WITH Sky TV showing the football, fruit and quiz machines, loud music and a newly created outdoor smoking area, The Varsity might not seem like an ideal choice for those seeking a decent meal.
First off though, the menu is surprisingly large, ranging from sandwiches, jacket potatoes and soups to burgers - which you can double or triple in size - to vegetarian chillis and typical meat dishes such as gammon, egg and chips or a gut-busting grill.
There is a fantastic array of side dishes too, with onion rings, various garlic breads, ribs and curly fries - which can even be ordered in buckets - being among the most popular. Most come in under the £2.50 mark.
advertisement
We arrived on a Thursday night in response to readers'requests to sample food at good value town centre eateries.
It was busy, quite noisy, but the atmosphere was good with a mix of younger student-types and people just out for a good night.
The kitchen was busy and, on seeing some of the dishes being served up, it was easy to see why. One complaint is that the service is a bit slow, but the amount of staff on duty makes it difficult for them to cope with the volume of custom.
I ordered a pint of lager - the choice of beers is pretty standard, though there is a good selection of bottled varieties available - and we chose what turned out to be a very acceptable bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio at £13 to accompany our meal.
I went for the tomato and mozzarella burger and decided to double the topping (£4.95 for one, £5.35 for two and £5.95 for three), choosing a veggie chilli and jalapeno peppers (garlic mayonnaise and fried egg were among the other options) and a portion of curly fries.
My partner - after deliberating over the vast selection of burgers and the steak and ale pie (£3.95) - went for the Southern fried chicken tortilla wraps (£4.65), which were packed with a healthy salad, and arrived with curly fries. We also ordered a portion of onion rings (£1.95) and a cheesy garlic bread (£2.75).
My vegetarian burger was deliciously spicy, with the chilli topping adding plenty of zing, and the size of it made me glad I had not decided to order the treble.
My partner pronounced her tortilla absolutely divine and the onion rings and sizeable portion of garlic bread made the whole meal pretty sizeable and good value at just under £30 including the wine and beer.
The Varsity, 37 Churchgate, Bolton BL1 1HU. Tel: 01204 363987.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
