Address: Spread Eagle Hotel, Sawley, BB7 4NH.

Phone number: 01200 441202.

Lancashire Telegraph review by John Anson from February 12, 2011.

With open views of the Ribble and the ruins of the historic abbey just down the road, there aren’t many better spots for a country dining pub.

Location means nothing, however if the food doesn’t pass muster but the Spread Eagle is more than up to the task.

There is a large, informal dining area full of wooden tables and mismatched chairs which still manages to be cosy.

This feeling of goodwill is added to by the friendly staff.

The menu features a range of what are now termed ‘pub classics’ but all appear to have been given a local twist which is nice to see.

There is also a decent selection of daily specials available.

A nice touch, considering the location, is that you even get a daily weather forecast – handy if you’re planning to walk off your lunch.

The better half was particularly impressed with the fact that smaller platters are available as she had already planned which pudding she was going to have and wanted to leave room.

So slow roasted belly pork on red cabbage it was – at just £6.95 – and for me, from the specials menu, the game and root vegetable casserole with parsley dumpling at £11.95.

Being greedy I also had a side order of mashed potato (£1.65) to go with it.

On a chilly day the casserole was just the job, tender chunks of meat and tasty veg all in a thick, flavoursome gravy.

The dumpling was a nice touch and I’m glad I ordered the mash to mop things up.

The pork was also declared a huge success and so we moved on to puddings.

For me it had to be syrup sponge with sultanas and vanilla custard while the better half chose the chocolate tort with chocolate ice cream.

Again both were excellent – although being picky I’d have loved more custard - and reasonable at £4.95.

The Spread Eagle isn’t the most accessible place for many people but it’s well worth making the effort.

Lancashire Telegraph review by Ellie Hargreaves from April 18, 2009.

WE’D had a long morning selling old horse tack at Clitheroe Auction Mart when we turned up at the Spread Eagle in Sawley, frozen to the bone and smelling musty.

For that reason we chose not to eat in the dining room, but sat by the log fire in the bar where we were greeted by particularly friendly staff.

We had high expectations of this coaching inn — which was taken over by the team behind the Masons Arms in Cartmel, Cumbria, last year — and the transformation has to get the thumbs up.

The furniture is a mix of new and funky, aged and distressed and while there were huge vases of fresh flowers on the well-stocked bar, the ladies loos boasted the best wallpaper I’ve ever seen.

My mother says you can tell a lot about a place by state of the toilets, so she was happy as Larry even before her crispy battered haddock arrived, wrapped in The Times and surrounded by chips, mushy peas and tartar sauce — all home-made.

I went for the chilled fish platter and wasn’t disappointed. Smoked Scottish salmon, grilled mackerel fillet, pickled herring, king prawns and a thai fishcake, plus salad, sauces and home-made bread, made for a real taste-bud treat and I was still thinking about the mackerel the next day.

Displayed beautifully, on a spinning board ideal for sharing, I was tempted to take a photo — but I was too hungry to delay.

For a lunch-time bar meal, £12.95 for the haddock and £12.25 for the platter, seemed a little pricey, especially with glasses of wine at £5.55.

But we were in the mood for treating ourselves and there are cheaper dishes on the menu (starters/light bites from £3.65, mains from £8.95 and desserts at around £5).

As we left, £40 lighter, we tried to find something to fault.

Six miles down the road we concluded the mushy peas were a bit dark in colour.

If that’s all we could fault, it’s surely worth a return visit — especially with the current week-night offers.

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