England Restaurants / Cafes National
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The Crabtree (Horsham)
by garymarsh6 The Crabtree Horsham. Following reading a review about the Crabtree by another member on Dooyoo ( Koshka) we decided to go and try it out for ourselves so I rang and booked a table for 1pm for Sunday lunch. The young lady I spoke to was quite pleasant and helpful when I rang to book the table so that was a good ... start. The Sunday came but unfortunately 20 minutes before we were due to leave for the restaurant I took an emergency call from work. It was unavoidable and blooming typical as usually when I am on call I very rarely get called but Murphys law struck and I had to deal with a few things by phone before I could leave the house. We were going to be late which I thought would be by about half an hour. I rang the restaurant and apologised profusely and explained that we are definitely coming but would be on our way as soon as possible. An hour later I was still dealing with this problem and I began to panic as our guests were waiting and I knew that we were going to be terribly late at the restaurant. Finally things had sorted and we were able to leave home for the restaurant. It now turned out that we were going to be an hour later than I had previously booked. I rang the restaurant again and asked them if it was still ok or had they given the table away I was reassured that the table was safe and they were looking forward to us arriving. The Crabtree can be found in Lower Beeding, just outside Horsham on the main Brighton road the A281. From the back of the property in the lovely garden you can see wonderful views of the South Downs and Sussex countryside. We arrived at the restaurant just after 2pm and went straight in. We apologised profusely and were warmly welcomed and shown straight to our table. We ordered a round of drinks and were given a menu each. While perusing the menu we chatted and decided on what each of us were going to order. One ordered Leek & potato soup, Crabtree baked bread (v), two of us ordered Chicken liver parfait, Crabtree chutney, toasted brioche and one ordered Crabtree cured salmon, Portland crab, avocado. We also ordered our mains at the same time so that they we did not take over the table for too long. Sundays is a busy day in the restaurant and we were very self-conscious of the trouble we had caused by being late but they told us to relax and enjoy the restaurant and our meal. The Crabtree also has an extensive wine list with some super wines and spirits on the list. The next time we go there I am going to make sure that I am not on call and I am not driving as there was a super selection some of which I would have really enjoyed. Two ordered a bottle of Chilean rose Pinot Noir Rosé, Loica Vineyard, Vina Leyda Leyda Valley whilst I stuck to coke and the other had spirits. The mains. Two of us ordered Roast rump of Redlands farm beef, duck fat roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables and one ordered Slow roast belly of pork, duck fat roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables, apple & ginger puree and one ordered Fillet of south coast pollock, crushed ratte potatoes, sautéed spinach & wild garlic, lobster beurre blanc. We waited about 20 minutes for the first course to arrive. The soup came in a large bowl with fresh baked homemade bread to accompany it. The soup was quite thick and very tasty with a subtle hint of both the potato and the leek according to one of our guests. I was one of two who had the Chicken liver parfait, Crabtree chutney, toasted brioche which was really nice and smooth and tasty. The chutney was quite tangy and really tasty too and the brioche is one of my favourite types of bread so you can't go wrong with brioche. The Crabtree cured salmon, Portland crab, avocado was similarly well presented and very tasty. The standard of both of the cooking and the way the food was presented was really good. The food looked very appealing and tasted wonderful. We were all pleased with our chosen first course. We were all quite happy and impressed by the first course. All the crockery was beautiful too. After another 20 minutes the main course came each presented on its own plate with ample sides of vegetables laid out on the table. We were asked if we wanted any accompaniments such as horseradish, apple sauce etc. The beef was so well cooked and just sliced as easily as a knife through butter. The beef was not over cooked but cooked more towards rare and was really moist and tender. The vegetables were well cooked still with a little crunch but not boiled to within an inch of their lives. They were well seasoned and looked really fresh and tasted really nice. We were all well impressed with the food and chatted on and off ordering more drinks to accompany the meal. I did not have wine with my meal but I had a taste of it. The wine was actually quite nice and one that I would have enjoyed had I been drinking. Once we had finished our meals which all of us had enjoyed immensely the waitress brought the dessert menu. One had Sticky toffee pudding, toffee sauce, vanilla ice cream, one had Dark chocolate brownie, salted caramel ice cream, chocolate sauce, one had a selection of British cheeses, chutney, quince jelly, oat cakes and I had iced limoncello parfait, honey madeleines, raspberry sorbet. The desserts were to die for they were absolutely superb. To finish our meal three had cappuccino coffee and I had a large espresso. We ate our meal in the dining room which gave the impression of an olde worlde kitchen it was very pleasant surroundings and through to the bar area and another part of the restaurant there was a roaring log fire. I visited the toilets whilst I was there and they were clean and odour free. There is also a fairly large car park. The Crabtree is on quite a busy road but it did not have any effect on eating as it was nice and cosy inside. There are also tables outside in the garden and I should imagine this is a lovely place to dine in the summer months. What I really thought about the Crabtree! I must say I was really impressed not only with the high standard of food we had eaten but also the high professionalism of the staff. The staff all appeared young and lively and very cheerful and pleasant. I cannot praise them highly enough and we will certainly be making a return trip to the restaurant in the future. The cost of the meal came to approximately £140 including a 10% service charge which we thought was really good considering the ambiance of the place, the standard of the food and the excellent service from the staff. They also sell unusual conserves and pickles made on the premises and are stored on shelves around the dining room slightly more expensive than your bog standard supermarket fare but they did look rather tempting. I was also impressed to see that most of the produce they use is sourced locally and supporting the local community. I really can not recommend highly enough this restaurant and I am really glad we tried it. The Crabtree Brighton Road Lower Beeding Horsham West Sussex RH13 6PT Tel: 01403 892 666 Their website is as follows : http://www.crabtreesussex.co.uk/ Read the complete review |
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Planet Hollywood (London)
by kiss_me2070 About Planet Hollywood = = = = = = = = = = = The first Planet Hollywood was launched in New York in October 1991 and is the only dining experience inspired by the glamour of Hollywood. The restaurant chain was launched with the backing of some Hollywood megastars including Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger ... and Demi Moore. The Restaurant boasts and large cocktail bars, along with themed areas such as the Bond room, the British room and a trendy Cabana room. The restaurant also includes lots of piece of film memorabilia including Ursula Andress bikini from the iconic film Dr No, R2D2 from Star War films and much more. You can choose whether you want to dine with friends, family, colleagues or clients as this is the ideal venue for large or small groups and parties are also accommodated, for either lunch or dinner. They can offer you special occasion, party packages and you can even hire out rooms for really special occasions. I have heard mixed reviews about this restaurant after reading reviews on both ciao and dooyoo about this restaurant. I really wanted to eat here at some point and my boyfriend also liked the sound of the restaurant as well which is why I decided to take him here for a birthday treat. I was hoping that we would have a good experience here and that the food was going to be as tasty as it sounded and especially as the food on the menu is also rather pricey. (Please note that some of the above information has been taken from the Planet Hollywood website) Booking a Table = = = = = = = = You can ring the restaurant directly in order to book a table; how-ever I decided to do this online. You need to simply choose how many people are eating at the restaurant and what date and time. You can choose various different times which are shown on the website. I chose the date and time you wish to visit. After doing this and confirming all my details such as telephone number, address and e-mail address I received a confirmation e-mail with the booking information on. I also received a text message as well to confirm the booking which was at 12:30pm on Friday 26th April 2013. I was looking forwards to eating here and I was hoping that my boyfriend would too. I actually booked a visit to the Ice Bar after our meal, so I allowed us an hour and a half in the restaurant by which time I would have hoped we had received and finished our main meals and drinks. This would give us at least 30mins to get to the Ice Bar which was approximately a 9mins walk from the restaurant. Getting There = = = = = = = Me and my boyfriend would be getting a train to London Waterloo so we would need to find a way to get to the Ice Bar from here. I googled the directions on Google Maps and it tells you different ways to get to the location. We were going to use the quickest route which was the London Underground. We needed to go on the Bakerloo Line towards Queen Park. We would be getting off at Piccadilly Circus which was the 3rd stop and would take approximately 5 minutes. After getting off the underground we would need to walk about 3 minutes to get to the restaurant. I printed all the directions off from Google maps so we would know where we were going. I would advise anyone else to do the same. The restaurant really was a very short walk from Piccadilly Circus and only took about 4 mins. Exterior of the Restaurant = = = = = = = = = = = = The restaurant is located on a corner near a main road so I couldn't get a decent picture outside the restaurant. The restaurant looks very big from outside and looks welcoming. The paint and exterior of the restaurant is really clean and it looks like a lovely restaurant to visit. You can see the bar area through the side windows and the bar which looks quite modern and also very colourful. The restaurant didn't look very busy. You could clearly see a member of staff standing in the entrance of the restaurant which I presumed was to greet customers and to show them to their table or help people with any enquiries. You could see there was also a large statue/figure of something in the entrance as well. The entrance to the restaurant was quite big and was bright due to it being made from glass. The Restaurant = = = = = = = = When we arrived at the restaurant there was a lady standing in the door section to the restaurant whom asked if she could help. The first thing you notice in this area is the big statue from Terminator which stands rather tall in this area. I told the lady that we had a reservation and I gave her my name. We were about 45mins earlier than the time I had booked so I asked if it was possible to go to the bar and have a drink. She told us we could go and sit at our table now or we could let her know when we were ready to sit down. Me and my boyfriend decided to go and have a drink at the bar and we would then tell her in a bit when we were ready to be seated. As we walked to the bar area which was on the left hand side you could see how big the restaurant actually was. There were so many tables and chairs and also booths on the right hand side where some people were already sitting. The bar area was very modern looking and had a good range of different drinks that we were able to choose from. The bar man was very kind and served us our drinks quickly on Planet Hollywood napkins. Although there was some high seats at the bar which were red in colour me and my boyfriend went and sat at one of the high tables with chairs. In the bar area was a few different things presented in glass cases on the wall. This included the famous Charlie Sheen shirt and shoes from the Rocky films. After finishing our drinks we placed the empty glasses on the bar and went back to the entrance area where we told the lady we were now ready to be seated. She showed us to our table which was one of the booths on the right hand side and she handed us a menu each. The booth areas were really nice with long black seats each side of the long wooden table. The seats were really comfortable and there was plenty of leg space. You could easily sit at least 2 people each side of the table. The table was really clean and on it was a large piece of paper which had Hollywood stars when they were younger. There was some salt & pepper on the table along with a dessert menu and knife and fork rested neatly on a Planet Hollywood napkin. Our waitress came over and introduced herself. She was dressed very smartly and served us with a smile. She took our drinks order and left us to look at the menu. The menu was like a book as it was quite thick and had a lot of items in as well as advertising for shows in London. The menus were laminated and were very bright and colourful. After a good 15minutes the waitress returned and wrote down our orders and took the menus from us. Shortly after this she came back with our drinks and also placed a steak knife on the table next to each of us ready for our meals. Whilst we were waiting for our meals I had a look around the restaurant whilst we sat in the Booths. The restaurant was well lit and table and chairs were all clean and tidy and had a good amount of space in between them. I can imagine it gets rather busy here during the weekend. There were at least 9 other couples in the restaurant and also a large table of about 12 people. At the back of the restaurant was a large picture/print of James Bond characters. This took up the whole wall so was really noticeable. There was also various other things on the walls in glass casing. This included one of Jason Statham leather jackets, John Travolta's jacket from Greece and various other things from movies such as suits and other clothing. Where each booth was, was a small window which also had an object in from a film. The booth where we sat had an item from Star Trek in but other booths have other items such as Jokers gun from Batman, James Bond's gun and more. As the items are located all over the restaurant and near where people sit you can't really get a good look at the items which is a shame as I would have liked to have done this. I noticed that in one corner of the restaurant was the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek which was hanging from the ceiling, this was quite small and although I tried to take a picture of the item I couldn't get a decent one due to it being slightly too dark. The Menu = = = = = They have a large menu here which includes a number of different dishes and meals so suit anyone tastes. I did have a look at the menu before booking the table to ensure there was a wide range of choice for me and my boyfriend. The cost of the food looked rather pricey, how-ever we were only going to have a main meal anyway and as this was for his birthday I didn't mind paying a bit extra money for some good food. I have listed a few items and prices from their A La Carte menu which is the menu we would be eating from. * Appetisers - Crispy Calamari (£8.50), Buffalo wings (£8.50), Potato Skin (£7.50), Blackened Shrimp (£12.50). * Salads & Pizzas - Hollywood Bowl (£12.95), Caesar Salad (£9.50), Margherita Pizza (£10.95), BBQ Chicken Pizza (£11.95), Four Cheese Pizza (£11.95). * Asian - Kung Pao Chicken (£12.50), Singapore Noodles (£13.95), Crispy Beef (£12.95), Sweet & Sour - with grilled chicken (£12.50) with pork (£12.75). * Pasta - La Lasagna (£12.50), Spaghetti & Meatballs (£12.50), Spaghetti Carbonara (£12.50), Fettuccini Alfredo (£10.95). * Burgers & Sandwiches - Cheese Burger (£10.95), Mushroom, Onion & Swiss (£11.50), Double Up Burger (£16.50), Veggie Burger (£9.95), Hollywood Club (£11.50), Steak Sandwich (£13.50), Cajun Spiced Chicken Breast (£11.95). * Grill Specialities & Seafood - Surf & Turf (£22.50), Steak & Chips (£16.95), BBQ Pork Ribs (£16.25), Shrimp Fajitas (£15.95), Teriyaki Grilled Salmon (£14.95), Fish & Chips (£13.95). * Sides - Fries, Mashed Potatoes, Coleslaw, White Rice, Mexican Rice, Green Beans, Garden Salad (All of these are £3.75) * Desserts - Chocolate Brownie Super Sundae (£13.50), Strawberry Cheesecake (£6.50), White Chocolate bread Pudding (£6.50), Trifle (£6.50), Double Chocolate Chip Brownie (£6.75), Ice Cream & Sorbets (£4.95), Hand-Dipped Milkshakes (£4.95), Coke Floats (£4.50). * Beverages - Soft Drinks (Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, Lemonade) £2.25, Juices (Orange, Grapefruit, Cranberry, Pineapple, Apple, Tomato) £2.45, J20 Juices (£2.75), Tea & Coffee (price start at £1.95), Smoothies (non-alcoholic) £4.95. Alcohol = = = = * Martini's - Honey Dipped Strawberry, Princess, French, Espresso - (All of these are £8.50) * Beer & Cider - Fosters (£3.95), Heineken ((£4.35), Budweiser (£3.90), Amstel (£3.90). * Champagne & Sparkling - These range from £6.50 a glass and £29.95 per bottle. * Wines - White, Red, Rose Wines (These vary in prices starting from £4.95 a glass). * Vintage Cocktails - Blue Crush, Gorillas in the Mist, Green Mile, Hellboy, Legally Blonde, Iron man, The Dark knight, Titanic, The Italian Job (All £7.50). * The Classics - Caipirahna, Daiquiri, Margarita, Mint Julep, The Original Mojito, Singapore Sling (All £7.50). * New Releases - Amaretto Paradise, Planet Cooler, Mango Bay, Twister Mojito, Majestic (All £7.95). * Silver Screen - Bellini, Rossini, Champagne Cocktail, Kir Royal, Grand Mimosa (All £9.50). * Short Flicks - Alien Resurrection, B-52, Bubble-gum, Kamikaze, Pearl Harbour (All £4.95). * Spirits - Vodka, Gin, Whisky, Rum, Tequila, Brandy & Cognac. (All of these range in price from £4.50). As you can see from the menu they do a huge range of different dishes and drinks. Prices do seem to be a lot higher than your normal standard bar/pub but I'm guessing it's because the restaurant is in London and it also sounds like a good restaurant as well who pride themselves in being a little different and having being backed by well known stars. The Food = = = = = I ordered the Steak & Chips and my boyfriend ordered the Prime Scottish Sirloin Steak which came with either mash or chips. Both of the dishes came with a Creamy Peppercorn Sauce. Our food arrived within at least 15mins of ordering it which impressive. The plates were full up and you couldn't have got another thing on the plate. The steak looked delicious and was a really good thickness. There were plenty of chips/fries on the plate and these looked like they were cooked to perfection. The grilled tomato was a good size and there was a nice size portion of green beans which made a nice to change to peas as I find with most English pubs/restaurants they tend to put peas with steak and chips. The sauce for the steak was in a separate dish which could easily be poured onto the steak. After a few minutes of starting our meals the waitress came over and asked us if everything was ok which we replied with 'Yes'. The steak was cooked to perfection (medium rare) and it just melted in my mouth. As I bit into the steaks the juices from it filled my mouth with a delicious flavour. There wasn't one bad bit in the steak such as gristle. The chips were crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside and also tasted delicious. I couldn't actually finish my chips due to the size of the portion which I thought was quite big. Although the grilled tomato was delicious I think it could have been done with being grilled a little more. The green beans were also cooked to perfection and were delicious. The sauce to put on the steak was rather runny, how-ever it tasted delicious with the steak and I really liked it. During our meal we did actually receive another check back from what looked like a manager to ensure that our meals were to our satisfaction. After eating the meal I felt very satisfies and was also very pleased that it tasted so good. I could have quite easily eaten another steak as it tasted so delicious. After finishing our meals it took less than 5 minutes for our plates to be cleared from our table and we were offered desserts or more drinks. We kindly asked for the bill and received this within another 5 minutes. The bill came to just under £50 which I didn't think was too bad as that included both our meals and 1 pint of fosters and a single vodka cranberry. We left the money along with the receipt and wallet that the bill came in and waited for the waitress to come and collect it form our table which she did within another 5 minutes. We gave her a tip as we thought the service was brilliant. The Staff = = = = During our visit here we actually interacted with at least 3 different members of staff. The lady on the door whom welcomed guests and checked their bookings was very helpful and polite; although I was a little surprised at how casual she was dressed as she was wearing black trousers and what looked like a Pink hooded jumper. I later learned that this was a Hollywood Planet jumper. The bar man who served us at the bar was smartly dressed in black trousers and a shirt. He was very friendly and made us feel welcome. He served us our drinks quickly and presented out change on a silver looking plate after we had paid for our drinks. The waitress who was looking after us was very smartly dress in black trousers and shirt. Her hair was tied back in a bun and her make-up was minimal and looked natural. Throughout our whole visit I found the waitress to be very polite and helpful and she served us with a smile whenever she came over to our table to check on us. The last person who we interacted with was a man who was dressed smartly in black trousers and a coloured shirt. He looked like management and he was the one who asked us if everything was ok with our meals the 2nd time. It was nice to receive a 2nd check back shortly after starting our meals. The Toilets = = = = = There are toilets located upstairs and downstairs. As we were sitting downstairs we used these toilets. Although we were over the other side of the restaurant the toilets were only a short walk and were single cubicles. Men's cubicles were on the left hand side and ladies were on the right hand side. When I opened the door to the cubicle I was impressed at how clean and modern looking it was. Each cubicle was a decent size and included a toilet, sink and Dyson air blade dryer for your hands. There were 2 flush options which was a full flush or half flush. There was also a mirror and a good supply of toilet tissue. The walls to the cubicle had different sized black and white circles all over it and it looked really good and also very funky. The cubicle was spotless and was so clean and tidy and also smelt fresh and clean. There wasn't anything bad to say about the toilets. Overall Opinion = = = = = = = = Despite reading some bad reviews about the restaurant me and my boyfriend were really pleased with our visit hear and were quite surprised at how good it was, especially after reading the bad reviews. The restaurant looks really welcoming and looks very modern and also very clean. The staff in the restaurant was all dressed smartly and were helpful and very polite and were happy to help you if you have any problems or questions regarding the menu or your meal. The service in here was brilliant and the food came out to us in a good amount of time without having to wait too long. The food looked really good when it came out on the plate and it tasted absolutely delicious. Me and my boyfriend both enjoyed our meals and felt very satisfied after eating it. Although we would have liked to have tried a dessert we didn't think we would be able to finish it which is why we only had the main meal. The only downside to the restaurant is not being able to look at the items on display in the glass cabinets that are located around the restaurant. It's a shame that they don't have a separate room for these items as it would be good to take a closer look at them and take some pictures. As the restaurant is quite large I imagine it would be rather noisy in here when the restaurant is full. I how-ever can't comment on this as we visited when it was quite quiet. I would definitely visit the restaurant again and I would also recommend it to others if you happen to be in the area. Other Information = = = = = = = = Address: 57-60 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4QX Phone: 020 7287 1000 Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 11:30am - 12:00am Sat: 11:00am - 12:00am Sun: 11:30am - 11:00pm Read the complete review |
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Toby Carvery
by madeindevon On Good Friday this year we decided to go out for a family meal. Like many other families it can be so awkward choosing what to have and where to go as everyone has different ideas and preferences. My "children" are now in their twenties, so I am pleased to say that the days are gone where to go out for a meal ... automatically means a Burger or a Pizza - these are tasty and nice, but when you want to sit down together and not eat junk food, but eat something sensible, filling and tasty - quite an easy criteria to fill, but when you want to take the price into account too and have something that is within a budget that will not break the bank then my personal opinion is that you cannot beat a carvery meal. We have been to Toby Carveries in the past, but unfortunately where we live we do not have one nice and local to us, in fact I didn't have a clue as to where one was, so we went online and looked it up. The website is www.tobycarvery.co.uk/ and when you go onto their web site you can click on the location finder, where you put your own postcode in and it tells you where your nearest Toby Carvery is, it also has a link to a map where you can get directions to the restaurant. Our nearest one was The George in West Worthing. The web site showed us exactly where the restaurant was and that there was parking available. I don't know about you, but when I go out for a meal I like to try to plan what time I get there and how busy it is likely to be. We aimed to arrive at about 2pm, thinking that as it was a bank holiday the lunch time would probably be very busy, but to go when the lunchtime rush had died down a bit we hoped that there would still be plenty of fresh, hot food being put onto the carvery. When we arrived, we first thought that the parking area was very small and we would not be able to park, but fortunately as well as parking at the front of the restaurant, if you turn to the side of the building there is also parking at the rear. Perfect, no problem, we were able to park. I did notice that the car park was nearly full and when I looked around the area you could see that the restaurant was situated in the middle of a large local shopping area, (Not high street shops but plenty of local shops) and the roads alongside had plenty of cars parked all round - now bearing in mind that the day we visited was a bank holiday - this meant that most of the local shops were closed. I would imagine that on a normal week day, if the car park was full up then it could be a problem trying to park near the restaurant. The car park is flat and there are two different doors to get into the restaurant, I did notice that there were not any steps, so it would be safe to say that you wouldn't have any problems in getting a wheelchair or pushchair in and out of the building. The George obviously used to be a large, local pub that has been converted into a public bar and a restaurant, when you arrive you stand at the entrance to the restaurant to wait to be seated. At the area where you wait there were menu's, so we had a quick glimpse to see what was on offer, (not sure why really though, as we were all thoroughly looking forward to our Roast dinner - I have to admit though that I do like to read a menu - just in case I think I am missing something!) We didn't have to wait more than a minute or two when a nice young lady came and took up to our table, we were guided up a few stairs to a raised seating area, although there were only a few steps, this would not be suitable for disabled guests, although to be fair there was plenty of seating available that was not up the steps. We were shown to a table for four people by the window. My impression of the restaurant at that point was that it was clean and pleasant, although the decor was looking somewhat tired and a little shabby, I would say that The George could probably do with a bit of a makeover/refurbishment. The waitress left us with the menus and took our orders for drinks. My hubby and I each ordered fresh orange juice and our "children" ordered Cokes. We toyed with the idea of having a starter, the prices were very reasonable and ranged from £1.89 to £3.59 - the choices being Cheesy Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad, BBQ Chicken Wings, Prawn Cocktail, Soup of the Day or Caramelised Red Onion and Goat's Cheese Tart. I have to say I was very tempted, particularly as someone on a nearby table was eating the Goats Cheese Tart, but we all decided not to - as we wanted to do justice to the roast. Of course, if you did not fancy the carvery, there were other options to chose from, "handmade" Toby Pies - Turkey and Gammon in white wine sauce pie, Beef and Theakstons Ale Pie or Pork and Honeymustard sauce Pie. (I do find the "handmade" title misleading though, as I am happy to stand corrected, but do not think that the chef in the kitchen of The George has made these pies! The standard price for the Carvery is £5.99, which gives you a choice of Honey and Mustard Glazed Gammon, British or Irish Beef, Turkey of Apple, Honey and Cider glazed Pork. For £5.99 this is a perfect price, the menu tells us that for an extra £1.50 you can upgrade to "king size" and have extra meat, extra Yorkshire pud and two chipolata sausages - I did wonder if my hubby and son would be tempted to upgrade, but they didn't! For vegetarians you can order a met free carvery, an Aubergine Lasagne, Broccoli and Brie parcel, Nut roast, Sage Roasted Squash bake - also available on the menu was a Chicken Caesar Salad or a Salmon fillet. We ordered the Carvery from the waitress and was told that we could go up to the serving counter as soon as we were ready. It was a little busy there at that time, and as we were sat in a spot where we could see the server perfectly we sat back for a little while. It was whilst waiting for the queue to go down that we became more aware of the seating arrangements. Around the edge of this area were the larger tables and in the middle were the smaller tables, suitable for two people. Because this restaurant chain is "family friendly" there were quite a few young families taking up the tables around the edge - now this isn't a criticism of the restaurant, although obviously the seating plan could be a bit more sympathetic, but young children are not always known to be the most careful or considerate... the family sat next to us had two young boys who were up and down from the table constantly for one reason or another, they were not badly behaved, just excited really I think - but I did feel very sorry for the two couples sat at the smaller tables in the middle, as everytime these young lads went past they knocked into their chairs. One of these tables was right by the top of the stairs and as the boys went up and down the poor lady sat there had to move her self to sit at the side of the table. Yes, the parents of these children should have taken a little more control most certainly - but also there is defiantly a problem here in that squeezing in that extra couple tables, to make maximum amount of money is detrimental to the comfort of the guests. I would certainly say that there are about five more tables that should be taken away to give space for people moving around. We joined the queue for our carvery and noted that all the meat looked very fresh, if timing is everything then we had done ourselves proud here! The joints all looked large and hardly cut into, they cannot have been out of the oven for long. I chose Beef, I had Yorkshire Pudding, Stuffing, Roast Potatoes, Cauliflour Cheese and some dish that consisted of cooked onions. My husband had the Pork, My son and daughter both chose the Gammon. After helping yourself to all the vegetables you then move over to the other area where there are various sauces, Horseraddish, Mint and Cranberry - and also Gravy, with one of the gravies marked suitable for vegetarians. We had one grumble, and that was the amount of meat that each one of us was served with - it was tiny frankly - and the same sized portions for each of us, so it wasn't relative as to what meat you chose. A gentlemen in the queue ahead of me asked if that was the standard size portion, as he was obviously disappointed too, and he was politely told yes. I can only assume that since the King Size meal has been introduced then the regular size amount of meat has gone down considerably - which is a shame. Other than that I cannot find any fault in the meal whatsoever, everything was piping hot and obviously fresh. The roast was the nicest roast I have eaten out in a very long time, the rest of my family agreed with me too. The pork had nice crackling, the beef was slightly rare and the gammon had a beautiful sticky caramelised edge to it - all were cooked to perfection. The waitress was perfectly charming, the service was great. She offered us the dessert menu and coffee or tea, but to be honest we were full to capacity, which is a shame! The dessert menu looked wonderful, Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream sensation, Honeycomb Sundae, Mint Choc-Chip Sundae, Berry Yoghurt Sundae, just Ice Cream and sharing puddings, apparently enough for four to share, of Chocolate Sponge or Fruit and Lemon Sponge Pudding, the sharing puddings were £7.99 and the Sundaes ranged from £3.79 - I have promised myself one of these next time! We left the waitress a tip, as she was very charming and helpful. In summary - would I go again? Yes I would, but I would always be very aware of where I was to be sat - As long as we can be sat, tucked away in the corner, then we will be happy. The food was lovely - even if a little stingy with the meat. We paid our bill and practically "rolled" our way to the car! Read the complete review |
England Restaurant / Cafe National |
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1 review Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: The Crabtree, Brighton Road, Lower Beeding, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 6PT |
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1 review Address: / Restaurant / Cafe National / 10 Jamestown Rd / London NW1 7BY |
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Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: Abshar Punjabi Cuisine, 43 High Street, Barkingside, Essex, IG6 2AD |
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Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: Ground Floor, North Promenade Building, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, PO1 3TA |
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1 review Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: 4 Victoria Square, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, BS23 1AW |
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1 review Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: 1-2 Orchard Place, Weston Super Mare, BS23 1QP |
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Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: 51 Grey Street Newcastle , NE1 6EE |
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Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: 61 Westgate Road Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1SG |
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Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: Masa restaurant wine bar, The Old Wesleyan Chapel, Brook Street, Derby, DE1 3PF |
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Restaurant / Cafe National / Address: 10-12 Market Street, Cleethorpes, N E Lincs, DN35 8LY |
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