A charming country pub serving Wirral’s "perfect" roast dinner

The Fox and Hounds in Barnston is the perfect place to enjoy a traditional roast dinner – the best in Wirral!

Each week, we will be searching for the best Wirral has to offer in different categories.

The Hair, Beauty and Nail Lounge took the first Best of 2023 title – Best for Hair in Wirral – Pies4U is officially Best for Pies and Ebony J Nails and Beauty was crowned Best for Nails.

Voting for Wirral’s Best for Cocktails is currently taking place and we’re also looking for nominations in our latest search - Best for Breakfast.

Next up was roast dinners and ten delicious Sunday bests in Wirral made the shortlist for Best for Roast Dinner 2023 with The Fox and Hounds beating off some tough competition and taking the coveted title.

The beer garden and terrace is perfect for al fresco dining

Mark Parry is the general manager and Dan McLennan is the managing director of Stange and Co – a small pub company that has nine venues across Wirral and north Wales.

As well as the Jug and Bottle, The Ship Parkgate and The Ring O Bells in West Kirby, which is currently being re-developed, the company owns The Fox and Hounds – the country pub selling award-winning roast dinners.

They took over and refurbished the business in November 2018 serving a homemade, hearty menu seven days a week with their now infamous roast dinners on a Sunday.

The bar stocks a wide selection of quality ales including a number of local tipples coming from breweries like Brimstage Brewery, which is just three miles away.

The Fox, as it is affectionately known to the locals, also has a colourful and sheltered sun terrace hidden away at the rear of the pub, which is perfect for summer afternoons and al fresco dining.

Mark, who is 49, said: “We deliver locally sourced fresh food together with local beer and quality wines and spirits.

“When we heard we’d made the shortlist for Wirral’s Best for Roast Dinner we were a little apprehensive but quite hopeful as we knew we stood a good chance.

“We’re absolutely overwhelmed to actually win and we’re so happy.

“The whole team has worked so hard – Mike Southgate is our incredible head chef who delivers amazing food every single day.

“He leads a big team of very experienced and skilled chefs who can do between 350 and 400 covers on a Sunday all year round.”

The award-winning roast dinner

The delicious roast dinners feature meats sourced from Bredbury catering butchers and homemade gravy that Mike and his team make the traditional way and there’s local vegetables from Fraser at Fine Fruits Pensby.

There’s roast leg of lamb with rosemary, cranberry and redcurrant bon-bon and minted red wine gravy and topside of beef with homemade gravy as well as roast supreme of chicken with sausage and thyme stuffing wrapped in bacon and double roasted belly pork with sage and apricot stuffing.

All the Sunday meals are served with roast potatoes, homemade Yorkshire pudding, carrots and swede, cauliflower cheese and broccoli.

The vegetarian option is wild mushroom, kale and root vegetable Wellington served with a red wine and tomato sauce.

But what do the customers think of the roast dinners? What makes them the best in Wirral?

There's always a warm welcome at The Fox (Image: Image supplied)

One happy customer “can’t wait to return” after enjoying Sunday lunch here earlier this year.

She said: “We visited for Sunday lunch and the food was outstanding.

“It was cooked to perfection and super fresh with the biggest Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever seen!”

Mark added: “Our customers have supported us so much over the past few years and we’re eternally grateful to them all.

“We can’t thank them enough for nominating us for this award and then voting for us to win – it’s amazing.”

For more details go to facebook.com/foxandhoundsbarnston