Mum, Dad, a 2 year old and a newborn baby embark on The Gloucester Old Spot for their first family lunch on Friday 13th! Were they ready for us?

I was pleased the Gloucester Old Spot was our destination for lunch. Ever since its recent refurbishment by owners of the Royal Oak at Prestbury, I have been meaning to try it out. So, we bravely descended on the pub for what we hoped would be our first successful culinary outing.

We were met at the door as we struggled in laden with kids and assorted props and given a choice of table in the restaurant or the bar. The bar looked a more social place to be at lunch time and the window table provided good tractor spotting toddler entertainment. The children’s menu had an excellent selection and Hannah chose Gloucester Old Spot Sausages with Garlic Mash and Veg at £5.95. There is also the option to have half portions of any dish on the menu so your children have the opportunity to try new things without the waste. They are also more than willing to cater for the fussiest eater with special requests. However, the choice should hopefully not leave them wanting. A common sense offer that every parent appreciates was the suggestion they bring Hannah’s food with our starters – although it did mean she tucked into ours too! She certainly tried out our dishes with gusto and her verdict was ‘Mmmm. Taste, Mummy. Nice.” We both chose from the £12.50 for 2 courses lunch menu and enjoyed delicious Potted Rabbit and Fig Chutney to start followed by Homemade Luxury Fish Pie and the Huntsham Middle White Pork and Chorizo Casserole. Both meals were superb. The fish pie was groaning with mixed chunky fish and fat prawns. Andy said the chorizo gave his casserole a flavoursome Mediterranean twist and was surprisingly light for a lunch dish. All dishes came with veg and triple cooked hand cut chips for no extra charge.

We felt it would be a shame not to try desserts and Hannah and Baby Beth had been so good we all deserved to be rewarded surely? I had the Warm Chocolate Brownie with Coconut Ice Cream and Andy had the Vanilla Rice Pudding with Mixed Berry Compote. Hannah had ice cream but, naturally, sampled ours too. We all declared them ‘Yummy! Sadly there was no drinking at lunch time but there are some good wines on offer and definitely worth a bottle to accompany one of The Old Spot’s Hereford Steaks available from the Evening Menu, which also features crowd pleasers such as Fresh Sea Bass Fillets and Saddleback Pork Tenderloin with Tewkesbury Mustard Sauce.

We came on a good day as they had just changed the menu that morning .The team were friendly and polite and the service excellent especially with a new menu on quite a busy lunch service. The pub is not a family orientated chain pub set up for kids so don’t expect balloons, colouring pencils and free ice cream. It’s a great local pub where families are welcome and we felt they catered well for the children. The only things I would suggest are the offer of a highchair and some children’s cutlery. However, as Hannah had parked herself on her chosen window seat and was having no trouble with a grown up fork - she likes everything to be ‘big’ nowadays - they probably (quite rightly) didn’t feel the need to offer. We are definitely going back for dinner but we might leave the kids with Granny. It would be nice not to have to eat at 6pm for a change!

Try them out: The Gloucester Old Spot, Tewkesbury Rd, Cheltenham. 01242 680321