Non Poachers Also Welcome!
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Recommendation added: 22/04/2006 14:36
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +816)dewberry has been thanked 7 times for this contribution
"When we go on one of our regular visits to the Lickey Hills, we'll stop off at The Poachers Pocket in Rednal for a meal afterwards. The Poachers Pocket is a large, old fashioned building which looks great from the outside. There's a small children's play area directly in front of the pub which is well fenced off and kept clean at all times. This is an unsupervised area and mainly for younger children so you will need to keep an eye on them while they're playing – not least because this area is right next to a dangerous road and however well fenced it is, little people will always find a way out if they want to.
Walking into this pub is like stepping back in time. It's full of wooden beams, traditional country-style décor is definitely the order of the day here. Bustling for space around the pub walls are black and white photographs showing the pub in times gone by, also various poaching artefacts and cartoons are given pride of place in the main eating area. There are even old traditional wheelbarrows and fish traps hanging from the ceiling!
One of the reasons we like this place is because there is a brilliant children's indoor play area. This costs a bargain £2 per child, per hour and staff aren't particularly bothered if they stay in for longer – before now my kids have paid for the hour and not been seen for three hours! Which is always a bonus! The play area is well staffed, with a good clean environment for the kids to play in. You need to go down a steep flight of stairs to get to the play area; the whole downstairs is non smoking and is well ventilated from the smoke on the upper floor. There are also tables downstairs for people who want to eat while the kids are playing, and also the toilets are down here.
We tend to sign the kids into play and then go and find a table upstairs. There aren't many tables in The Poachers Pocket, as the tables available are all large with lots of space between them, so be prepared to wait especially if you're eating in a party of more then four. Personally I've always been lucky and nabbed a table pretty much as soon as I've walked in, but I've heard stories of people waiting more than an hour to be seated during busier periods. This is a problem as there aren't many bar stools either, so I'd imagine most of your wait would be spent standing at the bar – not great when you're wearing your killer heels!
Food here is fantastic, slightly higher prices than most pub restaurants I visit but the quality and freshness is definitely there. You order at the nicely laid out Food Order Point, and here the wonderful desserts are on display in chillers so you can choose and order your entire meal in one go. The staff members who take your order are invariably knowledgeable about the meals on offer, and can readily answer any questions you may have. I recently took my Aunt, who has a nut allergy, for a meal and the staff member actually fetched the chef to explain the cooking methods so we could decide whether the risk of nut contamination was low enough for her to chance a meal. She didn't go into anaphylactic shock so the advice must have been good…!
On my most recent visit I had the Rack 'o' Ribs with chips and peas, this is delicious. You get a whole rack of succulent lamb ribs, which has been marinated in a spicy BBQ sauce. The meat is cooked perfectly; it's tender rather than stringy and dry, with a lovely melt in your mouth quality. The chips are very chunky and don't leave any trace of greasiness on either your plate or your fingers, this is very much a 'picking' meal so I don't even bother using a fork for anything other than the peas. With this meal you also get a pot of the most deliciously fresh BBQ sauce I've ever tasted. This sauce really makes the meal as its thick and rich, complimenting the ribs perfectly.
My partner ate a Mixed Grill, which consisted of various meat items (gammon, steak, sausage etc.), chips, tomatoes and peas. He commented that the meat was all cooked well, the slice of gammon which I helped myself to from his plate was very nice, although he was disappointed that the grilled tomatoes were still hard in the centre. He'd requested his steak be cooked medium rare, and it was perfect for his taste – a little too pink for my liking, but he enjoyed it!
There is a special children's menu, although it's not very inspired. If your kids are the sort who would eat sausage or chicken nuggets and chips every time they go out, then they'll be fine. My two like to sample something different from the norm when we eat out, so to be confronted with a menu as basic as this is disappointing for them. I usually get around this by ordering a Combo for Two from the starters menu; this is a large selection of chicken wings, garlic bread, battered mushrooms, loaded potato skins and a variety of other finger foods. They adore eating this meal because Combos are always fun to eat, but also because they feel grown up eating this (very grown up!) meal.
The desserts are, quite simply, out of this world. For the choccie lover there's always a wide selection of chocolate based cakes, gateau's and mousses; while for the more traditional pudding person there's apple pie with custard, fruit salad and a selection of ice cream dishes. All desserts which I've tried have been wonderful – sometimes (not often) there's a Melting Chocolate Pudding which is divine. An ultra light chocolate sponge which is filled with what seems to be pure melted chocolate, this is topped off with a dollop of good quality fresh cream. Heaven on a plate.
When we visit The Poachers Pocket we usually spend in the region of £50, which I think is great value when you consider the kids can go and play and you're having a lovely meal too! Drinks are averagely priced and there's a good selection of draught beers, spirits and wine. I tend to be the one driving when we visit this pub so am strictly on the non alcoholic drinks, these being as extortionately priced as any other Birmingham pub!
The Poachers Pocket is located just opposite the Lickey Hills Country Park, as you leave the park and head towards Birmingham you'll see a large island and the pub is the first turn off as you go around the island. Look carefully for the entrance to the car park as it's very easy to miss and you'll end up having to do some very dodgy reversing on a busy (and notoriously dangerous) stretch of road. The car park itself is good, there are loads of spaces and it's well lit. The spaces closest to the entrance of the pub are for disabled parking, and also for parents with small children.
The Poachers Pocket
Lickey Road
Rednal
Birmingham
B45 8UX
Tel: 01214532795"
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