Yee-ha, sublime – not sub prime

I’m not a food expert, I won’t pretend to be – although I do love food and eating out – but I think it is fair to say pubs that serve food have got to do something to stand out from the crowd.

Many pub menus are very similar, meaning there’s plenty you can choose from.

And standing out from the crowd is exactly what The Railway in Leyland is doing, with an American diner menu.

The pub in Preston Road has a Casey’s Diner menu featuring a feast of US-inspired grub and seating area to match.

Anyone who knows the pub will know it is huge and a whole section of it has been transformed with seating booths.

I have to make a confession, however. The pub being so huge we didn’t actually realise there was an American-themed seating area until after we had eaten. After ordering drinks we asked where we could sit and were told anywhere and as it turns out we were in the main part of the pub. But that doesn’t matter because it was just as lovely. It was only after nipping to the loo in the back of the pub that I noticed!

So, the new menu launched on July 4 and is packed with goodies. It took us a while to decide what we wanted, from burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, platters, wings, a variety of side orders, milk shakes and more.

After much deliberation I ordered The Carolina burger with fries (£8.99) - a bbq marinated chicken breast grilled and topped with a sweet sauce, complete with lettuce and tomatoes.

And my fellow diner 
ordered Porkies – a pulled pork sandwich with cheese, dill pickles, French mustard and fries (£7.99) and he added an extra topping of jalapenos (50p).

We also got a side of onion rings to share. (£2.99).

We ordered at the bar, which wasn’t a problem at all and didn’t have to wait too long for the food to arrive. When it came it looked like something from Man v Food. I am a person who is normally put off by a lot of food on my plate, I get overwhelmed, but with this I didn’t I just wanted to tuck in.

And it was yummy. The burger bun was soft enough to squash down but it didn’t fall apart and the chicken was tasty and there was plenty of it.

Sticking with the diner theme on the table there was mustard, ketchup and Mayo all in the squeezy kind of pots you get at a hot dog stand!

The food lover sat with me devoured his sandwich which was also of an impressive size. His only negative comment was about the cheese. The wedges were huge and a bit too much. But he just cut the chunky bits off and ate the rest of it. And of course his need for spice was met with the generous portion of jalapenos.

We had more or less finished our mains before we even touched the onion rings – simply because we had so much to go at on our plates. But these too were gorgeous - huge but very tasty.

There’s a great atmosphere in the pub and the staff are very helpful. The area where we sat was more like a sports bar with memorabilia up on the walls and cricket on the TV but it is a great spot.

Earlier in the evening we had been eyeing up the dessert menu but I have to be honest - we were too full to try.

I’ve never been to America, therefore I’ve never been to an American diner, so this is as close as I might actually get . I was impressed and we have already decided to go back.

There’s plenty of choice and it is great value for money - what more could you want?.