Cheap pub grub and January deals – what more could you want?
Macaroni cheese with garlic bread and side salad(Image: Sofie Jackson for Hull Live)
I recently visited a pub that is trying to tempt customers back through the doors with a hefty discount on pints. Athough several people will be attempting ‘Dry January’, and many more will be tightening their wallets after the traditional Christmas splurge, this offer might prove too good to resist.
Selected pints – including Madri, Peroni, or Birra Moretti – are reduced to £3 over the last two weekends of January. Anyone who visits a participating Flaming Grill pub between Friday, January 23 and Sunday, January 25, and Friday, January 30 and Sunday, February 1 2026, can take advantage of the offer – but you have to purchase the pints on the Greene King app rather than the bar.
The Whistling Goose in Sutton Fields is one of the Greene King pubs in Hull taking part. It’s got a decent-sized car park and there is also a cycle lane down much of Sutton Road which is handy if you want to bike it.
As many people will remember, The Whistling Goose was not always Greene King. When it first opened in 1996, it was a under the banner of Brewer’s Fayre, with the much-loved soft play centre, Charlie Chalk Fun Factory, attracting families across Hull.
The soft play is now a distant memory, but it was heartening to see the pub’s outdoor playground still in good use in the modern day, with three young lads running around. There are several seats indoors in full view of the play area, so it is ideal for parents who want to keep an eye on their kids while still enjoying their own downtime.
Although the menu has that distinctly ‘pub chain’ look, the historic photographs of Hull on the walls help make the place feel a bit more characterful than you might expect. The furnishings were also very clean and in good nick, which was a plus.
We decided to pick typical ‘pub grub’ – a steak and ale pie, and the vegetarian’s usual standby of a macaroni cheese. In almost no time at all, the food was conjured to our table.
It was almost uncanny. I’d barely had time to take off my coat and unthaw my frozen hands.
As for the food itself, it was better than expected. The sauce on the macaroni had a lovely texture and a good extra-mature-cheese flavour, which is always important. There’s nothing worse than a tasteless, anemic cheese sauce.
Even better, there was extra cheese on top and it had formed a nice, slightly browned, crust in the oven. The garlic bread was crispy and faultless, and the side salad was fresh.
As for the pie, it had a rich, meaty flavour and a good gravy inside. The chips were excellent – not too dry, not too greasy.
The gravy in the separate jug was deemed far too watery to use as a sauce, but it was not really needed because the pie filling was so juicy. As far as shortcrust pastry goes, this one was nicer than average.
I would say the main attraction of the pub has got to be price and the playground. For main meals, you are looking at £9 to £11, with the £3 pints deal an extra enticement for weekends in January.
This pub might not be rated as highly as its nearest neighbours, but I could find no faults with it.