A Family Meal

To celebrate James' new job and as a treat for the kids, we decided to go for a family meal at our local Beefeater, The Dovecote.  I have been going here since I was young so it is nice to be able to take my children there too.  We also had our wedding meal there.

I had mentioned to James about going there as the kids menu looked amazing and I know that Liam and Sophie would find something they really liked on the menu, unlike with some of the other local restaurants.

I had booked a table for 1715 but we arrived 20 minutes early and were shown to our seats straight away.  We were given a nice booth, comfortable seats and plenty of space, which is perfect for us as it meant we could sit the children to the inside.  The lady that took us to our table quickly took our drinks order and within 5 minutes we had our menus, drinks and the children had their Mr Men activity packs and crayons, which kept them amused.

I already knew what I was going to order before I even arrived! James, as usual, took a little longer to decide what he wanted, such a fusspot! The kids had picked what they wanted before we even left the house as I let them look at the menu online to save time, and it meant they would have more time with their activity packs too!! The choice for children is amazing and the price is incredible too.

menu and activity pack

Liam chose a create you own pizza, with bacon and sweetcorn toppings (max of 2) with side of mini corn on the cob and a slice of garlic bread.  Sophie had macaroni cheese with a side of veg sticks and slice of garlic bread. As a treat we let them have a small glass of lemonade each and for dessert they have ice cream sundaes with chocolate sauce and a little bowl of sweets! The portions were a decent size, both left some food but given the size of the portion its not surprising! Better to have too much on the plate than not enough!

kids mains and desserts

I had garlic and herb mushrooms with dips to start, the mushrooms were beautiful and the ranch dip was tasty too. Again, a decent sized portion with 6 large mushrooms.  James decided on loaded potato dippers, loaded with cheese and spring onion with a sour cream dip. The portion was massive but he managed to eat it! He did say it would have been better if the portion was smaller and the potatoes were slightly dry but he still enjoyed them

starters

For my main course, I asked for a plain chicken breast  (rather than paprika) it came with chips, chunky coleslaw and side salad. The chicken was cooked beautifully and was tender.  The amount of salad dressing was just right and the coleslaw was nice and creamy.  A very filling dish.  This is a favourite of mines now.  James opted for the sirloin steak, medium/rare, which came with peppercorn sauce, seasoned fries, mushrooms, tomatoes and a side salad! James said the steak was medium instead of medium/rare, there was no seasoning on the steak, he wasn't keen on the seasoning on the skinny fries (but that was personal more than anything.)

mains

Our server, Neil,  was a really nice man, very attentive, great with the children, upbeat and friendly. Our meals came quickly and, as requested, the kids main meals came with our starters.  At the end of our meal, Neil brought the kids a Mr Men toy each, they were delighted.

Overall, we were happy with our family meal and the service we received.  We would happily go back again in future.

**we paid in full for our meal, all opinions are our own. We visited the Dovecote in Cumbernauld