11:44am Wednesday 23rd January 2008
By Staff reporter
Quality of service efficient and friendly
Value for money very good
Ambience beautifully decorated and cosy
Speed of service very good
Quality of food excellent
For a long time the Stretton Fox had been a firm favourite for my husband and I but since the arrival of our daughter we had decided to eat in what we thought would be more child friendly restaurants.
So when I was asked to conduct a restaurant review I immediately thought of it. I was keen to know if the food was as good as ever and if they still offered my favourite dessert.
We decided to visit on a Sunday lunch time, surely when the restaurant would be at it's busiest and we could be our most critical.
Although we had fond memories I still wanted to be as impartial as possible.
When we arrived the bar and restaurant was quite empty, not what we expected at all. We started to wonder if we would be unwilling extras in the next Ramsay's kitchen Nightmares.
Inside, nothing had really changed, the bar area still looked inviting and homely with the feel of a country pub, the restaurant was spread throughout a number of interjoining rooms all tastefully decorated, with chalk boards explaining the origins of the various dishes.
We settled ourselves down near the open fire in the restraunt and ordered our starters. I eventually decided on the homemade salmon and broccoli fishcakes (£5.25) and my husband was tempted by the chargrilled chicken skewers with pitta bread accompanied with an herb and black pepper marinade (£5).
The starters took about 20 minutes to arrive, just slightly too long in my opinion but this minor quibble was soon forgotten when the food arrived. The fishcakes were absolutely gorgeous although a little on the large side for my little self.
I had to make a tough decision - eat all the fishcakes or leave room for my main course and even possibly a dessert. The chicken skewers soon disappeared from my husband's plate so I knew they were a hit.
As soon as we finished, the ever-attentive waitress who made sure we were always topped up with drinks cleared up our plates.
At this time we started to notice the restaurant fill up and thought perhaps Gordon Ramsey would not be making an appearance after all!' For main course I couldn't resist the Sunday roast (£7.50), I opted for the beef over the turkey. My husband chose the cheese and bacon burger with chips (£7.50) and we ordered fish cakes with chips and vegetables for our daughter.
When the roast arrived I couldn't wait to tuck in to the Yorkshire puddings, the portion size was just perfect for me as I was still pretty full after my large starter. The ciabatta wrapped burger had to be cut into two by my husband, such was the size and the generous helping of bacon and cheese. The chunky chips were seasoned to perfection.
The dessert board was presented to us and we were excited to see the caramel apple granny (£4.00) was still available, of all the gorgeous desserts we had tried in the past this had been our favourite, and yes it was still as good as ever.
We were completely satisfied with our meals.
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