Food Critic

The Lancashire Magazine Eats Out...

The Cross Guns Inn, Egerton, Bolton

by Richard Sagar

Meet The Food Critic...

Barrister-turned-food-writer Richard Sagar takes us through some of the finest culinary venues our historic county and surrounding areas have to offer.

Keep an eye out for Richard’s reviews in our editions as he quite literally eats his way through the North West!The thriving village of Egerton is the home of my hostelry of choice this month – the newly renovated and exceptionally tasteful Cross Guns Inn. The attractive stone and hard wood exterior of this 1700s building nestle the Inn into its local environment as it provides an aesthetic pleasure to its patrons and all driving through the village alike. With the refurbishment of the Cross Guns Inn now complete, Egerton, the initial birthplace of Bolton Wanderers FC, now finds itself the birthplace of one of the most stylish and exciting restaurants, bars and cocktail lounges in the North West. As we entered the premises, the quality of the refurbishments was immediately evident – an exceptionally well stocked bar immediately greets patrons, along with a cheery hello from owner Jon, who kindly took the time to show my dining partner and me around the premises. The décor is completely ‘on point’, and whilst

meandering through the establishment, I found areas perfect for anything from Friday afternoon pints in the outdoor bar and covered gardens, to stylish formal celebrations in the private dining area upstairs, and everything in between. Upstairs, we happened upon a charming team of staff, who happily welcomed us into the cocktail lounge - where we decided it would be rude not to spend the first part of our evening. And what a cocktail lounge it is. A classy, stylish area that wouldn’t look out of place in the most affluent areas of the city centre; the cocktail list more than matched the sophisticated environment. With anything from a Twisted Bellini to a Ciao Malfy Spritz, the printed menu has something for everybody – and the skilful staff are happy to use their knowledge of mixology to create your personal favourites too. We went for a French 75 (Monkey 47, Lemon, Sugar and Tattinger Champagne) which proved a perfect aperitif, along with a traditional Sex The Cross Guns Inn

354 Blackburn Road, Egerton, Bolton, BL7 9TR

N 01204 291204

thecrossguns.co.uk

on the Beach – reminiscent of those sweet memories of summers in the sun abroad.

After indulging in the heady delights of these cocktails, we were welcomed downstairs into the main dining area where we were introduced to Alberto, our waiter for the evening. Considering we visited the Cross Guns Inn during only its fifth week of trading, the service we received from Alberto and all the staff was nothing short of exemplary. Taking recommendations from the team, we decided to whet our appetites with the ‘land’ based nibbles board – the tastes from which will stay with me for a long time to come. A sublime combination of perfectly cooked soft-boiled scotch egg, a superbly light but nonetheless punchy chicken liver parfait, a slow cooked duck and pink peppercorn rillette and a pot of pork scratching butter – something I have never tasted before! And my oh my did it work! Served with a collection of artisan breads and chutney, this was certainly the way to start a meal at the Cross Guns! Moving rather indulgently onto starters, we opted for the ham hock and mustard croquette and the confit duck leg respectively. The croquette was simply magnificent – served on a pea velouté, the flavours and textures together were really very exciting – something of this quality I seldom find outside of a wellestablished, starred restaurant. The duck was as comforting, soft and tender as one could ever hope for – served on top of a light summer salad which cut through the inherent richness of a confit beautifully. In short, the ham hock croquette was a true diamond, and the confit duck, a hug on a plate. Between starters and our main courses, we took a closer look at the outdoor bar and gardens area – an old outbuilding has been converted into a friendly, cosy mini-pub. Complete with exposed stone walls, roaring log burner and proper bar stools, this was an area I could see myself heading to straight from work and enjoying drinks with friends, taking in the good company, doubtlessly fine ale and beautiful gardens. Before I could get too carried away out there, Jon found us to let us know that our main course was now perfectly rested, and was ready to be served. In almost stampede fashion, the two of us charged back to our table in anticipation of something very special – the infamous chateaubriand. Served with truffle and parmesan fries, vine tomatoes, pea shoots, salted fries, peppercorn sauce and a red wine jus, this was simply culinary perfection. The beef fillet was of the very finest quality and had all those delicious buttery flavours and melt-in-your-mouth characteristics in abundance – it almost felt a shame to add any of the sauces, but they were exquisite too! The theme continued with the fries – both truffle and parmesan and the plain ones too – everything about this dish was faultless.

Alberto had recommended a bottle of St Hallett Gamekeeper’s Shiraz Grenache Touriga to go with the food we had chosen – a recommendation we took and were deeply thankful to have done so. It possessed just enough body and ‘clout’ to hold its own against the fabulous flavours of the food, yet enough refinement and sophistication not to impose upon them. 10/10 there for your pairing Alberto!

As the evening drew to a close, we managed to find a little room for pudding. Alex opted for sticky toffee, which was just what one would expect from a sumptuous pudding served in a top class establishment. Meanwhile, I chose the ‘Marathon’ – a word I hardly imagined using after so much delicious food and wine! But it was an absolute treat – three components that when tasted separately were delicious, but when combined together, perfectly replicated the flavours of a firm favourite of mine – a snickers bar! Culinary wizardry at its finest!

So, how to conclude this article on the Cross Guns Inn… This place really is something very special. Considering its relative infancy, it ran like a well-oiled machine – and a machine creating phenomenal meals, drinks and most importantly experiences at that. It is one of only a handful of places I have reviewed and immediately booked a table to come back for more. If ever you are in the area, or even remotely close, I cannot recommend this place highly enough.