day evenings!! This Christmas why not book your gin tasting with Christmas dinner to follow!!

Our first Cholmondeley Arms ‘Sports and Vintage’ Car day goes down well!!

20 cars joined us on Sunday for our first ‘Car meet’ here at the Cholmondeley Arms. Not bad for our first outing on a Bank Holiday weekend too. We kicked off at 10.30am for a couple of hours or so. The weather brightened up as we greeted cars from far afield as well as more local car enthusiasts too.

We had Porsches, BMW’s, Lancia’s (four) and Morgans, a 1972 Cobra, a 1953 MG as well as a ‘Sup’ed up Proton and Peugeot!!! There was a Defender 90 and a Spartan Roadster!! It was truly a great mix of cars!!

Existing members rocked up and 13 enthusiasts joined the club on the day. Everyone got their free pint of Cholmondeley best vouchers and their new Chum Car Club sticker and member mug too. A good time was had by all as you can see from the photos!!

The next ‘Sports and Vintage day’ will be announced in the next two weeks. We would like to thank everyone for attending with your fantastic cars and we really look forward to seeing you all again soon!!

CLASSICS

CLASSICS

COBRA ENGINE

COBRA ENGINE

NEW CHOLMONDELEY CAR CLUB STICKER IS LAUNCHED

NEW CHOLMONDELEY CAR CLUB STICKER IS LAUNCHED

THE PROUD LANCIA'S

THE PROUD LANCIA’S

THE SAME OLD PROBLEM!!

THE SAME OLD PROBLEM!!

For details on how to join click here

Chum reaches Final!!!

spirit2The Cholmondeley Arms has reached the final of the ‘Best Spirit Serving Pub’ at the London Hilton having got through the regional finals in the Great British Pub awards 2013. Steve, our landlord and Gin Champion and Struan, our Deputy and Gin Ambassador, stood proud outside the Cholmondeley Arms as the judge arrived to put them to the test!!! Lucky the judge had a taxi booked!!

This is recognition for the great efforts of Steve, Struan and Monika who have all combined to ensure our gin act is second to none. To add spice to the week the Chum managed to go past the 161 gins stocked by a bar in the Guinness book of records!!!

Gin classes are getting booked out on Saturday afternoons as guests to ‘the Chum’ want to enjoy the Gin experience and learn about the history of a very English spirit.

So fingers crossed on 12th September 2013 when the team go to London!!

Good luck to the team.

OUTDOOR GIN TASTING FROM A TEA CUP!!

OUTDOOR GIN TASTING FROM A TEA CUP!!

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Official World record beaten!!!

The official World Record according to the Guinness book of records for the most gins in a bar is 161 and while we know that the particular hotel which holds the record probably now has more than 161 we are delighted to announce that we have beaten their official record. Gins have been added via our ‘bring gin to the Inn’ and through our Gin merchants to bring us up to an amazing 162 Gins!!!! As you can see from the photo we have three Gins from the ‘Few’ distillery in America. Each bottle signed by the distiller and truly craft examples with an ‘aged’ Gin matured in Bourbon casks. Almost a bourbon Gin!! We are proud to announce The Cholmondeley Arms has reached the final of the Publican’s Morning Advertiser Best Spirit Pub 2013. This is a massive achievement and we are delighted to be recognised. The judging is taking place over the coming weeks. Steve, Stru and Monika have done an excellent job over the last one and a half years to promote all things Gin. We couldn’t be more proud of their achievement.

THE-WORLD-RECORD-IS-BEATEN!

Thanks to all our Gin loving customers who have joined us in this time to savour a wonderful gin and tonic and have participated in all the Gin Things we do.

Fingers crossed we can go to London in September and win it!!!

Tim Bird