The Potting Shed, Halifax - New Summer Menu

If you have never been to The Potting Shed allow me to let you in on the secret. They are not like your usual bars in that the theme here is gardening, so you can expect plenty of greenery and rustic terracotta pots - yes they even had some potting sheds upstairs where you can also dine in besides dining in the pub itself.

There are Potting Sheds in Bingley, Guiseley, Northallerton, Beverley, Southport and recently Halifax was the latest town to get the green carpet laid down.

The Halifax Potting Shed is located next to a famous national pub chain, which to my mind is like opening a burger bar next to McDonalds, though in time the Potting Shed will find its own market after the people in Halifax discover the place. Though I understand that on Friday and Saturday nights it is heaving.

We visited on an early Thursday night and it did feel to have a more refined atmosphere than that of elsewhere. As it was not too busy service was quick and friendly too.

The menu has all the usual suspects such as wraps and open sandwiches, pizzas, 6oz burgers, fish and chips, steaks, kebabs, vegetarian chilli and a range of salads.

One of the new items on the summer menu is the Posh Garlic Flat Bread with Red Onion which is part of the sharing menu. At £4.95 there wasn't too much garlic in evidence but the red onion chutney gave it a unique flavour and the mozzarella a bite. It's a meal in itself and you could easily make a meal out of just this.

The Hot and Spicy Beef Pizza is also new on the summer menu, priced at £10.95 it is in line with what other places charge. I found it to be a good pizza though it was a little on the doughy side but plenty of topping. I could tell it had been cooked in a wood fired pizza oven.

My sister went for the Cheese and Bacon Burger - a very meaty 6 oz burger topped with cheese and bacon. Served with fries it was priced at £10.95. The burger was a chunky offering though the chips might not have been hot enough for many palates. Very salty too.

The pudding menu only has 4 choices - I was the only one who had enough space left to indulge in the Chocolate Four Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake - it comes with dark chocolate ice cream, but with all that chocolate I decided upon swapping to some vanilla ice cream. Probably a dieter's nightmare but the rich fudge cake for me was one of the best things I had tasted during the visit.

I did notice a lot of plates going back with food left on them but that might be because the portions are huge.

Depending on which midweek night you visit there are 2-4-1 offers so Monday it is Pizza night, Tuesday is 2-4-1 Vegetarian dishes whilst Wednesday is 2-4-1 burgers finishing up with 2-4-1 Kebabs on Thursday.

Did it dig my garden? The servings are huge though overall none of the food was outstanding, but neither was any of it below average. If you prefer to dine somewhere different that has a rustic feel with a good atmosphere with attentive staff then all is blooming here.

The Potting Shed, 24 Fountain Street, Halifax HX1 1LW
Telephone 01422 340573
www.pottingshedbar.com