Butlin's Bognor Regis: The Restaurants

One of the many things that appeals to me about the Butlin's Resort in Bognor Regis is the wide variety of food available across the many different restaurants on site. As a part of our Butlin's Ambassador's break in The Ocean Hotel we received the premium dining package, which included breakfast in our resident hotel each day and then a choice of five different restaurants for an evening meal; Turner's, South Coast (within The Shoreline Hotel), The Deck, Papa John's and The Beachcomber Inn.

Premium dining voucher

The voucher is collected each morning from the butlers in the entrance of The Ocean Hotel, and completed with details of the chosen restaurant (if already decided upon) and the number of adults and children.

The key thing to note here is that it does not save money; it is not a discount voucher. What it provides is the opportunity to prepay for the dining options at the time of booking, rather than have to factor it into spending money. I think it's a truly efficient way of budgeting for the holiday, almost like a wristband at an all-inclusive resort, but with more subtlety. As the voucher is worth £13.50 for adults or £6.75 for children, it covers the cost of most two course meals on the resort. We had to pay one or two pounds extra when eating in The Beachcomber (but only because we actually had three courses), and an additional £10 (approximately) to eat in Turner's (further explanation later).

The Beachcomber Inn

I particularly like this pub-restaurant for its casual and relaxed atmosphere. Unlike a few of the dining halls, it doesn't feel like it caters to huge quantities of people, although that is more to do with the organisation as I didn't see an empty table on both occasions that we ate here.

Serving a wide selection of traditional pub meals, along with family favourites and modern light dishes, The Beachcomber Inn is a great choice to find something for everyone. Decorated in light wood with plenty of lighting, the pub is friendly and lends itself well to parties of all sizes.

The Beachcomber Inn

Most main meals average out around the £8-10 bracket and we ate:

  • Gigante Asparagus Pasta (V) £9.25
  • Pasta Carbonara £8.45
  • Chippy Chips £2.00
  • Battered Whole Onion Rings £1.95

The Boy chose from the 'Pick'n'Mix Meals' menu which costs £3.50 per meal, and provides children with the visual option of choosing a potato or rice dish, a vegetable portion and then a fish, chicken or sausage selection. This menu is designed for the younger child, there is the Shipmates' Favourites for £4.99 which provides a range of more adventurous meals for older children. It's worth noting that there isn't a vegetarian option on the 'Pick'n'Mix' menu, but there are two pasta or noodles dishes available for older children.

Turner's Restaurant

The result of a collaboration with Brian Turner, Turner's Restaurant is a welcome addition to the Butlin's family and the jewel in the culinary crown. I had first eaten here in December 2010 when it had first opened, and was impressed with the ambience and quality of service then, so looked forward to returning with my family and seeing how well equipped it was to deal with the demands of a four year old child.

The main difference between Turner's and the other restaurants on site is that it is more adult in its vibe. Of course children are welcomed and there is an excellent children's menu with good home-cooked meals listed, akin to the food they would eat at home. However, it is waiter-service with everything cooked to order (not mass produced prior to opening) and therefore it's not really the place to let children chill out away from the table. If I was paying a fair price for a quiet, grown-up meal, I wouldn't appreciate it.

Turner's Restaurant

Main meals at Turner's are priced between £10-12 with fish and steak obviously priced slightly higher, starters are around the £5 mark with pudding priced similarly. There was a meal deal available at the time we went, with two or three set courses available for a set price. We ate:

  • Roasted Tomato & Sweet Pepper Soup with Rarebit Toast £4.95 (starter)
  • Macaroni Cheese with Slow Cooked Cherry Tomatoes £5.25 (starter)
  • Aubergine & Spinach Rolls on Braised Cannellini Beans £11.75 (main)
  • Turner’s Own Burger Steak with the Best Chips £11.50 (main)
  • Marmalade Bread & Butter Pudding £5.25 (dessert)
  • Peanut Butter Cheesecake £4.75 (dessert)
  • a glass of Pinot Grigio Rosato del Veneto £4.15 (175ml)
  • Golden Macaroni Cheese £3.00 (children's starter served as a main)
  • A Selection of Ice Creams £3.00 (children's dessert)

I enjoyed the meal and thought that the vegetarian option was  an exciting alternative to the standard pasta dishes available. My husband also enjoyed his burger, but he did admit that he wasn't overwhelmed by it and therefore slightly disappointed. The portion of macaroni cheese that he had to start was larger than The Boy's main meal of macaroni cheese, which unfortunately solidified and went cold quite quickly and he was unable to finish it due to this. The meal was pleasant enough but it didn't complete live up to the expectations that a 'celebrity restaurant' has. I also had expectations of near silver service from a restaurant of that calibre which has a maitre'd to seat people. Our waiter was quite clumsy, not very attentive (we actually asked a different waiter to serve us) and didn't bring the food at the same time.

Would I go again? Probably, but I'd be very selective of our meals to ensure we had the best value.

Papa John's

Everyone enjoys a pizza restaurant and Papa John's has to be one of the easiest places to eat at on the Bognor Regis resort. There is an all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet available before the evening rush as well, which we partook of on our first evening there. We missed it by half an hour on our second stay, and I will admit that the speed of service wasn't as fast as I'd hope for with a fast-food pizza restaurant.

Papa John's pizzas

The pizza menu is good quality with a wide range of meat toppings, although the range of toppings for vegetarians isn't very exciting. We ate:

  • a Garden Party pizza (medium – 11.5") £12.95
  • a Chicken BBQ pizza (medium – 11.5") £13.45
  • a ham and cheese pizza (children's) £3.45

The pizzas are tasty, it's worth noting that they are American style not Italian based, but I'm not completely convinced that they are worth the prices. Of course, prices are more than in Pizza Hut for example, as it is the convenience that inflates the price. However, as my pizza in this fast-food restaurant cost more than my main meal in Turner's, I think my tip is to eat here during the all-you-can-eat buffet time.

The Deck Restaurant

The Deck was our favourite (and easiest) place to eat throughout the week. Yes it's busy (it's the main restaurant for The Wave Hotel) but I actually really enjoyed the friendly, chatty environment listening to family parties having fun, laughing about their day.

There is no menu at The Deck, because it is a self-service restaurant with the all-you-can-eat philosophy. And there is something for everyone here; from salads to freshly cooked to order pasta, roast dinners to hot dogs and chips, stir-fries to mushy peas! The selection is immense and it is all really good quality.

The Deck Restaurant

 The pasta station is a genius touch; each dish is cooked freshly and to order. The selection of children's meals is excellent and it is laid out so that older children can easily help themselves to the goodies. Desserts included formal gateaux and tarts, alongside rice pudding, fruit and an ice-cream machine which sent children into raptures.

After a packed day of activities, The Deck is the place to come and relax. I would visit this restaurant every night of the week and never tire of the range of food available.

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Prezzo Lighter Menu (Review)

prezzo banner

I was invited to sample out the 'Lighter' menu at Prezzo this weekend, and it was a very much welcome intermission from snowball fights and building an army of snowmen using rapidly freezing snow.

We often visit Pizza Express for a family treat on the weekend as the children's menu is such good value, but I'm not too keen on their lighter options as they seem a little uninspiring. As we're creatures of habit, we'd never ventured into a Prezzo restaurant before, I must admit that I'd thought them to be more of an adult restaurant, and hadn't realised that they had such a good children's menu with an extensive selection of child-friendly meals available.

I was there to sample the lighter options menu, which was launched to kick off the New Year for a limited period and comprise a starter, four main courses and a dessert, each under 600 calories each.

prezzo banner

This limited edition menu (available until 4th February 2013) comprises of: a starter of chunky tomato and oregano soup; four main courses – buffalo mozzarella flatbread, super detox salad, grilled vegetable flatbread, chicken Andria; and a dessert of a choice of sorbets.

I was really pleased to see that the main courses contained four vegetarian options, it's often the healthier option anyway, and although I am not a fan of tomato soup I was happy to give it a go.

prezzo starters

Starters:

  • Me: chunky tomato and oregano soup (130 calories)
  • The Boy: Garlic bread with cheese (from children's menu)
  • Mr. TBaM: Mozzarella in Carrozza (Mozzarella cheese deep-fried in breadcrumbs served with pomodoro sauce)

I was really pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of the soup. The tomato soup I've had in the past has usually come from a tin, or of a similar consistency: like thick passata, gloopy and overwhelmingly strong in one taste. This soup was so far removed that it was a pleasure to eat. The chunkiness proved that it had actually once contained whole tomatoes (something I am normally left wondering!) and the oregano really added an extra dimension to the dish. I suspect that there may have been some form of spice or chilli in there as well because, as well as it retaining its warmth, it also had a mild, spicy glow. It was a huge portion and I managed two-thirds of it before having to admit defeat.

prezzo mains

Main Course:

  • Me: grilled vegetable flatbread (482 calories)
  • The Boy: Penne Carbonara (children's menu)
  • Mr. TBaM: Pollo Carbonara (Seasoned chicken, pancetta bacon and spaghetti in a creamy grana padano cheese sauce)

I was astounded with my main meal. The quality of all three was excellent, but mine was really superb. The flatbread was the perfect size and depth with the right amount of tasty vegetables; aubergine, courgette, peppers, onion and mozzarella drizzled with basil pesto, served with a side salad and low calorie Italian dressing. The pesto over the top added another layer of flavour that made the pizza-style bread lip-smackingly delicious. It was also beautifully presented on a wooden board that I knew my woodturner father would have approved of!

As an aside, it's worth nothing that quality of the meat in the other main meals was excellent; the ham and bacon were thick quality like gammon, and off the bone not processed. The chicken in the Pollo Carbonara was large chunks that were tenderly cooked.

prezzo puddings

Dessert:

  • Me: Lemon sorbet (129 calories)
  • The Boy: chocolate ice-cream
  • Mr. TBaM: Honeycomb Smash Cheesecake (Blended and topped with crunchy honeycomb pieces coated in chocolate)

I tend to find that sorbets can be either wishy-washy in flavour or basically an ice-cream labelled incorrectly. Lemon sorbets can be so sharp to eat that I normally admit defeat amidst a gallon of water trying to revive my tastebuds. Not the case with this one which was delicately flavoured to truly clean the palette after a delicious meal. It was very enjoyable. I'll admit that I only ate half of it before having to surrender it to Mr. TBaM, as lemon sorbet is his favourite pudding.

While I was not there to review the restaurant as a whole (my remit being the 'Lighter Menu') I do need to point out how impressed I was with the branch we went to (St. Mary's Street, Cardiff). The blanket of snow over south Wales ensured that Cardiff's trade experienced a quiet day generally, and this obviously meant that there were more staff to serve the tables in the restaurant. However all staff were friendly and courteous (even when I had to answer a phonecall at the table), chatting easily to The Boy. Yes, they knew I was there to review the menu (and yes I felt like the food critic in 'Mystic Pizza'), however I could see from the surrounding tables that the quality of the food and service was consistent across the board. It was a pleasure to find a decent selection of healthy meals for children, food that didn't patronise their young appetities.

The value of this meal and drinks was approximately £59.00 which is a little more than we would normally spend on a three course meal for the three of us. However, the quality of the ingredients and cooking combined with the excellent service and pleasant surroundings means that we will be returning to Prezzo in the future. And I will be trying out the lighter options which are available on the normal menu because this has proven to me that it's the calories that are reduced, not the taste!

The meal and drinks were complementary in order to review the lighter menu; this does not affect my opinion in any way.

Frankie & Benny's (A Review)

I've never been to Frankie & Benny's before, for various reasons one of which was that there wasn't a local branch near us in Cardiff Bay. Just a couple of years ago, one was opened about ten minutes from my house and yet I still hadn't been. I'm not sure why, I think it's because as a vegetarian I wasn't convinced that there would be anything on the menu for me.

However, when we were invited to review their new menus, I jumped at the chance to disspell my uneasiness about the American-Italian restaurant chain and decided to give it a go. Before we went, I checked the menu to ascertain if there are any vegetarian dishes (as I hate sitting at the table and discovering my choice is lasagne or salad) and was reassured to find a range of dishes, including penne, pizza, a burger and a wrap. Not a massive choice but enough for me to feel that I had a choice.

Before I go any further, I will declare now that this is a mixed-bag for a review: most of the actual food itself was ok, the service and hygiene was not.

We arrived at 12.30pm on Sunday for lunch and we'd already decided that we needed to have the three courses to be able to sample the menu properly. We were greeted by a happy and cheerful waitress who seated us at a corner table with a highchair for The Boy. And this was the first hygiene problem. I always carry Dettol wipes in my handbag, and thank God I do because this was the state of the highchair:

The entire seat was covered in ingrained food and dirt. I considered not even putting him in the highchair but decided to give it a wipe over myself and keep an eye on where he put his hands. The table also needed wiping down as it had sticky drink stains on it, and the menus had tomato ketchup and soft drink dried onto them. Two of the five forks were dirty. Mr. TheBoyandMe took The Boy to the toilet and told me that one of the door-locks was broken and the loo-seat wasn't attached. Great.

After 15 minutes, we were 'greeted' by our waiter and we gave our food order and then asked if we could have some drinks. I checked to see if they had a plastic beaker for toddlers (as they do in Pizza Express) or a paper cup with a lid (Pizza Hut) but was told it was just a glass so I asked him to leave it as I had a tippy-cup of water he could drink from. 9 minutes later he returned with the two soft drinks and the heavy glass of water which I hadn't wanted.

Starters

Left:Dough sticks, dough balls and hot cheese = £5.95

Right: 'Amazing skins' with melted goat's cheese & home-made bruschetta = £4.95

These arrived 23 minutes after we ordered them. As it goes, I was very happy with the doughballs and doughsticks and felt that they were good value for money, especially if used as a big sharing plate between people in the party. The 'Amazing skins' were pleasant enough but the potato was terribly fatty and they certainly weren't 'fully loaded' as in the description.

Main

As soon as the starters were initially brought out, I asked the waiter to bring The Boy's main meal as soon as it was ready. This is actually good practise for restaurants when families are dining with young children, but it did seem an alien concept to the waiter. Nonetheless, The Boy's meal was brought out ten minutes after we finished the starters which was a full twenty minutes after it was asked for (more about his later) and ours came twenty-five minutes after we'd finished the starters.

Goat's Cheese & Caramelised Red Onion Hot Baked Wrap = £8.45

This was one of the more adventurous vegetarian meals on the menu and I was happy with the size of the portion, the imagination behind the concept and the quality of the food. The wrap was fresh and tasty, the filling plentiful, and the chips very tasty. The only thing I will say is that I felt that the onion was too overwhelming a flavour but that is probably a personal choice. This had a thumbs up from me.

A 'Deep-filled' New Yorker Calzone = £10.45

At this point I need to point out two things: I have never known my husband (in twelve years) to ever complain about a meal, and the product description for this is as follows; "Full to the brim with spicy pepperoni, ham, bacon, mushrooms and mozzarella. All topped with Mamma’s rich Neapolitan tomato and herb sauce."

I think that it's clear from the photo that it is not 'full to the brim' at all: this 'deep-filled' calzone is as flat as pancake. Mr. TheBoyandMe said that the ham was heavily processed, the bacon was fatty, there was barely any cheese and the whole thing was greasy and bland. He's since explained to me that he orders a calzone as a measure of comparison in new restaurants because he knows what an Italian and an American-Italian calzone is like having tasted them in both countries (I did wonder why he has them so often) and is rarely disappointed. He was incredibly disappointed with this one and said that the filling wouldn't have been enough to cover a pizza had it not been folded. Not good enough for £10.45!

We finished our main at 1.55 and ordered desserts five minutes afterwards at 2pm.

Dessert

'The Godfather' – a sharing sundae = £7.95

We decided to share a pudding and went for this 'mountain of brownies, crunchy chocolate malt balls, red berries and cream. Topped with ice cream, lashings of toffee and chocolate sauce and finished with toffee crunch.' Aside from the small amount of ice-cream and copious amounts of squirty cream, it didn't disappoint. It was very tasty, very filling and we would order it again with no problem.

However, it took 36 minutes for it to arrive.

Kids' Menu

Left: Pork sausage, mash & beans.

Right: Chocolate ice-cream sundae

I was impressed with the choice on the kids' children's menu: spaghetti bolognese, hamburger, chicken strips, margherita pizza, fish fingers, chicken pasta or sausage. This younger menu costs just £3.95 and includes a main course, a dessert and refillable soft drinks. There is also the the option of a free side of vegetables, side salad or Heinz baked beans.

The sausage meat was quite poor quality and The Boy actually wouldn't eat it, which is rare for him and sausages. The mashed potato was 'smash'-style packet potatoes. The whole thing had been sat on the side for a while as the mashed potato had a skin on it, the plate was hot (a no-no for children) and the baked beans were drying around the side. The quantity was perfect for younger children, but the quality was far from ideal.

He had a single scoop of chocolate ice-cream for pudding with sauce on top and a separate pack of chocolate buttons. A perfectly sized dessert for a young child.

The activity pack contained a double-sided activity booklet for different ages, a jigsaw and a multi-coloured colouring pencil. It is one of the better packs I've seen and was well received.

Finally, 2 hours and 15 minutes after we were first seated I managed to pay the bill. At this point I decided to tell the manager about the highchair, rather than leaving it until this review is (possibly) passed on and countless other children being placed in the same seat. I showed him the dirty straps and seat and he was genuinely shocked. He apologised and tried to give an excuse, stopped because there is none and apologised again. He then sent over a waitress to clean it. I did intervene and tell her it actually needed taking apart and scrubbing as spray wasn't going to clean off months of built up dirt.

What was good?

  • The hot bread sharing plate for starters
  • The hot baked goat's cheese & caramelised onion wrap
  • The portions and price of the younger children's menu
  • The children's activity pack
  • The sharing sundae

What was bad?

  • The 'amazing skins'
  • The 'deep-filled' calzone
  • The cleanliness throughout the entire restaurant: table, menu, cutlery, toilets, highchairs. If that is what the front of house is like, what state are the kitchens in?
  • The waiting period:
    • 12.30 seated
    • 12.45 order taken
    • 12.54 drinks arrived
    • 1.08 starters came and asked for The Boy's meal
    • 1.21 end of starters
    • 1.28 The Boy's main arrived
    • 1.45 mains came
    • 2.00 ordered ice-cream
    • 2.20 waiting for ice-cream for 20 mins
    • 2.36 ice-creams came
    • 2.41 waiting for the bill

Is it good enough that it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to have a family meal? I don't think so. Not when actual eating time was 25-30 minutes, leaving 1 hour and 45 minutes as waiting time.

Will I go again? Unless there are serious improvements in service and cleanliness? No!

I was provided with a £50 voucher towards the cost of this meal. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

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