The Swann Inn

I’m afraid this doesn’t exist anymore. It closed down a long time ago.
This is now a Miller & Carter steakhouse
Should be under a different review.

We had a lovely family meal here.
We all ate from the set menu 2 courses for £16. Some had 3 for £19.
I can certainly recommend the broccoli and Stilton soup.
We were full after so there is no problem with portions, but on a set menu I find the plate is usually a little smaller although this can depend on the food choice.
Most ate the steak, but my family also enjoyed the pork belly. q

This gastropub/​restaurant is one of celebrity chef Marco Pierre White’s new ventures, or should I say adventures back up north — he is a Yorkshire man I believe.
My expectations were understandably high, and I was not disappointed:
I and two other guests chose from the lunchtime set Set Menu (£14.50 for two courses). I had steak and mushroom pie: nice balance of flavours and the mushrooms had retained their mushroomy texture. Tasted my neighbour’s beer battered fish which was light and crisp — as good as you get. My only criticism was that it was a little heavy on the salt. The portions were too large for me, but as it was so nice, I finished the lot.
For pudding I had Tiramisu, it was a delight. My fellow guests loved their Eaton mess and poached pairs.
To note: some of the meals came with veg and others did not. Side dishes are £3 extra.
The atmosphere was relaxed. The staff were friendly and helpful; one of our party is disabled and the again the staff were very accommodating. The disabled access was good.
The Swan Inn has been revamped in a modern ’boutique’ style. There are, however, some rather pretentious pictures of MPW on the walls, I presumed they must be tongue-​in-​cheek; the one of him carrying a platter with Gordon Ramsey’s head on showed MPW has a sense of humour and gave us a laugh.
The address is Springfield Road, but also you can access the rear entrance from the A59, via Swan lane. It is about a ½ hour drive from Liverpool city centre, situated not far from the old market town of Ormskirk.
This is a wonderful gastropub and we will certainly visit again.

Visited on for ‘Sunday dinner’. Priced at £14.50 for 2 course or £18.50 for 3 courses this appeared good value, it wasn’t ! The starters were fine and things looked promising at this point. It all went horribly wrong when we got to the main courses though, 3 arrived and we waited — finally after at least 5 minutes we had to ask if any other main courses were on they way, finally 3 more arrived and then after another wait the last few arrived. Of course some of us had nearly finished by this point… if we’d have waited they’d have all be cold! The waiting staff also didn’t seem to know which table food was for and were offering us starters and main courses intended for the table behind us and vice versa, something I find inexcusable! The roast dinners were small portions and I was expecting trays of vegetables to arrive to accompnay them, I was disappointed. I think if veg isn’t included they should point this out, as we would have ordered quite a lot even if we had to pay extra.
Another point to mention, they don’t have a children’s menu but offer half portions for kids if you ask, they didn’t tell us the price until we got the bill £12.50 for 2 (small) courses. As an adult 2 course meal is £14.50 it makes much more sense to go for that and help the kids out if thye can’t manage it all!
We won’t be returning.

This is one of Marco Pierre White’s offerings. For all you foodies in the know this is the man who was the first British Chef to be awarded 3 Michelin Stars and the youngest Chef in the world to receive them. You may have seen him on tv or posters around Liverpool. As you can imagine then, Marco Pierre White is a name that is synonymous with top quality food and a great dining experience.
MPW has gone for a very clever marketing technique with this restaurant calling it «affordable glamour» hmmmm… not too sure about that Marco. Never cared much for «glamour» seems awfully fake and shallow thing to crave. Anywho good thing the chef isn’t as rubbish as whoever he hired to do the marketing and come up with that tag line.
The bottom line is that Swann Inn is located in picturesque surroundings. The place has as you’d expect from a MPW restaurant lively atmosphere and exquisite food. It has also 12 bedrooms which are of high quality and perfect for a weekend break in the country.
Although it might come across as your average posh village pub, the kitchen team have actually done very well in blending traditional pub grub with a rather fresh modern anglo-​french finish.
Those who have been to his other restaurants might recognise some of the signature dishes, must admit I’m not one of them. The brasserie style menu with dishes including Lancashire Hot Pot, Wheeler’s of St James’ Fish Pie, and Marco’s trademark dishes such as Croustade of Quails Egg Maintenon, and Parfait of Foie Gras, en Gelée de truffles. Dishes you foodies who have bought his books might be aware of.
A daily set Menu is available as well as the A la carte at lunchtimes (Mon-​Sat) and evenings (Mon-​Thurs) — 2 courses £14.50, 3 courses £18.50.
No pub grub is complete withoput a sunday menu and Swann Inn is no different, their set sunday lunch menu carries 1 course at £11.00, 2 courses at £14.50 and 3 courses £18.50.
I was not really interested in the set menu if I’m being honest I was more than contempt with trying their fried haddock home made chips mushy peas and tartar sauce. Which was delicious as it could be I suppose, at £12 it was a bit pricey but at least I felt glamorous eating here!!!
If you are interested you can visit the Swann Inn on wednesday 7^th of July when Mr. White himself will be in attendence. If you would like to be graced with his presence, 3 course lunch will set you back £55 and 3 course dinner at £75 with canopes and bubbly on arrival. You’d really be living in a delusional bubble though if you want to spend that much for food that wasn’t even cooked by him. Free world I suppose. This is a lovely country pub which serves great food. The tag line though really put me off, infact it annoyed me. However if you are in desperate need for some affordable glamour suit yourself and check out MPW’s country pub 20 minute drive up from Liverpool.

Went on a lively Tuesday night (worth a booking rather than turning up on spec). A very pleasant starter of Dressed Cornish crab with mayonnaise, although the rather startling potato roll accompanying it was a little soggy, but overall a good dish. Sadly the Barnsley chops were all gone by the time I ordered, but had a truly excellent 10 oz rib eye steak with bernaise sauce as a replacement. Honestly, one of the best steaks I have ever had. Had a rather good 2005 (and relatively reasonably priced) Pinotage to accompany the main and finished with an excellent lemon syllabub with a compote layer. Staff were attentive but unobstrusive and the general ambience one of casual discernment rather than the usual pretentiousness that attaches to similar establishments. Highly recommended and I look forward to many repeat visits.