The Strand Restaurant

We went there for the Argus £10 offer... understandable that they would not give us the most expensive choice of food and wine, but still... when I ordered 'another glass of house red' I got a distinctly better tasting wine - that makes you think what the 'house wine' from the Argus menu was. Also, on the 'lamp skewer' there were two tiny pieces of lamb, and the rest was raw vegetable that hadn't even been cooked. In my opinion, the restaurant lacks athmosphere, with very bland decoration and oversized furniture, and the lighting was unpleasant, too. This experience will not make me want to come back, unfortunately.
Comment on this reader review

Anne
Thursday, February 21, 2008

one of the best resturants in town trust me,
Comment on this reader review

joe (caxton)
Thursday, December 13, 2007

Looking for a venue to celebrate a family 50th Birthday bash, I came across the Strand on the internet. It looked quite pricy, but promised high quality local ingredients, and the Al a carte menu looked great.

Me and my husband thought we would try it out this Saturday lunchtime to see if it fitted the bill.We were the only two in the restuarant and were quickly shown to a table. the decor looked very shabby, but the seating downstairs is generous, and place settings of high quality with crisp linen napkins. The waitress was very firendly and accomodating.

My husband ordered a beer which came nicely chilled. I asked for a lemon and ginger tea and was pleasantly suprised when told they had it. unfortunately the tea tasted old and stale when it arrived, so obviously there is not much call for it.

My husband had the pork tenderlion with slow roast pork from the £15 lunch menu, which he said was absolutely smashing.

I had thai fishcakes with lemon mayonaise from the £10 menu, which whilst not unpleasent in flavour, were not spicy as indicated, and were a sloppy consistency and just fell apart on the plate.

When the waitress asked if everything was okay I asked if the fishcakes were meant to be served soft. She explained that the chef uses fresh ingredients and maybe that was the reason. I showed her my dish to demonstrate, and her response was "are you complaining", which I found very offputting. She did subsequently go and ask the chef, and explained that they he did not use breadcrumbs and pan fried instead of deep frying to give a healthy fish cake. It was a good explaination, but it didnt make up for the fact that it was a disapointing meal and overpriced @ £10.

I left feeling quite disapointed by the whole experience, and will be looking for an alternative venue for the birthday bash.
Comment on this reader review

Lesley Ryan
Monday, August 20, 2007

The Strand is a small, cosy restaurant with very friendly and attentive staff. The food was nice without being outstanding. The squid starter has a strange combination of flavours that didn't really work for me and the lamb shank was a bit bland - tasted like a casserole but cost £17. However, the chicken dish was very good and the chocolate torte was lovely. The wine is pricey but £20 was well worth it for an excellent vouvray.
Comment on this reader review

Slacker
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Took the wife there for her birthday in December and left feeling very good about this restaurant.

The food was very good indeed - the ambiance was mellow and intimate, the service was very patchy but easily forgiven what I think of how nice the overall experience was.

The Stand is now firmly on my small list of places to eat when feeling the urge for fine dining.

Go and check it out.
Comment on this reader review

steve green
Sunday, May 27, 2007

My fiance took me for a meal at the strand on the night he proposed. It was lovely- the atmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed but sophisticated and the staff were fantastic. My fiance had will you marry engraved on my starter plate and the staff were so helpfull with the arrangements for this. The food was great, we had the scallops to start followed by steak in a red wine sauce. A very memorable evening- i would definately recommend the restaurant
Comment on this reader review

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

I visited The Strand last Saturday evening with my girlfriend to celebrate her 30th birthday. We decided to share starters, the Thai squid and the artichoke/halloumi salad both were really tasty and we washed it down wityh an equally delicious bottle of new zealand sauvignon blanc. I had the sirloin steak which was really thick and juicy and my girlfriend had a Portugese fish medley, which was enormous and really filling. We were so stuffed that we couldn't manage a pudding, but then our waitress appeared with a slice of chocolate tart and a candle in it. We hadn't really made a fuss of the fact it was her birthday, so I can only assume that she must have been eavesdropping! We really had such a romantic evening, The Strand is definitely "our' special restaurant. Cheers guys.
Comment on this reader review

Ian
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Sorry but maybe most of the reviews are the staff incognito, whilst quaint etc the food was so no there, it was an experience in emptying my pockets with a smile and not much in return.
Comment on this reader review

londonstox
Wednesday, March 07, 2007

We went to The Strand for the first time last night and I have to say I was a little disappointed. For starters we had the scallops in bacon and squid in coconut. The squid was delicious (probably the best dish of the night) but the bacon that wrapped the scallops was a little chewy and stringy and the dish was over seasoned.

For the main course I had the duck which had nice flavor but was over cooked and came with an average but heavy tart only a pinch of rocket to lighten it up.

My wife had the sea bass which I tried and to be honest we agreed it was pretty bland. For dessert we had the orange tart which might have been nicer if it was warm, it was ok but nothing to write home about.

On top of this the table was cramped to the point where we had to climb into our seats we weren’t inspired to hang around for coffee and liqueurs which was a shame.

Having ranted a little I should say the service was friendly and the ambience welcoming. Over all the food and wine were not cheap and I expected more from a restaurant in this bracket.
Comment on this reader review

David K
Saturday, February 10, 2007

Lovely restaurant and friendly staff, which always makes all the difference. I used to work in hospitality and know the food should arrive at the same time but it's not always easy to do. As there were only two of us it didn't matter too much and you could see the owner was aware of th problem! The only real critisim is that the menu's not very varied or long - for somewhere with a good reputation more choice would be an advantage, or just something different to the usual gourmet fare. Would definately recommend for an intimate evening with your girlfriend despite that, she loved it!
Comment on this reader review

Sarah Shay
Saturday, February 03, 2007