We have seen, over the last few weeks, a real resurgence in the popularity of ‘Virgin Marys and Bloody Marys’ particularly on a Sunday.

Here at the Bulls Head we are definitely becoming famous for them as we mix the vodka of your choice with ‘big Tom’ tomato juice, a touch of lemon and celery a slight splash of sherry and a secret ingredient or two and then it is over to you to hit the Tabasco!!

Tim and Shane worked on the recipe while the pub was being refurbished and re-born 10 months ago!!

At £4.25 a glass for the ‘Bloody’ version it has to be done!!!

So enjoy a Bulls Bloody Mary, perfect to drink while eating our bubble and squeak hash with a poached hens egg, crispy bacon and mustard sauce!! Or just with a bag of kettle chips!!

Bloody good!!

Thank you again to all our customers for supporting ‘National Pie week’ and particularly our very own, much loved, Bulls Head ‘Pie and Ale week’.

I have to say this is our second ‘Pie and Ale’ Week in six months and they really are becoming an institution!!

The winning Pie of the week was the unique Tim’s ‘Chunky Lamb Shepherd’s Pie’ which sold well over 50 in the week. The Wobbly Ale Pie remains the overall favourite but we feel the Shepherd’s Pie will make the menu in the autumn!!

Top of the ‘Sweetie Pies’ was our Dave’s famous Apple, pear and blueberry pie. In fact one Lady said she was a pie expert and that this pie was one of the best she had ever had!! Credit indeed for Dave our Chef of patisserie !!!

The best ale of the week was ‘Nimrod’ brewed at Wincle Beer Company which is the fastest moving ‘guest’ beer since we opened!! Well done Wincle!!!

Please have a look at our events page to see what is coming up in the next two or three months!!!

The Bulls Head menu changes on 24th March 2011 for the Spring with our famous Game dishes disappearing ‘til the Autumn. We have some interesting replacements with a Free range Packington 12 oz Pork Chop arriving which is grilled and finished with melted mature cheddar and an apple and cider sauce. We also have a new Vegetarian dish of homemade Cauliflower cheese but with a smoked cheese sauce and then broad beans and cherry tomatoes with the local cauliflower. A Lloyd speciality!!

We then have a warm flaked poached salmon salad with a red wine vinegar dressing and finally a real special of slow cooked ‘Ox casserole’ in a rich caramelised port wine sauce with celery, carrot, celeriac and shallots over creamy mash.

Regulars will be pleased to see the return of the pints of prawns as well as half pints too. We also have ‘potted shrimp’ with nutty bread both these are in the ‘nibble and natter’ section of the menu, and in the starters we are making a coarse chicken liver pate, we are cooking portobello mushrooms with cheese and a herb crumb, the pan fried chicken livers are taking on a spring like finish of brandy, cream and leeks. While the ‘hash’ becomes a bubble and squeak hash with hens egg, bacon and a light mustard sauce.

On desserts we have moved the bread and butter to spring with it becoming an orange and white chocolate bread and butter pudding and we are doing a ‘not so traditional’ banana banoffi.

I have also taken £3 off the 1961 vintage port which now sells at £9 a glass to celebrate the year of my birth!! It really is a treat with the cheese board to share!!

At lunch time we have some lighter lunches which is in response to some of our customers with smaller appetites and we have some Cheshire smokehouse baps and some new traditional toasted sandwiches for you to enjoy also for a full look at everything click on ‘food’ and then the relevant menus. Even better pop in and try the new dishes too. As always we look forward to seeing you!!

As many visitors to the Bulls Head know, the team are fans of Mallorcan wine and one wine ‘Macia Batle Anada’ has featured as a ‘ship in’ wine for some time by popular demand.

For new readers the Bulls Head features different wines that do not feature on our list and these we call our ‘shipped in’ wines. Do ask what we have available when you next visit.

Tim travelled once again to Mallorca to try wines at several Mallorcan Bodegas, that, if good enough, could feature on our list or as a ‘shipped in’ wine for the summer or the Autumn.

I have to say the trip to Macia Batle was fantastic. We arrived completely unannounced and the service was excellent. The export assistant Olga Smertina was passionate about the wines and took us through the Macia Batle Blanc de Blanc, a fantastic Rosado and then the reds from the Anada to the Crianza to the Reserva. We enjoyed the wines very much and I have to say this is a trip anyone visiting Mallorca, who loves wine, must do!!

We did a tour of the Bodega which is open to anyone from 4.30pm when the Bodega re-opens. All the details are on their website www.maciabatle.com

We have spoken to our wine importer Boutinot and have already agreed to bring the Rosado in for this spring and summer!! A full flavoured deep pink rose that lends itself to both fish, white meat or even red meat because of its full flavour. We hope to ‘ship’ in for the early part of April. We also intend to bring in some of their other wines from time to time as the Crianza and Reserva really were great.

Please enjoy the photos from the Bodega and come and enjoy a Rosado in the sunshine here at the Bulls Head.

Here at the Bulls Head we are celebrating ‘National Pie Week’  so please read the details here and come along and enjoy our homemade, handcrafted pies.

Try them with a glass of cask ale as we are featuring new beers from Wincle Brewery, Weetwood Brewery, Woodlands Brewery and Spitting feathers Brewery as well as our now legendary ‘house’ ales, Bulls Head Bitter, Mobberley Wobbly Ale and 1812 Overture Ale.

We look forward to seeing you all.

The smell of spring was in the air as Lloyd and the kitchen team delivered the goods once more with over 150 Italian dishes served through the week with wonderful Italian wines ‘shipped in ‘  by our award winning wine supplier Boutinot!!

The ‘winning’ dishes during the week were the fillet of beef Carpaccio and Franko’s (Smokehouse Franks) cured Proscuitto with mozzarella and honeyed figs and the Lamb Rump with Rosemary and the Veal Cutlets were the top main courses as the tiramisu and the Italian Cheeseboard were the favourite ‘afters’.

Customers did comment that they felt strange eating Italian food in the Bulls Head as we are now famous for our flavoursome, home cooked English favourites but like our ‘Robbie Burns night’ we like to branch out occasionally and celebrate food from further afield. So look out for our ‘Celebrate the bloody French week’ later in the year!!

A big thank you to Lloyd and the rest of the kitchen team for all their hard work during the week.

Shane and I have now shortlisted the three ‘Blonde’ Ales that will be featured to decide which one has the honour of becoming ‘The Blonde Bull bitter’ for this summer!!

Local micro- breweries were tested and challenged and we believe we have picked the best three for you, our customers, to decide the ‘champion’ blonde ale for the Bulls Head.

The Breweries represented remain secret until the final winner is chosen!!

The three ‘blondes’  will be ordered secretly during March and settled ready for the competition to start with vigour on MONDAY 28TH MARCH 2011 AT MIDDAYand the competition will last until the first ‘blonde’ sells out.

Customers can try all three beers via our miniature ‘sampling beer mugs’ and then choose their favourite and the votes will be added up and the winner declared via our website and publicly in the pub.

So if you fancy having a ‘Blonde moment’ come to the Bulls Head and give us your thoughts and ultimately your vote!! Here’s to the summer!!

We are delighted to announce that ‘Ma Mclaughlin’ an exceptional baker and frequent visitor to the Bulls Head has taken over the baking of the famous fruit cake that sits on our legendary cheeseboard!!

It is, apparently, a Yorkshire tradition to have a small piece of fruit cake with your choice of cheese (particularly a mature cheddar or of course a lovely slice of Wensleydale).

The two complement each other wonderfully. So a big thank you to Mary ‘senior’ for baking our fruit cake which was driven all the way from Donegal in Ireland just last week. We hope you enjoy it.

Our cheese boards are usually put together by David or James our chefs with great care and attention and have become a favourite with a glass of one of our fantastic ports.

Click here to discover the choices available. Remember that dessert wines are wonderful with cheese too particularly our Spanish Antique PX which we are happy to let you try before you definitely order one!!!

See you soon!!!

Here at the Bulls Head we will be saying farewell to our autumn and winter brew ‘1812 Overture’ and you our loyal customers will be given the chance to choose from three ‘blonde’ Ales brewed specially by local micro-breweries to become what I am sure will be another favourite ale for all our customers.

We will go live with the competition sometime in March so please keep an eye on the news page for confirmed dates for the ‘Bulls Head Summer Ale Competition’

On Tuesday 25th January Robbie Burns was celebrated here at the Bulls Head!!! Lloyd our chef produced a wonderful Venison Hotpot and the traditional Haggis with roasted tatties and neeps served with a smoked bacon and whisky sauce, as well as a Cock ‘a’ leekie soup and of course Cranachan with raspberries and oats…….. a sort of Scottish Mobberley Mess which was simply divine.

Nick our bartender and resident Scotsman turned up in his kilt and set about serving Haggis to the guests who joined us for the evening and was on hand to serve with, our compliments, a fine ‘wee dram’ of Glen Elgin 12 Year old Malt to those guests who wished to partake.

A great night was had by all and Nick even typed up the poem from Robbie Burns and delivered it personally to one or two of our regulars. Nick was rewarded with a wee dram himself and a slap up meal of haggis to remind him of home!!! So next year do join us for a wee dram and wonderful home cooked food.

Thanks Lloyd and Nick for helping to deliver a great night.

Nick serves the 12 year old Malt with our compliments

Nick delivers Robbie Burns famous poem personally

Nick is rewarded with his own dish of haggis and a wee dram