• Added: 5th of December 2007
• Area: Stanley
• Category: Restaurants

Wakefield WF3 4LT
01924 290596

tonypreece said
In The Dock
You can drive down many 'A' roads in the UK and see the Two For One sign outside a large pub, with an equally large car park outside. The Ferryboat is no different.

Formally The Millhouse, The Ferryboat offers the cheaper of two main meals free of charge, all day, every day. To compensate for this, the mains are a little more expensive than you'd pay elsewhere.

There's a good menu selection though and an extensive specials board. The food is nicely served, well cooked and very tasty.

We visited with friends on a Sunday afternoon early in December. The large pub was very busy so patience was needed.

First you have to queue to be seated (you can wait in the bar if they're busy), then queue at the bar to order your meal (only after you have a table number). You can order drinks with your food, but have to join another queue to collect the drinks from about a foot away from your food order point. 2 queues for the price of one I suppose.

The enthusiastic owner was waiting tables when we visited, was very polite and cheerful. His staff should take a leaf from his book. Some of them need a little training in customer service to say the least!

Starters, deserts and drinks are not two-for-one, but priced realistically and served in ample portions.

Overall an enjoyable meal, just be prepared to wait a while when its busy and when you're getting one meal free, don't expect the best service in the world.

• Added: 28th of October 2007
• Area: Brighouse
• Category: Restaurants

Brighouse HD6 1PD

tonypreece said
Romance is Dead
When you've lived with your partner for a year or two things start to settle down. The excitement and fun turns into chores and repetativeness. The romance fades away and those long, lingering glances over the dinner table burn your eye lashes on the candles!

That sums up my first experiance of 'La Romantica'. There was nothing about the visit that I could complain about. But, like an old married couple, there was no twinkly in the restaurants eye, no stroking of my tastebuds and no long lingering glances as the waiters carried meals between the kitchen and their guests.

The food at La Romantica was alright. That just about sums it up. It was standard Italian. Edible, well presented but very forgetful.

The service, while sharp from start to finish, wasn't joined up. One waiter didn't know what the other was doing. There was no order to the service. It was like a day on the Eastenders market, with one trader covering someone elses stall while a third looked after his.

I think I'll stick to Emmerdale in future, for a bit more of a rustic flavour!

• Added: 22nd of October 2007
• Area: Leeds
• Category: Restaurants

Leeds LS1 4LT
0113 242 8103

tonypreece said
Thank God It's Not Chris Evans
"American Diner" would be the two words to sum up TGI's. Simply great American food in American sized portions, but at English prices (not cheap). About half of the menu is made with Jack Daniels sour mash whisky.

They do a great Childrens menu, have some funky wooden high chairs for the extra-small ones and offer lots of colouring fun in a box.

This particular restaurant is attached to a hotel and shares a car-park with the hotel. You need to get an exit code before leaving the restaurant or you'll get stuck at the barrier!

A fun & friendly place, we went ona Tuesday afternoon, but I can imagine a Friday or Saturday night would be very lively, noisy and fun. It's not cheap, but the meal sizes give good value for your money.

• Added: 21st of October 2007
• Area: Halifax
• Category: Restaurants

Halifax HX3 6AB

tonypreece said
Hut or Miss?
We've all been to a pizza hut before so I won't go into too much detail. Pizza happens to be my favourite food, but I'm always disappointed by Pizza Hut's pizzas. The tomato sauce just isn't upto much.

As the food is factory produced just to be baked in the store it's the same wherever you go. The only thing that differentiates one 'hut' from the next is the staff and teh service.

On entering we waited for someone to seat us, three staff members walked passed before another stopped for us. We were sat on a table that couldn't hold 2 pizzas and the 'unlimited' soft drinks were limited to the amount of times a staff member came past and you could grab their attention.

A woman at the next table stood up and shouted over the restaurant that she wanted to order.

So the food was poor and the service worse. I find it hard to find a pizza that I really like, apart from those I bake myself. I'd rather take a drive into Leeds and pick one up from Caesars take away - they're delicious!

• Added: 20th of October 2007
• Area: Brighouse
• Category: Restaurants

Brighouse HD6 2RG

tonypreece said
Anyone For Seahorses?
Casa is not only a restaurant, but a bar and hotel too, with stunning lakeside views that continue up the hilly countryside to the south.

The restaurant serves traditional Italian food, cooked by Italian chefs and served by Italian waiters. But wait a minute, don't let the title of this review put you off!

There's an extensive menu of tapas, starters, mains, pasta and pizza with a delicious desert menu to boot.

The service was a little slow when I visited and although the food was well cooked and appatising, not all of the staff were fluent in English, which doesn't help when you're asking what the ingredients of the seafood pizza are. My partner Sarah certainly wasn't expecting to see seahorses on there ;)

Well worth its four stars.

• Added: 20th of October 2007
• Area: Brighouse
• Category: Restaurants

Brighouse HD6 1JR

tonypreece said
It Was Feta To End Up Here
Forgive the title, it was the best pun I could find late at night.

Meze is a Turkish/Greek restaurant with a large ranging menu. The food was glorious, but the price reflected it and then some!

Service was spot-on, I couldn't have asked for better, the 10% service charge added to the bill covers that.

Have a look at the website for the full menu and pictures. It's a nicely decorated restaurant, really happy, friendly staff. Great atmosphere and fantastic food. Beware though, the toilets are tiny and if you're more than about six years old you'll struggle to get into them!

We arrived at 1900 on a Saturday night, without a reservtion and were sat immediately, (but how busy it is when the Rugby World Cup final isn't on I'm not sure). We couldn't ask for better service or food, my chicken and my partners salmon were both cooked to perfection.

Meza is well worth a visit, but at £50 for two 3 course meals it's a little bit steep for this area. Christmas Day is only £8 extra.

• Added: 17th of October 2007
• Area: Brighouse
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Brighouse HX3 8TH
01422 202230

tonypreece said
A Sunny Atmosphere
I found this place on Google whilst skiving a few minutes at work and decided to take my partner & 2 year old daughter out for a meal when I got home.

The building started out life in the 1700's as a farm and bacame a coaching house around the middle of the centuary (according to their website). With 250 years of experience I was expecting a good meal in a nice, friendly restaurant.

I was not disappointed.

A clean, nicely decorated and spacious interior welcomed us. Our host quickly brought over a highchair for my daughter and a drawing toy, a bit like the etch-a-scetch we all used to have, for her to play with.

The menu looked delicious too. 'Old Favourites' such as fish and chips or bangers and mash sit nicely alongside steaks, 'Sizzler Platters' and salads. I felt spoiled for choice and just had to bite the bullet and pick something when the waiter came around for the second time!

A lot of the menu options are also available in smaller potions, at discounted rates for children and pensioners too. Much better I think than having a seperate kids menu with unhealthy microwave options just to keep the kids quiet and the parents happy!

There are three real ales on offer (however the one that I wanted wasn't on when I visited) and an extensive wine list.
They also have regular events with quiz nights, psychic nights and a Mexican night once a month.

Overall it was a very enjoyable experience and I'll be sure to visit again.

• Added: 24th of July 2007
• Area: Leeds
• Category: Restaurants

Leeds LS9 8AH

tonypreece said

The review I wrote for the Cactus Lounge just a few weeks ago was based on my last visit there, two and a half years ago.

I couldn't believe it was that long, so I've had to go back to my favourite Mexican to see if anything had changed.

And thinkfully, it hadn't.

I chose a busy Saturday night and turned up without a reservation. They were fully booked but managed to find a table for us anyway. (It's always best to book in advance here, especially on a weekend).

The Mexican Bean Soup was much nicer than I'd expected and the main course, chicken and cheese Enchiladas, rice and side salad was as delicious as I'd remembered it to be.

The only thing that slighlty let down this visit was the service. It wasn't bad service at all, but getting a waiters attention wasn't always easy when there's a full house (I counted 52 seated). I simply hate places that keep pestering you to see if you're ok or if you want another drink, but the opposite was evident here on Saturday night. Nobody did that - and I like a little bit of attention when my drinks running low and the spices are tickling my tongue!

Still a 5 star rating - it deserves it for the food alone, but fitting us in when there were no spaces is great service & good managent too.

• Added: 10th of July 2007
• Area: Harrogate
• Category: Others

Harrogate HG1 2SX
01423 500071

tonypreece said

I visited Rigatoni's on a busy Saturday night. The booking sheet was full, but they still managed to find a space for us without booking ahead.

The service seemed rushed to being with. Sit down, order drinks, bring bread & butter (with caviar) and before we have time ot eat it the starter had arrived.

It was a nice starter though. Garlic bread, with mozerella and chili oil. I was expecting a hint of chili oil, so if you get the same, prepare yourself prepare your mouth for a taste explosion. It was hotter that I anticipated!

There's a plentiful choice of starters and mains. I found it hard to decide based on the food itself, so the price came into consideration. As some of the mains were over 16 each I went for something a little more economical.

Our food was good, although the next table sent back three of their four meals. The service was acceptable, but I'd expect better from somewhere like this. It was a bit too rushed for my liking, and the mandatory black pepper and parmasan cheese never arrived so I had to fight for a waiters attention to have it brought round.

A decent meal, but over expensive and they need to improve on their service.

• Added: 27th of June 2007
• Area: Leeds
• Category: Events and Entertainment

Leeds LS4 2DG
0871 224 0240

tonypreece said

Not really a cultural place, unless Hollywood means culture.

This cinema is out of town, but not too far out. It's on a leisure park amoungst a bowling alley, health club, bars and restaurants and a nightclub.

It has a lot of screens and plays all the latest films.

There is another Vue cinema in the city centre, with three other multi-screen cinemas within about a 20 mintue drive. The main reason you might choose this one over the city centre Vue is the free parking. Although I'd rather pay to park in Leeds centre for the nicer, newer cinema in town.