May 31, 2015

1907 Restaurant Bar & Grill

Another wedding anniversary – our second under the blog. This time I was keen to try out the 1907 Restaurant, Bar & Grill at Brooklands Hotel in the Brooklands area of Weybridge.

Opened in 2010, it’s located beside Mercedes Benz World and Brooklands museum. Perhaps appropriately, it features large windows overlooking the car park that did indeed hold a large number of Mercedes cars.

Inside is smart and stylish with large areas for the restaurant and bar. I love being greeted with fresh flowers, it automatically puts me in a good mood. The atmosphere was buzzing the Saturday night we were there and made for an almost exciting vibe.

The large bar area tastefully decorated with nods to the period of Brooklands’ heyday, including some big old shiny propellors down the middle of the seating.

The menu had something for everyone, with some nice sounding embellishments in each dish.

Service was near perfection. Our waiter was everything you could hope for – helpful, friendly, relaxed and professional. He definitely added immensely to our experience, plus he picked me a really fab wine.

To start Jman had the Seasonal soup freshly prepared vegetarian soup £6.95, that came with a show of pouring it into the bowl at the table. You may be aware of my note taking ability, so I don’t know what type it was but it was do know it was delicious with layers of flavours and a delightful cheese straw.

I obviously chose the Pan fried scallops & glazed pork belly puree of cauliflower & golden raisin £10.95. I wasn’t convinced by the pork belly, too well done for my tastes, but the scallops were super tasty, the puree and raisin added to the dish.

For his main Jman made the manly man choice of 225g 28 day aged sirloin steak, crispy chips, roast tomato, grill flat mushroom, red onion marmalade plus choice of sauce (he picked hollandaise) £34.00 . The steak might not look like much in the photo but it was seared perfectly and nice and juicy on the inside. The sauce was good, as were all the accompaniments.

For my main I went for the Pan roast loin of cod fennel & baby spinach, potato rosti, capers & lemon £18.95. OMG that was one huge piece of fish, incredibly generous on their part but there was just no way I could manage to eat it all even if I hadn’t just finished a starter course. The fish was nicely cooked, though the fennel was a little overpowering, more in texture than taste.

We shared dessert because, though full of cod, I wasn’t quite ready to leave. We opted to share Mille Feuille salty crunchy peanut butter & parline cream, orange & chilli compote £7.00. There was a bit of a delay but our exceptional server brought us some sorbet while we waited. Well this arrived it sure didn’t last long. For two people that were supposedly full we inhaled it and all its peanut butter goodness. Yum.

I really enjoyed the 1907 Restaurant at Brooklands Hotel. Lots of atmosphere and some great food made for a perfect place to celebrate a wedding anniversary.

Brooklands Hotel, Brooklands Drive, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0SL
www.1907restaurant.co.uk
Car park

January 18, 2015

The Queen’s Head Weybridge

Probably the most popular pub in Weybridge, yet for some reason I’ve only been once before. Finding ourselves in the area, we popped in for a quick lunch.

The Queen’s Head is a part of a small chain of pubs, The White Brasserie Company, that has 5 locations, including another Surrey location in Chobham.

Inside is made of of several small rooms, that are partitioned off from one another yet manage not to feel detached or claustrophic. ‘Nice pub’ decor with lovely touches like the open kitchen. And very classy, you get real linen here.

Staff are chilled out and helpful. Our Friday lunch was bustling (hence not very many indoor photos) yet we didn’t wait long for our food to arrive.

Not to big, not too small, the menu is interesting and widely appealing. The set menu changes monthly.

Short on time we both had sandwiches. Mr had the hot sausage and red onion marmalade baguette £5.95 An impressive size and amount of sides for the price. It was tasty and very enjoyable. He even commented how good the salad dressing was.

I had the melted goat’s cheese, beetroot and walnut baguette £5.95. A bit awkward to eat but yummy. The cheese was thoroughly warmI would have preferred a bit more of the beetroot flavour coming through. Nice chips, not too fat, not too skinny.

I’m now kicking myself, why haven’t I been coming here more often? Lovely pub, good food, good sounding evening menu. I think we’ll be back soon for the three course set menu, only £14.95 for weekday dining before 6.30.

The Queen’s Head, 1 Bridge Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8XS
www.queensheadweybridge.com
Small car park or street parking
Dogs allowed in pub area

August 26, 2014

The Tree House

The Tree House opened in June in the tricky location by the ‘Weybridge double roundabout’ that has seen a few restaurants come and go over the years. The key issue with this location seems to be the parking. No matter where you park, you’re going to have to cross that busy road.

But hey, what’s a bit of traffic when there’s a promise of ‘real food with real taste’ on offer?

Inside has been completely renovated, it’s fresh with nice booths and house plants. Yay for sound dampening house plants! Most importantly the double glazing completely blots out road noise.

Outside is a fun dining area complete with gorillas and giraffes.

Upstairs is The Tree House’s standout area – a creche for kids to play in while parents relax and chat. Not just for little kids either, older kids like mine. I liked this place already.

Movies and games are at one end.

Video game consoles (x2) with xtreme seating are at the other end, where my children promptly plopped themselves.

The menu is difficult to classify. There’s a few ‘fancy’ sounding dishes followed by burgers, pizzas and pastas.

Perhaps what is most notable is the number of dishes that are gluten free or can be modified to be gluten free. All pastas, starters and a huge percentage of other dishes are gluten free. All sandwiches can be gluten free. This is undoubtedly the most gluten free menu I’ve seen.

The Tree House is also open for breakfast and lunch. Imagine, a leisurely weekend breakfast while your kids play upstairs, can you say ‘another coffee please?’

We decided to start with a basket of hand crafted artisan bread & butter £2.75. Good but wish we had been offered choice of white or brown instead of two of each.

The children’s menu is a juice + good selection of pizzas, pastas or burgers + choice of ice cream flavour & topping for £7.95. It seems a bit pricey for a kids menu but you are getting a free creche.

Child # 1 had the Wriggly pasta with tomato & basil sauce. A bowl, it’s larger than it looks.

And #2, predictably, had the Spinning pizza with tomato & basil sauce. I wished one of them had ordered the children’s burger, as they looked very impressive.

Both my children gobbled up their meals and hurried back upstairs for more play.

My husband, after a tough deliberation, decided on the Oven roasted pork loin, butter fondant potato, baby leaf spinach, apple compote, black pudding, red wine jus £16.95. It was enjoyable.

I struggled with the menu, nothing was jumping out and shouting ‘eat me.’ In the end I opted for baked Suffold corn fed chicken, rosti potato, pancetta & Savoy cabbage, apricot & sultana chutney £13.95. Most likely, this was the flattest plate of food I’ve ever been served. It was tasty but heavy. More pancetta than cabbage left me longing for at least one of my five a day.

And now that I typed out the description I realise it didn’t come with apricot & sultana chutney.

I thought I’d use the dessert course to complete my one a day at dinner so ordered the apple crumble in Bramley apple, sultana & cinnamon dressing, Cornish clotted cream, apple wafer £5.75. It was nice but perhaps not the wisest thing to order so soon after a tarte tatin filled trip to Normandy.

The Tree House is a great concept. The food and service are not top level but overall it’s a good restaurant that’s enjoyable for the entire family.

2 Hanger Hill, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 9XR
thetreehouseweybridge.co.uk
Parking down Queen’s Road, or possibly in Weybridge Cricket grounds.

June 8, 2014

Red Bar & Restaurant

Red Bar is the most popular night spot in Weybridge – we wanted to find out what Red Restaurant is like in the daylight hours.

The inside does feel like a nightspot as the bar dominates the room. But there are comfy sofas and big banquette tables. The wall of windows at the front opens up and the clear acrylic tables and chairs alongside create a bright and airy space. It was a warm, sunny day and we were perfectly happy sitting at them.

Service is very friendly. When we noted the lack of salad on the menu they offered to make one for us, any way we wanted.

They have a new chef and are in the process of changing the menu. Which is a good thing because we thought the current menu too masculine – all meat and no veg. We’re pleased to hear that the new one will have lots of salads and wraps.

Lynn took up the offer of having a salad made just for her. She chose to have
chicken and asparagus. Care went into the presentation, the dressing came alongside on a cute little piece of slate. The salad was fine, but the dish was deceptively small. It sloped dramatically inside and, while really cool, was not large enough to fill her up for lunch. At £8.50 it didn’t feel like great value, fingers crossed they get it right on the new menu.

Marie ordered from the specials menu, salmon fishcakes with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce on a bed of spinach. Unlike Lynn’s lunch, the salmon cakes were huge. She was still full at dinner time. It was tasty, the salmon cakes had nice big chunks of fish and the egg was perfectly poached.

Red seems to be in the midst of a transformation. Our lunch was probably two weeks too soon. With a new chef, menu and front of house staff it’ll be interesting to see how they develop as a restaurant. Fortunately there isn’t long to wait for the new menu, it should be launched sometime this month.

Menu	tba
Food	3
Decor/Ambiance	3
Service	4
Value	3
Total	tba

105 Queen’s Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 9UJ
red-restaurant.co.uk
Street parking or small town lot on York Road

More info at All About Weybridge Red Bar & Restaurant

May 23, 2014

Surrey Eats For Kids

We are all mums and, as lovers of eating out, frequently take our kids along with us. Over the years we’ve found some amazing child friendly places and we’re sharing our top picks with you in our guide to eating out with kids in Surrey.

These aren’t places that just slap a kid’s menu on the back of the regular one, but who offer something extra-special that will get kids begging you to take them again and again.

We’ve also included some nearby activities to make a day of it (and keep them happy in the school holidays.)

Our five best family friendly restaurants and pubs in Surrey:

The Donkey
Charles Hill, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey GU10 2AU
www.donkeytilford.co.uk
Parking

Extremely welcoming, cute little pub on the road between Farnham and Elstead.

Fabulous large patio with real donkeys! Pip and Dusty are the friendly resident donkeys that kids can pet and feed.

The menu is extensive and interesting and goes well beyond traditional pub fare. The food is delicious and well presented. The service is outstanding – super duper friendly, efficient and no sign of pretension.

They welcome dogs inside (as well as kids.)

Booking recommended.

Combine with: the nearby ruins of Waverly Abbey for a great game of hide and seek and to climb the coolest tree ever.

Soya

16/18 Church Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8DX
soyauk.wordpress.com
Town car park.

Authentic Korean and Japanese restaurant located in the centre of Weybridge.

Sure it’s cramped, you don’t know what anything on the menu is and the staff seem as confused as you are, but you’re not here for any of that. You’re here to have your children cook you dinner.

The centrepiece of each table is an electric bbq. Order the meat of your choice from the bbq section of the menu and exquisitely flavoured raw meat will turn up at your table. Simply grill and enjoy. It keeps the kids occupied better than anything else we’ve ever encountered (bonus, it teaches them how to cook.)

The ingredients in the salad dressing and marinades are top secret but the flavours are super yummy. Ann’s requested that they start bottling and selling it.

Booking recommended.

The Anchor

Pyrford Lock, Wisley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6QW
anchorpyrford.co.uk
Plenty of parking

The Anchor is set along the canal tow path at Pyrford lock.

The patio stretches along the canal with plenty of outdoor seating in a beautiful quintessentially English setting.

Watching the boats use the lock fascinates kids. On the far end from the lock there’s a small trim trail to occupy the children while you relax.

When the kids tire of the lock and the trim trail, duck food is available at the bar.

Good pub fare.

Combine with: A narrow boat cruise, now departing from The Anchor, or a stroll along the picturesque canal tow path and get an ice cream from Mister Softee or nearby famous RHS Wisley Gardens.

Red Peppers

45 High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9RL

www.red-peppers.co.uk
Town car park.

Restaurant with a true family friendly environment. There are always lots of families here and nobody tuts when your kids are acting up. Kids get a goodie pack on arrival.

Large menu selection that has a bit of everything, from pasta to burgers to stir fries. For the kids there’s a good value meal deal that includes a dessert. They are happy to alter dishes to your child’s tastes.

Good service, very accommodating. Food is tasty.

Combine with: Esher Odeon over the road

The Cricketers

Downside Common, Downside, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 3NX
www.thecricketersdownside.co.uk
Plenty of parking.

Very olde worlde pub. Charming and cosy with a happy, relaxed atmosphere. Fantastic to take the kids to on a nice day. Staff are friendly and helpful and very welcoming to families.

Set on Downside Common, you can sit on the patio while the kids use the green’s playground and trim trail. There’s always lots of families on fine days so your kids will find plenty of playmates. Go early to get a table because it’s very popular.

All of the food is prepared fresh on site. The menu is influenced by the large American community in nearby Cobham with both New York Strip steaks and Caesar Salads with anchovies in the dressing on offer.

Combine with: nothing, just sit here all day enjoying the sun while your children play.

Read our full review of The Cricketers

May 12, 2014

Meejana

We only had the budget for a cheapish lunch. With our unwillingness to sacrifice quality we headed to an old standby, Meejana in Weybridge, for some authentic Lebanese food. Located on Church Street in central Weybridge (the same street as the Majestic Wine Warehouse.) Street parking.

Lunchtime here offers incredible value. £5 gets us a “solo” (ie no sides) falafel wrap, enough to fill us up – and that’s for table service in nice surroundings for freshly prepared food.

Which leaves us scratching out heads, why isn’t the place always packed at lunch? Is this the best kept lunching secret in town?

We suspect people think of Meejana only as the night time version. The dinners here are delicious, but it ain’t cheap (as you’d expect for an independent restaurant that makes everything fresh to order.) The price has placed it in the ‘special night out’ category.

People don’t seem to realise that daytime Meejana is a different place. You still get the same good quality, authentic Lebanese food, but you only need lunch size portions. Which means it’s a fraction the price of dining here in the evening.

When you first enter Meejana you walk into a charming front room. There’s an intriguing deli counter full of yummy baklava and other treats to tempt you. Most of the tables have mosaic tops and the centrepiece is a big glass table for eight under a chandelier.

There’s also a back room. It’s the bigger, more formal dining space but it’s still a smallish, intimate space. It’s nice enough but lacks the character of the front room. A wall of windows makes it nice and bright and a vaulted ceiling with a chandelier gives it some personality.

In nice weather there are tables out front and along the side of the restaurant. You can sit here with a shisha and pretend you’re on Edgeware Road.

Service can sometimes feel disorganised when it’s busy but is generally helpful.

We love the fresh mint tea served with authentic Middle Eastern little glass tea cups.

The falafels are not the least bit dry and have nice flavours. The pita is nice and warm. The chilli sauce (be sure to ask for it) has a depth of flavour beyond just being hot.

The lunch menu is more extensive than just wraps, there’s chawarma platters, lots of salads and of course mezze, but they all offer good value.

The food here is delicious, and has been consistently good for all the years we’ve been coming. One bite and you can tell the food is made fresh. Some of the evening menu is a mystery to us but neither of us have ever been disappointed by the food. They are also very good at making dishes “kid friendly.”

Meejana is really impressive as a lunch place and good as a dinner place. We’ve based our scoring on daytime Meejana.

49 Church Street Weybridge Surrey KT13 8DG www.meejana.co.uk

UPDATE: We’ve been back (November 2014) as we needed a falafel hit. Meejana has revamped their deli counter into a bar. They’ve also hugely improved their service. And they’re busy working on opening a London location, very exciting.

The new bar:

More info at All About Weybridge Meejana

April 25, 2014

Jolly Farmer Weybridge

Located in a residential area just off the Queen’s Road, the Jolly Farmer is a little end of terrace cottage. It’s teensy, with only 42 seats inside.

Parking can be tricky as the council has gone double yellow crazy to punish the parents at nearby Manby Lodge Infant School. Which reminds us, don’t try to go during school pick up, traffic is a nightmare. You can usually get a parking spot at the cricket green a short walk away.

A traditional pub, you get the impression the décor hasn’t been changed in decades. There’s lots of stuff on the walls, beams in the ceiling and the tables are well worn. Unfortunately we couldn’t take a very good interior photo as so many people would have been clearly visible in it.

On nice days there are some tables out front and lots of seating in the large, secluded back garden. It’s always a treat to find an outdoor dining area that isn’t alongside a busy road. (Unfortunately it was bucketing down when we visited.)

The ambiance is traditional pubby. It’s a bit cosy, but very jovial. We had a good laugh when the man at the table next to ours answered his mobile and said “I’m up a roof and can’t talk, call me back in an hour” then gave us a cheeky smile.

Plagued with problems in recent years, a husband and wife team have taken over the kitchen and put the Jolly Farmer back on track. They took over 9 months ago and run the kitchen as a separate business from the bar. The pub is once again becoming popular for lunch and a pleasant reawakening is replacing the old ghost town lunchtime atmosphere. These days people are even eating at the bar.

It’s good home cooked food. The lunch menu offers up a staple of sandwiches and jacket potatoes plus an extensive specials menu.

Lunch is served everyday. Curry and chilli is served every evening. The Sunday roast is popular and is served until the food runs out – booking is recommended, especially when it isn’t warm enough to sit in the garden.

Lynn had a roast chicken sandwich on granary bread from the regular menu. It came with a salad and coleslaw garnish. The chicken was succulent and overall it was an above average pub sandwich.

Marie had the beer battered haddock from the specials board. It came with chips and peas. The batter was crisp and flavourful and the fish was really nice. Marie doesn’t normally eat fish and chips, it’s a wonder she ordered it. But she liked it and was happy with her choice.

You won’t be overwhelmed with lunching here, but it’s a solid choice for a local Weybridge pub lunch that won’t disappoint.

Service by the kitchen is good but the bar staff is a little green.

Dogs are welcome.

Menu	3
Food	3
Decor/Ambiance	3
Service	2
Value	3
Total	14/25

41 Princes Rd, Weybridge KT13 9BN
https://www.facebook.com/jolly.farmer.370?fref=ts
Dog friendly, inside and out

More info at All About Weybridge Jolly Farmer

April 5, 2014

The Hand and Spear

As mentioned in our first post, we may be new to blogging but we are far from new to lunching.

When thinking about places we’d like to blog about we realised there are a few places we don’t want to lunch at specifically for the blog because we’d already taken them off of our rota. However we think you might like our opinion about them.

We’ll share our previous experience and you can decide for yourself if you agree or not. Let us know if you have a different experience!

This pub should be great. It’s a beautiful big old building that’s tucked away. It has parking, a newly refurbished inside and an outdoor sitting area that isn’t anywhere near a busy road (on the other side of that fence is woodland.) It’s positively palatial.

We’ve tried lunching here twice post refurb but now it’s off our rota. We went back the second time on account of Marie really wanting to give it another shot, because it’s the kind of place you want to like.

We last visited here in December 2013. Even with Ann’s parents treating us we could not find anything more exciting to order than the soup of the day. Ordering soup is a sign your menu is boring. Especially when someone else is treating!

The soup came nicely displayed in a bowl with a massive rim, which accentuated how little soup was in the bowl. We wanted to eat it with teaspoons to make it last longer. We couldn’t even fill up on bread since they didn’t give us much of that either.

Ann’s parents both ordered the sausage and mash. They didn’t seem overly excited about it but both finished everything on their plate.

We decided then that The Hand and Spear is better for drinking than for lunching. Which is a shame because they’ve made a lot of improvements to the décor since the refurb, and it wasn’t too shabby to begin with. The conservatory is particularly inviting and the outdoor space is near perfect in the summer.

The service is solid. We liked our waitress because she agreed with us about the food and secretly gave us more bread.

We’re not sure if it’s fair or not to rank The Hand and Spear the way we rank places we specifically set out to blog about, but we’re going to anyway.

Menu	2
Food	2
Decor/Ambiance	4
Service	3
Value	2
Total	13/25

Old Heath Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8TX 01932 828063 http://www.handandspear.co.uk/
Dogs welcomed in bar and garden

More info at All About Weybridge Hand & Spear

Ladies Who Lunch in Surrey

No nonsense Surrey restaurant, pub and cafe reviews

Weybridge

1907 Restaurant Bar & Grill

The Queen’s Head Weybridge

The Tree House

Red Bar & Restaurant

Surrey Eats For Kids

Meejana

Jolly Farmer Weybridge

The Hand and Spear

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