The snow, almost disappeared, still evident in melting snowmen and the sun out like a warm spring day. That was last Sunday morning and had to be started with a walk with Ronnie. He misses the snow you know. Back home and a change before we go off for Sunday Lunch to Wallace and Co. It’s part of a new venture by Gregg Wallace (of Masterchef and Veg fame) and looks promising. A casual style of Café (not restaurant) that you would not feel out of place at just having a cup of coffee and muffin or a full lunch (I’m afraid it has to be the latter for me!)
Mrs.H. and I arrive on the dot of our booking – thank goodness we did – it was very busy. We were met, eventually, by a very polite front of house guy who sat us at our table (a 4 for 2!) “This will give you more room” (makes note – must accelerate diet..) We sat down and a waiter came over fairly rapidly to check the table and take our drinks order – Coffee for me and a glass of the house red, recommended by the waiter. A peruse of the extensive menu gives you the option of any thing from a breakfast to a salad. I wasn’t going to be led off the scent – I wanted my roast beef for lunch. The waiter took our order or should I say attempted to. He was very nice but didn’t quite grasp the English language! Not his fault – he should not have been employed in the first place – anyway he got his marching orders soon after I complained that I had not had my starter when the beef turned up! No matter, the day was lovely and I was relaxed. I ordered an onion marmalade and goats cheese with salad to start. Mrs.H decided she would save herself for the main course. This eventually turned up and was glorious – fresh and tasty. I’m not sure the salad was very good value – an extra £2 or so for a few green leaves. We now awaited the beef. I double checked my order, after the previous waited was no more, to see if they had got it right – ah, not quite. Having explained to the waiter that I wanted medium rare, they still persisted in trying to serve me up well done beef. No matter, this was swiftly and politely remedied and we both sat down looking at two massive cuts of rib of beef off the bone and the trimmings. I’m not going to wax on lyrical about the components of the meal but it was near on perfect for a Sunday lunch. Points were deducted (;-)) for Mrs.H’s slightly dry
In summary - The food is better than you expect, the service chaotic (but its only early days), the atmosphere is lively yet laid back and the value – very reasonable. Mr Wallace, I think you can relax at putting your name on the front!
