Axe & Cleaver

Booked a table for 5 as a Mother’s Day treat, arrived early but we were soon given a great large round table in the window. The pub is well staffed and the service excellent, had a little wait for our meal but it was busy and the food is proper stuff so that was no problem. Great variety of meals available at reasonable prices, good portions & vegetarian options, we all enjoyed them! There was a big car park and picnic tables outside, we’ll have to come back in summer, cheers!

27th August 2025 ‘Wandering Wednesday’ this week took Neil and I to a place we haven’t been before….. On the advice of good friends of ours, Jacent & Tina Rabbitt, we headed off towards Dunham Massey to a pub called ‘The Axe & Cleaver’ they were definitely true to their word as the place was an old Country pub with outstanding quality cuisines….. the pub itself is pristine and tastefully decorated. The staff were very attentive from start to finish, many thanks to Denise, Neil and Lace you were all professional, polite and all given with a great service. Waiting time on the food was just cooking time but we would have waited much longer on the food that was received…… Presentation was perfect, all the food was homemade and was piping hot…..the menu was varied, there was also a specials board, it was very hard to choose what we wanted as all the dishes on the menu shouted out….’eat me!… No eat me!!!😳 Neil ended up choosing from the specials board of homemade Chicken, cheese and leek pie with roasted asparagus, chunky chips and rich glossy gravy…. Neil looked on the website and had chosen Toad in the hole with bubble and squeak mash… then changed his mind in the last second…. I was wanting the mixed grill from the website but ended up with good ole fish and chips, tartare sauce all homemade, mushy peas along with scampi, bloomer bread & butter and a side of onion rings to share…..you couldn’t find fault in anything, the food was totally delicious and fresh. We’ve decided we will have to return for our website choices another day!!!… not that we need an excuse!!!…. So! Yes, we will return to this fabulous establishment in the very near future. Definitely not one to be missed folks.

We had two lovely dinners on a Tuesday and Wednesday evening whilst staying locally. The menu was interesting, the atmosphere was welcoming and the ambience was charming. Paul was helpful and provided us with friendly and timely service. We came back on the third night (a Thursday) and were confronted with 2 grumpy women who didn't want us to be there. We felt unwelcome so we left. Motto is - only go when Paul is working.

Made to feel very welcome and the staff were lovely. We were sat straight away it was a nice cozy place. We ordered drinks and didn't wait long for them to arrive. Guinness was lovely btw. We ordered the food, 1 starter, 2 mains to start. Starter although was lovely it was NOT worth over £7! i ordered the pan fried prawns, it turned up in a tiny bowl with 4 prawns in it with some tomato sauce of sorts, 2 leaves of garnish and 2 small pieces of bread, I had to ask for butter that was so hard it destroyed the bread. When finished out lady server came to clear the plate and asked us to confirm "is it still only 1 main your having?" We confirmed it was 2 we ordered. She put the second on the order. If that had just turned up, one main meal, we would not have been happy. When the main meals did turn up it looked and smelt incredible. My lamb shank shephards pie looked great. As i was loading the plate i could tell that the cheese was melted via a microwave as it was tough and rubbery, when I took a bit the food was so hot, the roof of mouth blistered, it was rediculas. I had to wait over 5 minutes before it was cooled enough to try and enjoy. The lamb was pretty much fell off the bone, it was in with mint gravy which was also lovely. My partner had the chicken pie, she said it was lovely. When we finished, the table was cleared and we asked for the desert menu, when we ordered the desert, the server, the server which took the initial order laughed off mistake from the main ordered saying, I've definitely ordered 2 this time. The desert arrived and again, sticky toffee pudding and custard was heated in their nuclear reactor making it wayy above an acceptable temperature to eat, even 5/10 minutes after it arrived i was only able to start eating it. To summerise, the place was lovely, the staff friendly friendly, i would advise our male server to stop trying to be a comedian and make sure the orders are correct, as while there, he was the same with the table behind and also messed part of their order up too. The food was absolutely lovely, tast wise, but the starter needed more of it to be worth the money, and try and not use the microwave as much while heating food or melting cheese. We had 3 drinks, 1 starter, 2 mains and 2 deserts was almost £85, we were happy that they accepted blue light card which saved almost £10. See the pictures and make your own decision. I gave the food a 3 purely cause of the use of microwave making the food so so hot it uncomfortable to eat. Will I return? Yes.

Our first visit and won't be the last! Thank you to Hannah and the rest of the staff for the warm welcome, service, and the food. We had the best Sunday Roast. The plates were generous, with good variety of everything, and had different textures and flavours. Not overly salty too. We were VERY full. Went to walk it off at Dunham Massey garden. We'll visit again soon.