The bar area of The King Arthur

Steak From Camelot!

The King Arthur

Food - Restaurant/Cafes
in/near Dudley, Warwickshire,
England Heart Of Inc Birmingham

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Review added: 29/08/2006 11:54
By: dewberry (£0.00 earned from reviews) Earn £££'s

"The King Arthur pub in Dudley is a great place to go, whether you're just popping out for a couple of drinks or if you want a meal out with (or without!) the kids.

The pub itself is made up of one large room, which is sectioned off into smoking and non-smoking areas by the clever placement of the wide bar. You can eat in any part of the pub and children are allowed in the smoking section, unlike many pubs these days – not that I'm advocating taking your kids into a smoky environment, but the choice is there.

There's also a nice beer garden at the back, where the kids enjoyed running around on the lovely flat lawn and playing 'skittles' with some mini buckets and a tennis ball they found. The beer garden is lined with trees and this makes for a relaxing and calm atmosphere, in the summer you can eat your meal out here and it's a lovely al fresco dining area.

The King Arthur seems to specialise in steaks, with a good proportion of its menu dedicated to variations on a steak theme. My absolute favourite is the Jack Daniels Steak; for £8.95 you get a large rump steak topped with a tangy, rich sauce made with Jack Daniels. I love the fact that I can actually taste the bourbon strongly in the sauce and the richness goes beautifully with the well cooked meat. I always ask for my steak cooked medium rare and it's unfailingly cooked to my exact requirements, my partner likes his well done and again it's always perfect for him.

All steak meals are served with chunky well cooked chips, grilled tomatoes and fried onion. The food is never greasy and even the onions don't leave a puddle of oil on your plate like you'd expect. Sometimes when they take your order the member of staff will ask if you'd like to substitute mushrooms for your onions, and again the mushrooms are nicely fried with some sort of thin sauce.

Prices are very good in this pub. The cheapest steak meal is a 4oz steak for just £2.99 with a whopping 16oz rump steak meal being just £6.99. The portion sizes on each meal are brilliant, real man sized dinners. The kids' usually have the 4oz meal and they can never manage all their chips, although their dad will help them out even after devouring his body weight in rump! Other meals on the menu include lasagne, poached salmon, steak & ale pie and good old fish and chips with prices starting from around the £4 mark. I know a lot of people who eat regularly at The King Arthur and I've honestly never heard anyone say a bad word about the standard of the food.

Starters and desserts are also available from your bog standard 'Combo for Two' (breaded mushrooms, chicken goujons, potato wedges, garlic bread etc…) to Prawn Cocktail and Apple Pie with Custard. The apple pie is definitely worth a try; a crunchy, doughy crust with sweet cinnamon sprinkled apples inside. You'll want to lick the plate afterwards. A snip too at just £1.85!

To wash your (huge) meal down, you'll need a drink. And The King Arthur has a brilliant selection. They have a large choice of bottled and draught lagers, beers and cider along with all the top brand spirits and alcopops. The wine menu is also good, with my particular favourite being Santa Lucia, a rich and crispy merlot costing just £5.49 a bottle. I'm usually the one driving when we eat here so I'll stick to their delicious Cranberry Juice & Ice drink which costs £1.30 for a large glass, also Apple Juice or Orange Juice & Ice are available for the same price. Gorgeous in the summer when a long cold drink is called for. One thing I like about The King Arthur is that fact that they don't take the proverbial with the prices of kids' drinks – my pet hate is being charged more for a glass of pop than for my alcoholic drink. Here you can ask for a glass of blackcurrant squash and it'll be made to your child's taste for just 30p – and sometimes they won't even charge you for it. No paying £1.50 for a glass of pop in this place.

We tend to spend 2 – 3 hours in The King Arthur when we visit and this will cost around £45 including meals, desserts and drinks. This is good value in my opinion as a trip to Pizza Hut will cost nearly 30 quid by the time you've paid over the odds for your beer, and at least here you're getting a meal which will literally keep you going for the rest of the day.

Disabled access here is good. The tables are widely spaced meaning wheelchair users and families with pushchairs should have no problem getting around, also the doorways and aisles in the pub are wide and there are no steps inside. Part of the beer garden has steps leading to it which could pose a problem to anyone with mobility problems, but there are tables and chairs on ground level too. There are several designated disabled spots in the large car park which are directly in front of the entrance.

To find The King Arthur from Dudley City Centre, get onto Wolverhampton Street (B4176) and follow the clearly signposted directions towards Coseley/Wolverhampton. This will bring you onto the A4168 Priory Road and The King Arthur is located just after a major set of traffic lights on your left hand side. It's huge, you can't miss it.

The King Arthur
Priory Road
Dudley
West Midlands
DY1 4DS
Tel: 01384 232330"

Comments

the king arthur at this time is disgusting, the toilets are hanging off, wallpaper coming from the walls and only one room to use. God knows whats happening to this place it still advertises food when they havent been serving any for at least a year. Truely terrible. Used to be a great place til it was taken over!!

I had Sunday lunch there just over a week ago, and whilst the meal was fine the whole place is terribly run down needing a complete update, refurbishment and redecoration. Unless the king arthur makes it a more welcoming place to dine, as it use to be, I shall not be going there again! Looking at one review in Aug 08 it said give the new owners time to act. Isn't 12 months enough?

what happened to the king arthur. im so sad about it! please bring back the good days

Currently i am working at the King Arthur as bar/ kitchen staff, under new ownership, there are huge plans to completely change the face of the pub. A new and improved menu, should be underway as of next week, with all food cooked fresh with the best of quality, and reasonable prices. The will be a new jungle- gym, outside going up soon and an all- year brick- built barbeque. As for the toilets; i and the new owners agree with the bad state it's in, i do assure you, a new fully refurbished bathroom, is on the cards. Please give the new owners time to act, after all, Rome wasn't built in a day.

I was in there last night. The food was excellent, beer was excellent, but, and this is the killer, the toilets were disgusting. Toilet seats detached and lying on the floor, no toilet rolls, empty soap dispensers etc. The place has been taken over apparently and it was extremely difficult to obtain any information from staff as to where I should direct my complaint. They did tell me that the pub is due to be renovated throughout but I honestly feel it should be closed until the toilets are sorted.

i was a chef at the king arthur for 8 months, the steaks are all cooked fresh and the chips are cooked to order so they are always tasty and hot. the bar is always clean and they and the staff friendly and polite beyond the call of duty. there is good parking with a massive carpark and easy access to pub.