Colleys Supper Rooms

belindap

lovely food and lots of it! 22nd January 2009

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There is a single sitting, with all diners turning up at 7.30pm. We went mid-week - the meal was a fixed price of £24.95 for 4 courses. You have a choice of 3 starters, 4 mains, and 6 or 7 puddings. There is also a soup course. The mains usually consist of one meat choice, one poultry, one fish and a veggie option. The dishes are brought out for you to view before you order, which is really nice as you get to see what they all look like. Mind you - that does make it difficult to decide, as they all look so delicious!

Food:
The menus are changed fortnightly and posted on their website. The food was lovely, beautifully cooked, with wonderful rich flavours. The puddings are the highlight of the evening - lots of old fashioned traditional desserts like chocolate bread & butter pudding, fruit crumble, treacle suet pudding, white chocolate cheesecake with blueberries, etc! They also let you have 2 puddings! Watch out though - the portions are generous, and by the time you get to desserts, it's nearly impossible to manage 2!! I'd suggest ordering a mixture of things if you're going as a group, and then trying each other's dishes.

Service:
The service was good, and the waiters were able to talk about the dishes in detail. They also didn't make you feel foolish if you didn't understand any of the gastronomic terminology! The feta cheese beignet was described as a "cheese doughnut".

Ambience:
The restaurant is opulently decorated with floral wallpaper, huge mirrors with ornate gilt frames, lots of paintings, etc. A bit garish for my taste. When you first go in, it feels like going into someone's house, as at first glance the dining room seems quite small. However, there are a number of off-shoot rooms, so the overall capacity is quite ample, but the effect is cosy and intimate. When we went, there were only 10 diners. I gather the mid week tends to be quite quiet, but the weekends are full capacity. So if you're planning to go at the weekend, make sure you book plenty of time in advance. (We weren't asked for a deposit when booking).

Definitely a must-visit restaurant if you're in the Reading area.

gbeynon

An evenings eating experience 27th August 2008

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If you have never been to Colleys before. Get yourself ready for a treat and maks sure you wear loose trousers because you will eat a lot.
First off you cannot reserve a table for any time, everybody sits down for dinner in the restaurant at the same time (7:30 i think). When you book a table you are asked to pay a deposit as people cannot just turn up and eat.
Now the process of the courses is quite unique. You start with Hors D'oeuevres which you help yourself to. After this each course is brought to your table and presented to you. There is usually four choices per course and you choose what you fancy. As they are presented by the chefs you can also ask anything about the food as well.
The quality of the food is very good and tends to be quite rich so try and pace yourself as the desserts are the thing to wait for!
The desserts usually include sticky toffe pudding and bread and butter pudding and these are proper old fashioned recipes (i.e. Its a suet pudding not sponge). You have an opportunity to have a few desserts as you will struggle to decide if like me you have a sweet tooth.
Overall, it takes about 3 hours to eat at Colleys, its an experience and make sure you leave room for dessert.