The Old Mill Smokehouse, Leek

After hearing mixed feedback about newcomer The Old Mill Smokehouse & Craft Ale Bar in Leek, I’d held back a little longer than usual before visiting and writing a review. However, after stopping by for a quick and satisfying lunch recently, I’ll be returning to sample more of what’s on offer.

I think it’s fair to say that things didn’t get off to the smoothest start when The Old Mill Smokehouse & Craft Ale Bar opened in Leek, towards the end of 2018.

There had been a lot of interest in the latest bar and restaurant to open in the Staffordshire Moorlands market town, and expectations were high. So much so, in fact, that this reviewer couldn’t get a weekend evening table at the first couple of attempts.

However, initial feedback on social media mixed. A proportion of customers talked of underwhelming food and poor service. Added to that was The Old Mill being unlucky enough to be one of the victims of a series of break-ins at local businesses.

Not an auspicious start.

However, with a new menu and hearing that things seemed to be settling down, I decided to investigate for myself one recent lunchtime.

THE OLD MILL SMOKEHOUSE

The Old Mill is situated in (you guessed it) an old mill. In the Grade II listed Shoobridge Mill on Leek’s Haywood Street, to be exact.

Owners Nathan Walwyn and Bernadeta Bridgwood have done a fine job turning a building in a rather unloved part of town into an attractive, spacious venue.

On the ground floor is the bar, with a wide staircase leading up to the restaurant. Both retain the original brickwork, with downstairs feeling a little cosier and upstairs, during a lunchtime visit anyway, lighter and brighter. Upstairs you can view the goings on in the open kitchen with its authentic American smoker. There’s also some rather good murals of a chicken, cow and pig.

CRAFT ALES & MORE

The Old Mill styles itself as a smokehouse and craft ale bar offering a ‘wide selection of award winning craft, draught, cask and world beers along with the finest ciders, wines, gins and innovative cocktails’.

Indeed, it was the price of some of those American imported craft ales that raised a few hackles among a number of the early clientele.

However, there’s lots of reasonably priced alternatives. Myself and eating companion ID both went for a pint from Whim Ales, just over the Derbyshire border in Hartington.

I had the Old Mill bitter and ID their Flower Power pale ale. At £3.00 and £3.60 respectively, you can hardly call the prices extortionate.

THE MENU

Understandably, being a lunchtime, there was a reduced menu. So if you want those big smokehouse classics of ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken and the like then you’ll need an evening visit.

However, having looked at the online menu beforehand, we were aware of this and were quite happy with what was on offer.

There’s a range sandwiches, snacks and small plates (including vegetarian options), none of them costing more than a fiver, plus side dishes all at £2 each.

Being rather hungry, we both opted for BBQ Texan Burger (£8.00).

BBQ Texan Burger

All The Old Mill burgers came with salad, coleslaw and chips.

As you can see, the salad and coleslaw were no mere garnish, but came in plentiful quantity. The veg was all very fresh and the coleslaw had good crunch and flavour.

The chips were pretty standard, none of your double or triple cooked affairs. Nothing to shout about, but nothing at all wrong with them either.

So what about the burger?

The meat, perfectly seasoned minced rump, was cooked well. Perhaps a little more done than the medium stated on the menu, but good all the same and full flavoured.

The BBQ Texan burger came with melted Staffordshire cheese, good quality bacon and barbecue sauce. Not a fan of overly sweet sauces, I was pleased that this barbecue sauce leaned definitely towards the spicy and savoury.

Also in the bun were substantial pieces of lettuce, tomato and onion. As with the salad and coleslaw on the platter, I liked this generous hand with the vegetables. Too often with a burger meal, I’m left craving a bit of the green, fresh stuff. But at The Old Mill, I came away feeling I’d made at least a bit of a dent in my 5-a-day.

SIDES: FRICKLES & BEANS

Wanting to sample as much as we reasonably could at lunchtime, while avoiding being unable to move for the rest of the afternoon, we decided to order a couple of sides to share. That turned out to be an excellent idea as they were an absolute delight.

We went for Frickles (that’s fried pickles to the uninitiated) and BBQ Pit Beans, both at £2 each.

I’m a relative newcomer to frickles. I first tried them at The Slamwich Club in Hanley and loved them.

The frickles at The Old Mill were big gherkins, covered in a fantastically crunchy, crispy batter. I’m afraid I probably ate more than my fair share but, hey, I have to get a proper understanding of what I’m going to write about don’t I?

We’d no complaints about the BBQ Pit Beans either.

With a mix including red kidney beans, butter beans and chickpeas, the sauce had really good depth of barbecue flavour. Like the sauce on the burger, it wasn’t too sweet either, but had a mild chilli taste.

There were plenty of chunks of onion and rich tomato in the sauce too. In fact, with a few fixings like soured cream and cheese, I should think these beans would make a first rate, meat-free main course.

RECOMMENDED

At £10 per head for a quality burger, chips, plenty of salad and coleslaw and a share of two side dishes, I think that’s pretty good value.

On my first visit, I tasted only a small proportion of what The Old Mill has to offer. Admittedly, that didn’t include the smokehouse signature dishes such as ribs, brisket and whatnot.

However, what we did eat we both thoroughly enjoyed.

Some of the early social media feedback mentioned poor customer service. But I have to say we experienced none of that. Okay, it was a very quiet Thursday lunchtime, but all the staff we had dealings with were polite, efficient, and all checked that we were happy with our food.

I’m looking forward to going back to The Old Mill to sample those big classics and, no doubt, a few craft ales too.

Recommended.