Love Your Local: The Oaken Arms near Codsall, Wolverhampton.

The Oaken Arms is a country pub with log fires and wood beams, perfect for winter days and nights.

Transcript

00:00So we're here in Oaken at the Oaken Arms, just outside Cotswold, and landlady, hello, what's your name?

00:06Hi, Sophia.

00:07And Sophie, what a lovely welcoming fire you've got here at the pub.

00:12Yes, one of our best features.

00:14It's gorgeous isn't it?

00:15So for people who've not been to the Oaken Arms, just describe your pub a little bit, what are you all about?

00:20We are a rustic, charming country pub.

00:24We are dog friendly, we are very dog friendly.

00:28For this pub particularly, we actually serve a lot of food rather than drinks.

00:36We have a lovely cozy bar area, but obviously I understand distance isn't the ideal location for people to just come down for a drink.

00:44So what sort of food do you do then? Any particular favourite dishes on the menu at the minute that you'd shout and recommend?

00:52Well I have to say all the food is very good, I have a great kitchen team in there.

00:57Personal favourite, I have to say our Chicken Penang Curry.

01:01Okay, yeah.

01:02It's a little bit different, it's a coconut based curry and it just has that right amount of zing to it.

01:09Great stuff.

01:10And how long have you been here yourself then?

01:11Oh, I've been here now for over six years.

01:14Wow, okay.

01:15It's been a while, but obviously we've got to take two lockdowns and also two maternity leaves into consideration.

01:21Yeah, yeah.

01:22And what kind of clean tail do you get then? Do you get people travelling from Wolverhampton?

01:26Because we're only about five and a half miles from the centre of Wolverhampton here, aren't we?

01:31Yeah, something like that.

01:33A lot of people come down from Cotswold and Perton, then obviously Main Wolves.

01:38We get some people from the Telford side, Bridge North side, quite a mixed clientele actually.

01:44And because we are on a main road, these people travelling through coming back from the M54 will have us as a stop gap.

01:50Yeah.

01:51And it's beautifully done inside, isn't it?

01:53It's like you say, rustic is the perfect word, isn't it really?

01:56It's very, very cosy, you know, you've got the old Chesterfield style settees and that.

02:01It's harked back to kind of those old traditional pubs that we all miss really.

02:04Absolutely, obviously we are part of the Vintage Inns brand.

02:09And whilst they are going through different refurbs now, they are looking slightly different.

02:16We are hoping to perhaps have a remodel within the next two years, I'd say.

02:21Should still keep the rustic charm, just a little bit more modern to it.

02:25Any particular favourite drinks that are going down well at the minute on the bar?

02:30Very mixed range of drinks, to be honest.

02:33We have now Beavertown Neck Oil, which is obviously our craft IPA, which is selling very well.

02:40Whole team favourite.

02:42Majority of my team will drink it, which is nice.

02:45Well, thank you for inviting us down and we'll let the people see a few images of this lovely cosy pub.

02:51Get yourself down guys, Oaken Arms, just in between Wolverhampton on the way to Albrighton and Cosford.