For the second time, went to this excellent pub. I had a very nice Boerwors, lovely meaty taste and texture, tempered very well with sweet spices. Other dishes enjoyed by my companions were a delicious Mozabique peri-peri chicken and prawns, and an imaginitive gratin of sweet potato and parsnip. As you might have guessed, an African-themed menu. There are gourmet evenings (the menu for June 21st sounded incredible) and "Chow and Chat" evenings, which I think are buffets comprising several South African dishes, like boboti, bredie, frikkadels etc.

Beer is superbly kept and from interesting local microbreweries.

I visited the Albion last night and i was horrified by everything i experienced and I wanted to get Gordon Ramsey in to run a kitchen nightmares program. The staff were unfriendly and the meals did not live up to their trade descriptions, for example, I ordered Grilled goats cheese on a waldorf salad. DOES the chef know what a waldorf Salad is, all i got was some poorly grilled cheese on a bed of lettuce, few peppers and 2 tomatoes with NO dressing!! my boyfriends mum had the duck which was so tough it took her ages to chew. the parsnips were hard. The best meal prob was the ostrich steak, but definetely not worth the 17pounds it cost. all this and it took 1 hour and 15 to arrive!! Will not be returning to the albion in the near future i really should have gone to brewers fayre cheaper and probably better. Note to the chef... Don't give up your day job. It always feels like robbery when you have to pay for bad food.

It's been taken over by new owners in Feb 08, before it was a South African theme and not the best. But now they have a great chef, excellent pub menu, and restaurant food is brilliant. Well worth a visit, especially for the fillet steak. We've visited lots of times now, and get on really well with the new owners who are young and keen to impress. They've made many changes, and are constantly updating the menu (a la Gordon Ramsey) to suit the seasons and local produce, definately worth a visit.

Based on the discussion threads above, I decided to give the Albion a try... not been there for years. I must say that the new owners have created a fantastic atmosphere. We have eaten there a few times now and the Chef creates fantastic meals and you can guarantee consistant quality. I can't think of any other resteraunt in Rochdale that matches the quality of food. Real big thumbs up and well worth a visit.
Does anyone know how to recommend this place for some kind of official accreditation ? Wouldn't want you all to miss great food.

P.S. Just been in and they have some tempting menus in the run up to Christmas

As I have family in the area I've now been to the Albion on several occasions over the past few months and would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone looking for great food (very reasonably priced too!) in a friendly, relaxed environment. (Great steak menu and favourites such as slow braised lamb shank, fish and chips and steak and ale pie. Great home made chunky chips too!). Good size portions and excellent quality.
Pleasant, efficient staff who are very customer focused and good selection of beers and wines. I've attended their cheese & wine and curry nights too which offer excellent value and very informative experiences to boot.
What's very refreshing in this day and age is that the owners actually ask for feedback and seem really keen to provide what customers actually want - and so far, they're delivering just that ! Keep it up guys !!!

Please note that the restaurant is now under new management as of 14 Feb 2008 and no longer serves a South African influenced menu.

Any comments made before this date may not be a true representation of the current quality of the restaurant.