A Birthday at Frankie & Bennys

When I was asked if we'd like to do a review of the new menu at Frankie & Bennys in time for mine and Big Boys birthday we said yes. We quite like Frankie & Bennys and the last time we were there (to do a review!) we bumped into one of Top Enders friends who was celebrating a birthday and we thought it would be fun to do the same for BB and I. When we arrived at the restaurant we were greeted by the very friendly Tathra, who showed us to our booth and took our birthday cupcakes from Top Ender. We placed a quick drink order and then we were able to look at the menus for what we wanted to eat. I had to ask what had changed on the menu as I couldn't notice anything different!

A Balloon at Frankie and Bennys

We had ordered some starters as we forgot that the main meals in Frankie and Bennys are very large compared to what we eat at home. The starters were really nice with both Top Ender and Big Boy tucking into a large Garlic and Mozzarella Bread, Daddy eating his favourite Chicken wings in Sweet Chilli Sauce and I had Garlic and Cheese Mushrooms. We followed this up with a pizza for BB, Chicken and Pasta Bake for Top Ender, Bennys Bacon Steaks for Daddy and New York Chicken for me. All the food arrived quickly and our server (Cristian) made sure to check with us if we needed anything or a refill of our drinks or if he could help and take a picture of us as a family. As he didn't know we were reviewing the restaurant and he gave the same attention to the other tables in his section I am guessing that he wasn't just trying to impress us.

There were of course a few little niggles with the meals, but not enough for us to complain about. I had two onion rings with my meal which were colder than the rest of the meal, Top Enders pasta in my opinion was a little stodgy (possibly overcooked) and Daddy thought that the some of his Bacon Steaks didn't taste quite as he expected (it was supposed to be sweet cured). We didn't finish our meals, but this wasn't a comment on the quality just the size of the portions. We are going to have to remember to not order starters next time!

A large Frankie and Bennys starter

The children decided to have a pudding each and although we looked at the menus and some of the new sundaes Daddy and I decided that there wasn't anything that we were prepared to explode for! Before the puddings arrived Cristian brought out the cupcakes that we had brought in with the addition of some candles. As he did this the music that was playing in the restaurant changed to Happy Birthday and my family and the rest of the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to me.

When we came to pay the bill my main meal was free of charge (as I'm a member of the Frankie & Bennys birthday club) but it had come to about £60 (which is about the same price for similar meals in local restaurants to us) before this discount. The problem is for us this is too expensive, we couldn't really afford to eat out here more than once a year (or if we had a voucher like we did) and I might have to start a Family Meal Out Fund Jar so we can make this an annual event. We did all have a really great night out and we were all really full at the end of it, so on balance I think it is a great family restaurant.

We were supplied with a voucher to pay for our meal.