How did they Fayre with me? (Brewers Fayre in general)

Member Name: Coxy1974

Product:	Brewers Fayre in general
Date:	27/04/07 (585 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, good food

Disadvantages: Service staff really were a pain

I recently went a business trip over to the Isle of Wight and stayed at the Premier Travel Inn (nice I know but it was local to the site I was training at) and as the Inn doesn't have it's own restaurant it refers it's business to the Brewers Fayre across the car park.

I stayed on the Medina Quay in Newport. Easily accessible from the Ferry port and about 10 minutes walk from the centre of Newport.

The Brewers Fayre I am going to rate is called Medina Quay and is located on the Fairlea Road in Newport.

It sits right beside the Medina River and I imagine in summer it's a lovely location. The outside is clean and welcoming.

Walking inside the restaurant is furnished in light wood, with light wooden panelling and nice, plush chairs and benches for you to sit whilst eating your meal.

My partner was lucky enough to get the week off work and come with me so I wasn't travelling alone for my trip. It was a welcome change as I usually travel on my own but he knew I would be nervous as I'd never been on a ferry before.

Anyway, we'd prebooked breakfast with the Travel Inn and this is served at the Brewers Fayre.

On the first evening we arrived about 8.15 pm and after checking in I asked about the restaurant and could we still get food after we'd unpacked. I was pleased to hear that food is served in the Brewers Fayre until 10pm. Excellent - we went and unpacked and ambled over.

You get shown to your table by a waiter or waitress and then told about ordering food from the bar making sure you make a note of your table number.

The prices were very reasonable for meals - so we made our choices and my other half went off to order and get drinks. This was a very simple process and the ordering was done without fuss.

When our food arrived, which we only waited about 15 minutes for, it looked delicious. He'd chosen Barbecue Chicken which came with chips and the chicken was topped with bacon, cheese and smokey barbecue sauce. He was in heaven.

I had chosen a rather more traditional half roast chicken dish with potatoes and gravy. This was delicious although I do wish that they'd use chicken without bones as I always feel that it looks unsightly eating chicken off the bone and it makes me feel self concious - especially as it can get messy!

Our dirty dishes were collected without fuss and we were asked if we wanted any desserts and they'd get them for us. We declined this and went back to our room.

Breakfast

Wow - is all I can say. The juices and hot drinks were laid out for you so you could help yourself. You do have to wait to be seated and you're asked if you have pre-booked your breakfast and then you're shown to your table. Here orders for hot breakfast are taken. I was especially pleased to see that veggie sausages were an option and that I could also have bacon with them. (I am not a veggie but I prefer veggie suasage to the real thing because I have been in factory where they are made and it put me off for life!)

You are then told to help yourself to a buffet selection of cold breakfast. You can have cereal and there is plenty of choice, along with plain Granola where you can add your own dried fruit, selection of Yoghurts, toast etc. It really is a feast.

Just as we'd finished our cold selection our cooked breakfast arrived. They'd forgotten the sausage for me and my partner hadn't any bacon so they had to fetch that for us.

The food was high quality and well cooked - I cannot stand bacon that looks as though it has been frightened with being cooked!

We ate dinner again there on the last night we were there and this time I had Curry and my partner had Gammon. Both were superb.

Overall, I couldn't fault the food in the Brewers fayre and along with the fact that it wasn't expensive then I would definitely recommend as a quick place to eat.

The only thing that did put me off was the following and you may think that these are minor points but for me they let the place down somewhat....

1. Every day I had to request missing items from my cooked breakfast.

2. The Brewers Fayre staff were always over in the Travel Inn gossipping with other staff members and bitching about their work and the customers.

3. The cooked breakfast came quicker each day and by the third day we'd not even sat down at our table before our order was taken. Then we'd just returned with our cold selections to find our hot breakfast dumped on the table.

4. Some of the staff looked really miserable - OK you may be miserable and hate your job but is it really fair or professional to look like it. You are in a public service job and I'd much prefer to be served by someone with a lovely smiling face rather than someone who looks like they've gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and then chewed a wasp.

5. When I asked on the third day for the tomatoes I'd ordered and my bacon to complete the cooked breakfast I was greeted with a 'God it's a nightmare in the kitchen!' and then the waitress flounced off. She nearly threw my missing items at me in her haste.

6. Drinks prices. I know these are set by the chain but surely it doesn't cost £3 + for a pint of Stella these days - or am I out of touch???

Anyway - overall my experience was a good one apart from those listed above. The food is good - but this is probably because so much of it is pre-cooked and not actually cooked on the premises.

Summary: If you're looking for inexpensive meals then this is your place.