Strawberry Gardens, Fleetwood

Easily reached from Fisherman's Walk tram stop and a short walk from the town centre, this is a large, two bar pub and restaurant with an emphasis on good ale. You enter into a lobby area with doors on either side, leading left into the lounge bar and restaurant, or right into the public bar. Taking the right hand door you emerge into a raised carpeted seating area filled with half a dozen tables and some standard chairs. The walls are wallpapered and there are some nice old pictures decorating the walls. A couple of steps lead you down, past a darts area, to the bar area - a narrow space with the servery running down the left hand side and a good deal of Fleetwood Town FC memorabilia on the walls. The room opens out again past the bar where some more seating is available around an area dominated by a pool table. The theme back here seems to be the local lifeboat service and I noticed at least two customers wearing lifeboat polo shirts, so the pub clearly has some link to the service. A TV was also showing coverage of a darts tournament. Over on the other side of the pub, reached via the front porch or a passageway at the rear, a smart carpeted bar area with the servery on the right side, offers a comfortable alternative to the more basic public bar side. The room has dark, half panelled walls, lots of stained glasswork and more old pictures on the walls. At the front, there is a partitioned snug type area with comfy seating and a fireplace, screened off from the rest of the room by dark wood walls. The servery is also in dark wood, running with an unusual kink in it and fitted with some nice brass features. Beyond the bar there is a compact area with some sofas under a collection of tankards and glasses whilst to the left there is a raised seating space with banquettes and some old paintings, although as I was leaving, the area was being cleared for some live music. Directly opposite the bar, there are a couple of formally set dining tables which flank the entrance to the actual dining room, which runs down the left side of the pub. I stopped here for a bite to eat and enjoyed the gammon, egg and chips from the reasonably priced menu. As ROB mentions, the restaurant manager is Syd Little, which came as something of a surprise. He seemed to have a good rapport with his customers and the waitress who served me was very pleasant as well. Ales are split between the two bars and I found it a bit tricky establishing exactly what was available, but I noted Blackedge The One Citra, Revisionist Dark IPA, Thwaites Nutty Black and Game Line, Cumberland Corby Blonde, First Chop AVA and DOC, Banks Sunburst and Bitter, Cross Bay Zenith and one other whose clip I couldn't decipher. Jennings Sneck Lifter had seemingly just gone off and two handpulls were dispensing some potent real ciders. The Citra was a cracking pint and having decided to stay for another I opted for the AVA which was also in good shape, if not entirely to my taste. This is a cracking pub, offering a bit of something for everyone and therefore having a nice mixed crowd in on my Saturday evening visit. The food and drink was top notch and the atmosphere was jovial and relaxed. I would say this is a must visit pub when in Fleetwood and well worth making the tram journey to if staying in Blackpool.

Official site of Strawberry Gardens - www.strawberrygardensfleetwood.co.uk

Official site of Strawberry Gardens - www.strawberrygardensfleetwood.co.uk

Lovely Pub with Fuzzy Duck beers and the food menu good so we enjoyed a meal with our beers. Sid Little served us our meals and had a chat. They should do well here. The beers were great too, and we had them from Nethergate, Fuzzy Duck, Wychwood and Moorhouses.