You'll need a stomach as big as a horse's (Hungry Horse)

Member Name: pipefish

Product:	Hungry Horse
Date:	28/07/03 (753 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap food, Good beers, Massive portions

Disadvantages: You'll need a wheelbarrow afterwards

There is a Hungry Horse by Aztec West in Bristol, which I am kicking myself for not discovering earlier. It makes the best restaurant in Bradley Stoke, although this is not difficult, and it certainly serves the largest portions.

The Hungry horse doubles up as both a sports pub and a restaurant which is very popular with kids and families. The main bar and eating area are segregated from each other as the large restaurant area is in a separate area of the pub, with its own bar.
The main bar has satellite TV, karoake nights and lots of Greene King beers as well as all the usuals so can you get Old Specked Hen and other good bitters. This bit is usually pretty busy too, even on a sunday evening.

Ordering food is at most pubs - order at the bar quoting your table number and get cutlery from the table by it (or you sit like a lemon at your table when your food has arrived wondering where the knives and forks and sauces are). There is a Cashbox cash machine by the bar if you really want to take money out and get charged for it instead of paying by card.

What makes it different from most other eateries is the huge sizes of the food. There are massive steaks on offer for as little as £7, order the chicken breasts with bacon and cheese topping and you get two of them, order the fish and chips and you get not one fish but cod, haddock, scampi and other fish. These are then accompanied by lots of chips and peas and sweetcorn and onion rings depending on what you're having. These are all incredibly cheap - even the largest 20oz Megasaurus steak is less than £10 and all the different burgers (very good) are around £6. There is also a selection of pasta dishes, mixed grills, steaks, Cow Pie, spare ribs in barbeque sauce (mmmmmm) and others as the menu is quite comprehensive. As usual you can order how you want your steaks or burgers cooked.

I should mention the menus as they are good - very colourful with lots of photos of the food an
d covered with cartoon horses and jokey comments about all the food dishes. It reminded me of the American restaurants when on holiday there in the 80s - Ponderosa, TGI Tridays etc which somehow did not seem to take off here so quickly. They certainly make you look forward to the food and you don't have to wander round and stare at blackboards around the pub and try to remember what is on them, as usually happens.

The food when ordered arrived quickly and was excellent for the price. Even the smaller dishes not on the huge oval sized platters have rich sauces or toppings and took a while to finish. It was then time to look at the desserts and head off back to the bar to place another order.
The desserts are also quite 80s - there is a large Black Forest Gateau, huge sundaes and knickbocker glories, profiteroles, banana splits etc but also a large further selection of comptemporary desserts, puddings and apple pie too. There is also The Worlds Smallest Dessert for 49p which is a small chocolate mousse for anyone who is full after the main course but does not want to miss pudding. Again the desserts are cheap, very good and well presented - the BFG is served in a large plate with the sauce patterned around it and tastes superb.

If you somehow still have room after this and have not burst yet coffee is also available.
However I have found that the main course, dessert and a few beers is always enough and have not got round to trying the starters yet.

So it makes for an excellent cheap restaurant for a big fill-up with a large selection of dishes and beers - the only downside is when you have to get up and walk out afterwards!

Summary: