(Pub Food)
Wednesday // 11:00am
Reviewer: Drew
The Butlers Bell
27 Gaolgate Street
Stafford
Staffordshire
ST16 2NT
Situated on Stafford high street, The Butlers Bell has a relatively unassuming and ungarish front. With a sizeable beer garden out back, and front windows that open fully, it is an excellent choice for a summer meal on a warm day.
Today however, it was snowing, so it wasn’t in it’s best season. However this is where a major selling point comes into play - an open log fire, excellent for sitting near when your cold through to your bones.
It is a member of the Wetherspoons group, and has only been open in Stafford for a year or so, a relative newcomer, as it were.
Restaurant: 69/100
Service: 16/30
The venue was rigorously clean, I even witnessed a waitress clean an unused table twice whilst I was sitting there. The queues were short and well attended to, and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. Our tables were cleared swiftly after each course, however the score was let down a little bit, as the staff seemed to have some confusion about what dessert they currently had available.
Decor: 12/20
An eclectic yet tasteful mix of furniture , nice dark woods, etc. However the mixture was a bit scattered, in my corner of 5 tables, there were five different types of table and five different types of chairs, I would have liked to see a bit more uniformity, perhaps having all of a certain type of table in one area. There was plenty of space and at no point did I feel crowded, and the temperature and noise level were comfortable.
Drinks: 17/20
All the usual suspect were present, a lack of mocktails was made up by the addition of offering beer from local breweries. Extensive alcoholic drinks menu and selection of world beers rounded it off, however points were knocked off for putting ice in my soft drink without asking - it was snowing outside, I was cold enough!
Value for Money: 17/20
Been a Wetherspoons, value for money was there. Plenty of 2 for 1 offers and beer and a burger deals, even a cheap bites section. For economy meals, you couldn't go too far wrong.
Menu Selection: 7/10
Very vegetarian friendly menu, with many meals offering vegetarian alternatives. An extensive menu featuring burgers, curries, steaks, and pub favourites rounded it off nicely, however I would have liked to have seen some locally sourced food on there.
Starter: 49/100
Southern-Fried-Style chicken strips (£3.60)
Taste: 10/30
Lets start with the positives shall we ? The sauce was delicious with a nice light spice level to give a little kick to it. The batter was crunchy and crisp, showing no signs of sogginess. Then there was the chicken itself. The strips were overdone slightly, leaving the chicken dry, chewy, and not easy to eat.
Presentation: 7/25
The sauce dish put in the center and the strips in a very rough attempt at a circle around it. The sauce pot rim wasn’t even wiped from the stray sauce drips. I’m sure you can see from the picture, it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing of starters.
Wait Time: 24/25
It took 9 minutes to arrived, and they informed us it would be around 10-15, so it’s hard to find much fault with it.
Portion Size: 8/20
Plenty of sauce was served with it for the strips, there was sufficient chicken for a starter, but perhaps a little side salad (which would have also served to add some colour) wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Main Course: 70/100
Italian Burger: Chicken Breast, Mozzarella, nut-free Pesto + Free soft drink (£5.69)
Taste: 22/30
I’m not sure I can praise this course enough! The flavours all worked very well together - given the amount of pesto i thought it might have overridden all the other flavours, but thankfully it was very mild. The salad tasted fresh, the salsa had a mildly spicy bite to it, and the chips were soft and fluffy and perfectly cooked. Let down only by a lack of locally sourced ingredients, this burger was a delight.
Presentation: 17/25
They went to town on the presentation for this one, the picture doesn’t really do it justice. A towering burger, oozing delicious ingredients. A porcelain pot for chips, and a matching smaller one for salsa. A few onion rings on the side to bring it together, and all served on a heated wooden board. Sure it lacked real creative flair, but it was fine presentation for a burger.
Wait Time: 14/25
The dish arrived 21 minutes, when they originally told us 15. Whilst longer than I’d expect for a simple burger, it was still within an acceptable amount of time.
Portion Size: 17/20
The burger was stacked! The chips were filling. The pesto was flowing. In short, after this course I was struggling to find room for dessert, and had to settle for splitting it with a fellow diner.
Dessert: 62/100
Warm Chocolate Fudge Cake w/o ice cream (£3.35)
Taste: 12/30
Bit of a mixed bag on this one - lets start by saying this cake was entirely delicious, with decadent amounts of chocolate oozing out at every angle. majorly let down, however, by the fact that only the lower half of it was warm! Now, my fellow diner preferred the cold half, so it wasn’t a problem for us, but when something is marketed as ‘Warm’ fudge cake, I expect it to all be warm.
Presentation: 15/25
Oh my god! With the chocolate oozing out, this cake looked so good I actually forgot I had to take a picture of it and started eating it first! You can still see from the picture however how positively scrummy it looked.
Wait Time: 25/25
Arrived in 7 minutes, and we were told it would arrive in 5-10 minutes. Couldn’t find any fault with it.
Portion Size:10/20
The flice was a good size before I started tucking into it, though after the filling main course I couldn't find room for all of it. Plenty of chocolate sauce, and then even offered us squirty cream at the table as it didn’t have ice cream. One it’s own however, it was a fairly normal size piece of cake.
Overall Score: 250/400 (63%)
A very hearty and enjoyable meal with a good selection of drinks on tap. A 3 course meal and a couple of drinks coming in at under £15, as for as bargain food goes, it is hard to find any real faults - the positives more than compensating for the flaws.
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