Going out for a meal is pretty much a staple in our family life these days. Someone’s birthday? Let’s go for a meal! Christmas? Girls Night at the all you can eat Chinese. Can’t be bothered cooking? Hunt out a deal on a money-saving app, and off we go! It’s what we do. 9/10 times there are children in tow and family-friendly is the top priority for us. Places that give good value for money and accommodate the kids are highly sought after.

It’s safe to say we have a list of regular establishments we visit when we go out for a meal. However, despite it being fairly local, The Swan, Prenton isn’t somewhere we have ventured – that is until now.

The Swan, Prenton.

Part of the Sizzling Pubs chain, The Swan, Prenton has recently undergone refurbishment. My mum, reminiscing about the old days – pre-marriage (we’re talking nearly 40 years ago now)- commented that whilst the layout remains pretty much the same as it did back then, the interiors and decor looked really nice. Being a first time visitor myself, it looked nice and clean and a slightly modern twist on the usual pub decor. Personally, I loved the carpets!

But I didn’t come to look at the carpets; I visited to do what I do best, which is to attempt to eat more food than I should all whilst drinking copious amounts of Pepsi!

The menu features all the usual pub favourites as well as the sizzling range of meals too. Be in the curry you fancy, or a mixed grill the choice is yours. You can even have a Tracey favourite of fajita’s if you feel the need for some spice in your life!

After perusing the menu, then rereading it, checking out the kid’s menu for Olivia, we finally made our decision. It is a good selection, but not too many that it takes (everyone but us) too long to decide what to eat. Put it this way a family of four came in after us, ordered before us and left around 20 mins before we did!

For the children with you, there is a kid’s pack to keep them entertained! Well, it always keeps Olivia amused anyway!

Starters.

We went for the sharing platter between the 3 of us. I knew instantly what I wanted, and the only thing in my way was Olivia, who was after the same thing as me. The House Sharer comes as; House-fried corn nachos, southern-fried chicken pieces, beer-battered mushrooms, BBQ chicken wings, onion rings and garlic bread, with blue cheese, BBQ & sweet chilli dips (£8.99)

Definitely meant for more than 3 people we gave it our best shot before deciding we best leave some room for our main course! I had no issues at all with the starter, even eating the guacamole on the nachos!

Mains

After deciding to order from the main menu and not the kids one, Olivia went with the Applewood Smoked Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Garlic Bread (£5.49). It was the BBQ Hunter’s Chicken (£5.99) that tickled her taste buds and me? Well, I went to Chick-Tastic (£10.29).

These meals are generous. For the price, you really do get a lot. Was I up for the challenge of not only a BBQ Half Roast Chicken, but also to get through a Southern Fried Chicken Fillet and a Lemen Peri-Peri Chicken Skewer. That is before you look at the chips, corn on the cob and onion rings! I wasn’t disappointed with any of it at all, not only did it look good but it was delicious too. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it, but I gave it my best shot! Definitely, a meal to be consumed alone not after starters, in my opinion. If I had to be picky, the skewers were a little on the dry side for me but other than that.

My mum wasn’t disappointed either, having failed to notice that the sizzling meals come on a base of sizzling onions – it was the reason I opted not to order one (sorry, not a fan of onions) so she was shocked to see them. But aside from that, all was enjoyed, and after finishing her meal, she decided that that was just the right size meal for her! If only I were as sensible, hey!

Olivia, ever the fussy one, didn’t have anything to say at all and promptly got down to demolishing her meal. I actually liked that she steered away from a meal with chips as she’s not a big chip eater at home and went for something she loved. The Mac & Cheese got the big thumbs up from her too.

Dessert

Should we, could we, dare we? Oh, we dared all right. I mean, you can’t review a food establishment without trying something from each course, can you? So we let Olivia decide and shared a Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake (£4.29) between the 3 of us. As this is Olivia’s staple dessert, if she weren’t impressed, then it would be the dessert that let us down. It didn’t disappoint.

Verdict.

We had a really nice time. Sat overlooking the bar area, we had a pretty good view of what was going on. Despite it being a wet and windy Tuesday night, The Swan was bustling with people coming in to eat or to have a drink – although there is a separate bar area if you aren’t eating. Not overly busy to be too loud but not quite enough to be empty, we enjoyed watching what was going on as we had a natter over our food. The staff were charming too.

It’s definitely a place we can go back to. Either as a family or to grab some lunch if we are in the area. I was pleasantly surprised as to how nice it was inside having only ever driven past. I also want to mention parking. The car park is opposite the pub and is chargeable. Customers of the pub can redeem this upon leaving. Charges apply before 5 pm.

For more information or book a table, you can find The Swan, Prenton online or pop in!

*DISCLAIMER: WE WERE PROVIDED WITH A VOUCHER TO COVER THE COST OF OUR MEALS AT THE SWAN PRENTON TO REVIEW THE FOOD AND SERVICE. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS (AND HEARTBURN FROM BEING GREEDY) ARE ALL MY OWN*