The Turf/Pub Food/Carlisle

This is a suprising blog for me actually, The Turf is never anywhere that has crossed my mind when going out to eat, and our visit here was quite by accident.

Situated just off Hardwick Circus in Carlisle, beside The Sands Leisure Centre, loads of parking behind the pub and walkable from the Town Centre by heading towards the Civic Centre and walking under the roundabout.

I did eat here years and years ago, but more recently just used it to have a drink or two before going into the Sands Centre to see a show.

However, Hubby and I decided, for the strangest of reasons, to go on a bike ride, and as we were taking our Spaniel, we chose Rickerby Park as the course.

Setting off from the North side of the River, we decided we would stop for a drink at the Sands before heading back again, but alas, the bar was not open.

We suddenly remembered The Turf has tables outside, and we needed somewhere we could sit with the dog, so we headed there.

When going to the bar for a drink, Hubby thought the menu looked good and brought it out.

It did indeed look good. OK, it's not fine dining, but to be honest the prices they were charging you can hardly feed yourself at home for! And the best bit - quite a good choice for Vegetarians :)

We decided on just a main course, although a couple of the starters were tempting, but the temperature was dropping and I couldn't have too much anti-freeze (otherwise known as alchohol) as I had to cycle back.

It was a difficult choice between the Cauliflower Cheese Tart, or the Red Leicester & Spinach Burger, in the end the tart won, but only because we promised ourselves we would go back and try the burgers at a later date.

Hubby had his regular Gammon & Egg, and we both traded our chips for curly fries for 50p extra.

A good menu with good prices, Main courses are around £5 - £7, with two meals for £8 during the week and a Sunday roast for just £5. Puddings start at £1.29 !!

We did sit outside, so cannot comment on the interior, it looked ok when we went in for the drinks. Service was good, and although we were outside we were not forgotten. They even provided a bowl of water for the dog.

Bargain food, perfect after that summer walk down by the river. Will definately be back.

Contact details are:

The Turf Tavern
Newmarket Road
Carlisle

CA1 1JG
01228 515 367

Feel free to comment if you have been.