Betty's is a Yorkshire institution, having started in Harrogate and blossomed into several other branches. As I was visiting York, and being a huge fan of tearooms, it was somewhere I simply had to visit, my Mecca if you will!

Betty's as a venue is beautiful. It reminds me of Main Street USA in the various Disney Magic Kingdom theme parks, a turn of the century upper class tea room and shop, offering the finest quality goods, and tempting you with the prospects of an Afternoon Tea.


We entered and were promptly seated in the main dining area, and given a couple of menus. After obviously deciding to try out the Afternoon Tea, a waiter turned up and asked us what we'd like, but even though he was polite, he didn't tell us his name or particularly seem to want to engage with us, and seemed a little rushed. It was nice to be asked whether we'd prefer milk or lemon with our tea though, and we were asked if we were happy with the choice of sandwiches available.

Our tea arrived in chrome teapots, and was pleasant enough, but for the "tearoom blend" we didn't find it particularly memorable. When we looked in the teapot, we saw that the loose leaf tea looked more like sludge, and was either a powder, or very fine leaves. Wasn't very pleasant though.




Before very long, our Afternoon Tea arrived. Unusually, it was not on a single stand, but two individual tea stands, taking up quite a lot of space on the small table. The presentation was fair, and in the correct stand-order, but the quality was sadly lacking.

The sandwiches were quite dry, lacking any sort of chutney or dressing, so the chicken was simply a bit of dry chicken on buttered bread, and only a quarter triangle of each sandwich provided. They were very much like sandwiches you'd find at a funeral wake buffet. Underwhelmed.

Sadly, the scones, which are the corner stone of any good afternoon tea were also quite dry, perhaps because they had been pre-sliced. The clotted cream was pleasant (although simply dolloped onto a small dish), and the jam was fair. The cakes on top were pretty, but nothing remarkable; a small chocolate cake which tasted like any other you'd find, a green macaron which had a pleasant texture, but which neither of us could identify the flavour of, and a small fruit tart, which was nice, with fresh fruit.


The waiter who served us came to take away the cake stands before we'd finished, removing the top plate from my partner's cake stand and placing it on the table, before scurrying off again. He then seemed to disappear for a while as we were waiting for him to return so we could ask to pay our bill, which came to £37.90 for Afternoon Tea for two, but which really didn't feel like what pay was merited, in either the quality or the service. I would say that Betty's is very much style over substance, resting on its laurels and knowing that it will be popular and paid for no matter what, but although the food and drink quality was lacking, I did hear other waiters and waitresses nearby happily chatting with their customers, and engaging a lot more than ours did. I guess ours was too busy or simply not interested.


I may have been a bit critical in this review, but I left feeling genuinely upset and disappointed, as I was really looking forward to this as a birthday treat, and a special occasion, and was expecting something a lot greater than I got.

I won't be returning to Betty's. I'll stick with Poppins!

Betty's Café Tea Rooms
6-8 St Helen's Square
York
Y01 8QP
(01904) 659 142
https://www.bettys.co.uk/

Betty's

by on 09:51
Betty's is a Yorkshire institution, having started in Harrogate and blossomed into several other branches. As I was visiting York,...
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The Northern Quarter in Manchester has pretty much everything these days in terms of restaurants and bars, from tiki bars to Tex Mex, so why not go for that staple of classic restaurants which is always popular and loved, the classic American Diner. That's what Infamous is going for. The real deal, complete with chequerboard tiled floor and chrome highlights.


The interior is impressive, with chrome brushed ceiling moulds, booth seating, and a bar on one end. As we walk in, the "please wait" podium isn't directly in front of us, but over to the right hand side, which was a bit confusing (and seemed to be for other folks too), but a member of staff greeted us quickly enough and we were led to a booth seat with the unusual feature of an extendable table.

We read the menu, which was as you'd hope and imagine; burgers, sides, fries, hot dogs, pancakes and milkshakes, as well as an 'eating challenge'. We decided on the Infamous Cheese burger and the BBQ Pitstop burger, with a side of onion rings. We were a bit disappointed that they had no root beer that day due to an apparent supplier change according to our server, but it was nice to see that root beer was part of the menu, as it's a real American diner staple. This lead to the only disappointment... we ordered a couple of Pepsi's at £2 each, and we were surprised that they came in the small "refill" looking glasses, but that free refills were not in fact offered, which is a shame, as soda refills are a common thing in the USA. The glasses were small, mostly ice cubes, and a splash of Pepsi, which was gone with a few slurps before we'd even finished our meals, which felt a bit stingy for £2 a pop, and not really in keeping with the American Diner spirit, but given that the drinks menu also included a large variety of cocktails, beers and booze, it's clear that there had to be some degree of embellishment.



However, when our food did turn up, it was good. The burgers were tasty and well seasoned, even though they had to adhere to the health and safety thing of cooking the burgers fully through instead of having them pink. The BBQ pulled pork was really good, and the gigantic crunchy onion rings were quite honestly some of the best I've ever had.

One nice feature I liked was the art in the staircase leading down to the toilets, forming full murals along the entire walls, and even a great ski-lodge mural in the gents toilets.



Infamous is good, the food is good, and the prices are in keeping with the Northern Quarter. I'd certainly visit again for lunch if I was in the area.
Infamous Diner
3-5 Basil Chambers
Nicholas Croft
Manchester
M4 1EY
(0161) 819 1798
http://www.infamousdiner.co.uk

Infamous Diner

by on 08:42
The Northern Quarter in Manchester has pretty much everything these days in terms of restaurants and bars, from tiki bars to Tex Mex, so ...
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This is an interesting review in that it's a twofer... two-for-one... I decided to visit The Old Forge at Bob's Smithy Inn as I'd been hearing great things about it, and the reviews online were very positive, plus the menu looked hearty and traditional, so I popped along one weekday afternoon.

The outside is a traditional rural English pub, with car park to the rear, and a large outdoor seating area. On a blustery and damp February day, walking inside was a really pleasant experience.



As I walked inside, it was warm and comfortable as a real log fire burned happily in the middle of the room. I saw a room on the far side signposted as "restaurant" but it was in darkness, so I asked about ordering food, as I saw others around eating. The staff member told me that there is a lunch-time bar food menu, but that as it had just turned 2:30pm, that they could only just squeeze my order in, as the kitchen closes for the afternoon until the restaurant opens at 6pm. This was a bit of a surprise as I hadn't seen food serving times on the website, but this was fair enough, I ordered a glass of Coke and sat by the warm fire and had a read through the bar menu.



In fairness the menu was actually pretty good, with a good few tasty offerings. I decided to order the traditional beef burger with chips. During my wait I was able to chat to the very friendly bar staff, who made me feel very welcome.

My food arrived... albeit on a "serving plank" rather than a plate. This is a bit of a modern fad I'm not much of a fan of... I don't see what's wrong with a normal plate! However, the food arrived well presented (aside said plank), and looked very appetising.



Although the burger is cooked through as standard and so not pink inside, this burger was by no means dry or tough, but very juicy, and packed with flavour which genuinely surprised me as I took a bite. A really delicious and unctuous burger. Likewise, the home made chips which accompanied (in a little galvanised bucket) were perfectly hot, crispy on the outside and fluffy and hot inside with a great crunch.

However, it was so filling that even though the friendly bar staff showed me the desserts board, I just had no room to attempt it! One that caught my eye was a sticky toffee sundae! Yum! 

I paid up (very reasonably so!) and said that I'd have to visit again soon, and definitely try that sundae!

Now here's where it gets interesting. A few days later, after a day out with my partner, I suggested trying the Old Forge on a whim, and after phoning them, I found that the restaurant itself was open during the day on a sunday, so we booked a table and drove over. We entered what was now a very busy and popular pub, with families and friends sat around drinking, eating and chatting, as well behaved dogs sat by their feet, hoping for the occasional end of a bit of sausage to be thrown their way. We walked through to the restaurant.



The Old Forge feels considerably different to the bar area, and is more modern bistro than rural pub. The restaurant is decorated in shades of green, black, and cream, with dark wooden modern furniture, but whilst retaining the traditional Italian Restaurant style candle-in-a-wine-bottle on each table.

We read through the menu, which was also reasonably priced at either two or three courses for a set price. A young staff member offered to take our coats, and took our drinks order as she told us the specials and specifics of that day's menu. For our starters, my partner ordered chicken pâté, and I opted for the cod goujons with tartare sauce.



The pâté arrived on one of those bloody serving boards again, but the pâté itself was tasty, and served with a simple side salad and relish. The cod goujons were delicious. The fish itself was delicious, and the batter was perfectly crisp. I couldn't fault a single thing with it... it even came on a plate! Huzzah!

For our mains, we both realised we were in a "pie mood" and chose the cheese and onion pie and steak pie respectively. 


Both pies were really enjoyable with a good crust, and felt truly home-made. They came with a carrot and mash puree and vegetables in the form of cabbage, green beans, and cauliflower. They were also accompanied by the same big chunky chips I mentioned earlier! Lovely! The steak pie that I ordered also came with a really sumptuous gravy, the kind with a proper sheen on top letting you KNOW it's going to be good!

For dessert my partner ordered an apple tart with custard, and I ordered the classic jam roly poly (with custard, of course!). Both arrived well presented, but we realised that the apple tart had come with ice cream instead of custard, however this wasn't anything to kick up a fuss about, as we both agreed the desserts were delicious. The apple tart was tasty but perhaps could've been a little bigger, wheras the jam roly poly had that real comfort food feel to it, and rounded the meal off absolutely perfectly.

Throughout the meal we were taken good care of by attentive but not overbearing staff, the food was excellent in all regards, and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit, pledging to very much do so again, and to bring friends and family along as well, especially considering they proved themselves equally capable with a lunch bar menu and an evening restaurant menu, without compromising on quality or service. Well done! :)

The Old Forge Restaurant at Bob's Smithy Inn
Chorley New Road
Bolton
BL1 7PX
(01204) 842 622
http://www.bobssmithy.co.uk/
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The Wild West Diner is an impressive looking new restaurant that has appeared in The Sands Venue on the Promenade in Blackpool. It's really enticing as it's clear money has been spent on the theming, giving it the right feel for Blackpool. It looks impressive and fun, and the menu looks quite good too!

When you walk in, the theming is superb, all wooden beams, mock Western facades, and photos of the Old West, as the song "I'm Just A Country Girl" plays. High hopes! A server in a plaid shirt asks us to sit wherever we like.





The menu is what you'd expect from a Western themed restaurant, big breakfasts, ribs, chicken, burgers, steaks etc. As we were deciding what to have, the waiter came over to ask us for our drinks order, so we just went for a couple of Diet Cokes. This waiter seemed quite stone faced and didn't seem very happy or interested. When he brought the drinks he asked for our food order, but we weren't ready. He came back another 2 times before we were ready... giving us the sense that he just wanted to get us in and out. We opted for appetizers of breaded garlic mushrooms and cheese and bacon potato skins, and mains of the smoked chilli dog and the Wild West Beef Cheeseburger. The waiter asked if he should bring the starters at the same time as the main... this was a really weird thing to ask, but we just said ok, we didn't mind.

At this point we both realised that the cola tasted as if it was either diluted, running out of syrup, or a cheap copy of Coke, it was also going flat. We didn't complain though, it was just a glass of pop.

The food turned up in a strange order, the first being one of our starters and the other one's main, then the others a few minutes later, again with no smile or anything from the waiter. The garlic mushrooms were tasty, if not pre-frozen, and the potato skins had lots of bacon, but were sadly quite dry.



Then we moved onto the mains. The chips were plain frozen chips, and cooked well, but also a bit dry. A bit of seasoning would've pepped them up a bit, but as they weren't seasoned we just used salt and pepper. My partner said his hot dog was tasty, but the chilli on top was luke warm, and not very spicy. My burger was an 8oz monster, but a real solid block of meat which again was pretty bland, lacking seasoning. It had cheese and a bit of limp lettuce but it was in a nice bun. It was also extremely greasy! After biting into it, I was able to hold it over my plate and squeeze it, to then have liquid fat pour out onto the plate. I couldn't finish it. The music stopped being country at this point, veering into dull modern songs I've never heard of. Shame.




At this point I popped to the toilet, where the theming continued, which is a nice touch. However after I washed my hands I noticed that although it was 6pm on a thursday, the cleaning rota said it hadn't been checked since 10am the day before! Not really what you want to see of the levels of cleanliness, especially when you know your customers will see this rota!


When I returned, my partner said that the waiter had asked if we were finished, and cleared our plates, but he didn't ask if everything had been ok (he also didn't ask this during the meal) or if we wanted the bill or desserts, so we were left sat at the table wondering what we were meant to do. The waiter was just stood at the bar chatting with another member of staff. Did he want us to get his attention or go over to him to progress the meal? 

Eventually he came over and picked up our glasses, "shall I get you your bill?" he asked, but I interjected, "uh... do you do desserts?", he genuinely looked surprised, "we do... Did you want something?", "well is there a menu or anything?", "yeah I'll get it", he then went to get the menu (not taking the glasses with him, oddly), so we had a quick look. The desserts didn't really look that interesting, they didn't even have a description, they were just a footnote in a small box at the bottom of the back of the menu. 

So we didn't bother. We got the bill paid and left. The waiter didn't smile once.

It's a real shame, because visually the place looked great, it's had money spent on it, from the antler chandeliers down to the brushed leather booths, but as was displayed on this visit, it seems to be all show and no substance, with the food being mediocre and the customer service being abysmal. 

Wanted to like it, but we won't be going back here again. Poor show.



Wild West Diner
The Sands Venue
Promenade
Blackpool

Wild West Diner

by on 13:49
The Wild West Diner is an impressive looking new restaurant that has appeared in The Sands Venue on the Promenade in Blackpool. It's ...
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I only ever drove past The Blundell Arms. It's very near where I live, so I drive past it a lot! It just looked like another pub, and not very popular, as I never saw anyone parked outside. But in recent times I noticed A-boards outside mentioning food, so after a long time of realising this, I decided to look online, and lo and behold, it's not just a pub that has "food available", but a full on food-centric pub! Hoorah!


When I drove there, I realised that the reason it looked so quiet and lacking in cars is because there's actually a sizeable car park BEHIND it, and that in turn is the entrance people tend to use to access it.

When I walked in, I was very pleasantly surprised, this pub was not only very expansive in side (perhaps not in terms of headroom in some of the older parts!) but was wonderfully traditional, with beautiful rustic beams running throughout, and many nods to its past as a court house, showing the old stone placard, and a window showing the traditional wattle and daub construction.





The other thing I noticed is that this was a very bright space. The winter sunshine truly cascades through the windows, giving a wonderfully comfortable feeling. This place had a 'good' feeling as soon as I entered. 

I was greeted by a friendly staff member who took me to a table nestled amongst the rustic beams, where I was given the menus, and had chance to also peruse the lunch menu. The lunch menu was really good value, and I'd happily order from it, but in this instance I noticed on the main menu, amongst all the delicious traditional and classic pub food offerings, and "chef's inspired dishes"  was a gourmet burger. So I opted for that!





I took the time waiting to have a look round at the rest of the place, which is where Ashleigh, the staff member, told me about the building's previous uses, and how pleasant the place looks at night with all the lights lighting up the corners of this old building. 

When my burger arrived, I was quite pleased. The presentation was simple but that's all it needed to be, as it was a big burger, and a pot of triple-cooked chips. The chips were great, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. The burger was tasty, but I wouldn't call it 'gourmet', as it was quite a standard burger, but grilled fully through rather than pink (due to health and safety demands usually), so it wasn't juicy, but was still tasty, regardless. The bacon on the burger was a bit fatty though, I had to pull strands of it off, but that's merely my personal preference. For the price, it was a good burger, and a tasty lunch. I'd certainly order it again.



All in all, I was pleased I came to The Blundell Arms! I didn't realise it was such a lovely building, and didn't realise they had such a large offering to eat, so I'll definitely be back to try some more of the menu, especially the dessert menu... there were a few things on there I very much liked the look of, but as the burger was so filling, I didn't quite have the room. Maybe next time I'll go for the lunch menu instead of my eyes being bigger than my belly!

Next time, Blundell.... NEXT TIME!!!


The Blundell Arms
Chorley Old Road
Horwich
Bolton
Greater Manchester
BL6 6PY
(01204) 841 194

The Blundell Arms

by on 16:40
I only ever drove past The Blundell Arms . It's very near where I live, so I drive past it a lot! It just looked like another pub, an...
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