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The Old Harkers Arms, Chester
Chester
CH3 5AL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
I was told this place was a must visit in Chester but I found to be middle class canalside gastro crap that bored me enormously. Ale was very good though I couldn’t get to the bar to see most of the pumps due to meal/nibble/cocktail orders taking up most of the space. It’s probably alright in an afternoon. unfortunately the outside area only consists of six tables outside the pub.
On 1st February 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
A Brunning & Price by the river in a converted warehouse, so expect B&P prices. Quite well done inside – painted brick, cast iron supporting pillars and radiators, an old factory clocking in machine. a slight industrial feel and the usual B&P features. Very busy on mid-afternoon Saturday and we had to share a table with a slightly startled middle aged couple. Seven ales on; 2x Weetwood, B&P house beer, Beartown Cream Bearlee, Titanic Plum Porter (NBSS 4) and a couple of others I forgot to note. Most people were drinking rather than eating, which is a good sign. Overall, it was pretty good and I’d happily recommend this one be included in a Chester crawl. It might be expensive but the beer quality is excellent, so the extra 30p is worth it.
On 1st March 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
I had previously been to the Old Harkers Arms in August 2017, but was the last pub of the crawl before getting the train back from Chester, and being a Saturday evening it was rather busy.
I was in Chester earlier in the week and, despite not initially intending on doing so, thought I would call back to experience it during the daytime when it would be quieter. I found this to be a pleasant, quite large pub, with a bar in front of you as you walk in the main door, and a further bar round to the left hand side. There is an area off to the right with tables and chairs which looks quite cosy, but the area to the left feels more open.
Each bar has a bank of six hand pulls, four of which were duplicated across the two banks at the time of my visit. These included a bitter with a heavy metallic pump clip which makes it look like it is probably a permanent feature, along with Cheshire Cat and Eastgate by Weetwood, Brew No 1 Vanilla Mild by Rudgate, a Welsh ruby ale, Acorn Blonde, Town Crier by Hobsons (without a proper pump clip), and finally Titanic Plum Porter.
My half of the Vanilla Mild was £1.95 and slipped down nicely. Not sure there's a lot to rush back for but it's not a bad pub.
On 11th October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
This is the sort of place that inexplicably attracts trendies, the nouveau rich or people that are just too stupid to realise they are being ripped off. It's a grotty old warehouse by a stinking canal that has been converted into a rip-off pub. Inside it's roughly L shaped with wooden floors and packed with braying idiots. I noticed beers were from Weetwood, Abbeydale, Heavy Industry, Archers (aka Evan Evans), Titanic, Big Hand and one called Brunning & Price Original. I later discovered that this is a low ABV boring brown beer that they actually commissioned Phoenix Brewery to produce for them. Pathetic!
I went for the Abbeydale Moonshine at an extortionate £3.80 which was either not as good as it once was or not that well kept.
As far as I know this is the first Brunning & Price pub I've been to and certainly hope it's the last.
On 10th March 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
This is a Bruning & Price pub that advertised ten real ales on. Well, it was too busy to count them, but the two banks of handpumps had at least ten pumps between them. I had Brew Brothers Cheshire Best at £3.60 a pint. Like other Bruning & Price pubs, this one majors on food. Main courses range from £11 (sausage & mash) up to £18 for the rump steak. Light bites are from £9 to £11. I had a burger plus trimmings which was somewhere between £12 and £13. These are not budget pubco prices, but there again the quality was a lot better than the £9 or so burger (including a pint!) that I had had the night before. Most of the tables were reserved by early evening on the Tuesday I visited.
Being a Bruning & Price pub it's quite elegant inside. The floor's bare-boarded, but with several rugs to break up the space. Furnishings are all good quality normal tables and chairs, and the walls are covered with prints, except for the back wall which is entirely shelves of books. Of course there were sprigs of flowers on all the tables, but as a big plus I spotted a shelf containing copies of the Good Beer Guide going back a few years. There are a few tables and chairs outside at the front right by the canal.
This is a pretty decent pub, even if it is somewhat plush inside. The ale choice is excellent, and although it's quite foody I would be very happy to visit again.
On 15th September 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
For real ale its a very good pub. For food its a rip off. Far too much arty-farty celebrity chef tv shows being watched by this lot methinks. A nice place to enjoy a drink and its very popular with people with more money than sense food wise.
On 30th June 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
Given the detail in the reviews below my contribution will be brief.
This a very well done, upmarket conversion of a canal warehouse which was busy on the Sunday evening when we visited and is, I suspect, always so. It feels like a nice place for a beer and the staff were friendly and knowledgable.
We moored outside and the Old Harkers is perfectly situated with boat, pub, Thai/Japanese restaurant and upmarket curry house all within 20 yards.
Regular beers are Bruning & Price Original Bitter, Weetwood Cheshire Cat and Flowers Original with the latter two being their biggest sellers. Guests on our visit were: Deuchars IPA (why?), Robinsons Trooper, Weetwood Eastgate Ale, Hawkshead Cumbrian 5 Hop, Hobsons Best 38 and Titanic Plum Porter. An excellent selection and all that we tried was in good nick. The Flowers Original is worth a special mention as this has, until now, been a pale shadow of its Stratford brewed best. It is now brewed in Gwent and as served here was just as good as I remember it. That alone made the Old Harkers worth a visit.
Not to be missed if in Chester.
On 19th September 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
Revisited this Brunning and Price owned pub after 5 year gap,and pleased to say it was just as good as before.A ground floor conversion of a canalside wharehouse the interior is largely open plan apart from the restaurant section to the left.There are cast iron supporting pillars and radiators,and a good selection of traditional pub furniture,with some large banquettes along one wall beneath a library of hardbacks.Wood paneling done well,it feels classy with some loose rugs covering the wooden floor together with interesting framed prints on the walls.
Unlike some pubs in this chain,food does not dominate proceedings .On my Sunday evening trip ,most punters were there to drink and given it's location near a lot of waterside bars and restaurant,this place is lively with a good mix of age groups.
The L shaped bar has two banks of five handpumps with regulars in the shape of a house bitter brewed by Phoenix and Flowers Original.The other pumps have rotating guests which included the excellent Titanic Plumb Porter and Hawkeshead Cambrian Five Hop (£3.60)on my visit.
Having moored outside,our intention was to crawl around the better 2014 GBG pubs in Chester,but with a curry house next door and tip top ale inside (again),there was no incentive to move.A great pub,which should always be on the list to visit in this attractive city.
On 15th September 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
Two more visits over our 2 days in Chester. A great range of ale as always and all the beers I had were in good condition. A very pleasant place to sit and chat in the afternoon.
03/12/2009
Up market pub with a great range of beers. It's converted from an old canal warehouse, so it's big and airy. It can feel a bit like a library during the day in midweek, but it's always busy in the evenings and weekends. Don't expect it to be cheap though. Food is OK but it's mainly bought in from Brakes/3663 and it shows at times. Selection of beers is ever changing and I have never been served a bad pint on any of my several visits. Handy for the top class Siam restaurant (Terriyaki or Thai) as well as it's above the pub but with a separate entrance. Can get very busy on a weekend evening with standing room only and a queue at the bar.
On 2nd May 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Old Harkers Arms
This is a very large and impressive pub situated on the ground floor of a canalside warehouse, upstairs is a separately run Thai restaurant individually accessed. Mr Harker was the canal boat chandler who ran his business from here many years ago. The interior is L-shaped with the bar in the middle returning along the turn of the "L". Distressed wooden floors with a few rugs, lots of exposed brickwork, huge windows, a ceiling partially boarded with port wine cases, plus a bar front made of panelled mahogany doors. Standard issue seating at varying sized tables, some of which look like old dining sets. Lots of interesting decor, old framed prints, articles, maps, adverts and I noticed an old factory clocking in machine. Very busy on Saturday afternoon, although I finally bagged a small table, the abundance of hard surfaces make for a noisy atmosphere.
Beer wise there are two banks of five handpumps, the beers being listed with tasting notes on chalkboards over the bar. Saturday had Weetwood Cheshire Cat, Roosters Cream, Flowers Original, Three Tuns 1642 Bitter, Barista Espresso Stout, Otter Amber and the house brew, Brunning & Price Original Bitter, brewed I was told by Phoenix of Manchester. Not cheap, not far off London prices with most beers being £3.30-£3.40. There were also a perry, Two Trees plus Farmhouse Scrumpy, both at £3.70.
Paper menus on the tables, repeated on a large chalkboard, most mains between £10 and £16 with steak a couple of quid dearer. Sandwiches came in between £5.25 and £7.95 (for fish fingers) and a cheeseboard could be had for £8.95.
I liked it in here despite my whistlestop visit (literally, I was between trains) and the beer quality was spot on. A board by the entrance firmly states no kids allowed.
On 12th March 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]