"I have heard many of my friends rave about the Refreshment Rooms and so I had high expectations and hoped I wasn’t expecting too much. I booked a meal for three people at 2pm today (Sunday) and at the time of booking I almost jokingly asked if they could possibly put a candle in the birthday girl’s dessert. As it turned out, everything surpassed my expectations. Inside was bigger than I expected (as I had only seen pictures of the outside). The menu was surprisingly diverse and catered for a wide variety of tastes. In addition there was also an exciting specials menu. All three of us opted for the roast dinner (I had the pink beef, birthday girl had lamb and my other friend had “three meats” which was beef, lamb and pork). Everything on the plate was cooked to perfection. The beef was pink, the roasties were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, the green vegetables (broccoli and mangetout) tasted like they were steam cooked, the gravy was heavenly and my friend, who had the pork, had crackling as well. Sides were horseradish for the beef, mint sauce for the lamb and pineapple salsa for the pork. The portions were substantial. To finish, my friends had the individual Mixed Berry Pimms Trifle and the Toblerone Whipped Cream Pavlova. I do not usually order dessert as I tend to find sweet menus repetitive and dull but I actually found it difficult to decide between a number of unique desserts that I haven’t seen before. I opted for the Chef’s Jaffa Cake Creme Brulée and it was absolutely delicious. My friend’s trifle came complete with birthday candle which was just lovely! The birthday girl drank Pinot Grigio Rosato and I was incredibly impressed that there were a number of alcohol free options and not just the blandest bottles that are usually on offer. Two of us had the Brewdog Punk Alcohol Free (which I think is a superior AF beer) and it was heartening to see decent alcohol free wines on the menu as well. We finished with coffee and mint chocolate. The servers were very friendly and we felt like we were given lots of time. Despite how incredibly busy it was throughout, the wait staff were really attentive to us. The ‘vibe’ of the whole pub was cool and laid back. The background music was just that, background music which was perfect and allowed for conversation. As we left it was such lovely weather that we decided to have one more drink outside where we saw a rainbow as we looked out over the waterfront. A perfect Sunday and a perfect birthday meal."
