Beefeater Spring Menu Review – Longford House

Beefeater have this week launched their spring menu, combining old favourites with new combinations and dishes. Last night I took my boys along to sample some of the new dishes and the hospitality of my local Beefeater Grill, which is situated in the beautiful Longford House in Cannock. Once again, we were impressed by the quality of the dishes, both in terms of presentation and flavour, and also really looked after in terms of service from all the staff.

The new menu has specially selected dishes with a spring flavour. Healthy, lighter options are becoming more popular, and the Beefeater menu has taken this into account, adding a range of new salads that combine meat and poultry with traditional leaves and dressings.

There are also a range of new starters on the list, and after our lovely waitress had recommended the Pork and Beef Koftka, Pete chose this (I decided to go for a dessert instead as I knew I wouldn’t manage three courses.) The Koftka smelt divine, a great mixture of meat and spices, and was authentic in it’s Greek styling. Served with a warm flatbread, crunchy Greek salad and a yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip, this was a delicious choice, brimming with flavour, not too heavily spiced and beautiful in its presentation. A definite hit.

For mains, both myself and Pete decided to try the new salad options, which are featured on the tasty alternatives menu. Pete chose a new choice, the Beefeater Ultimate Steak Salad. This certainly lives up to its name, a hearty salad with slices of 6oz* chargrilled flat iron steak tossed with grilled peppers, courgette, red onion, mixed leaf salad, tomatoes and a French dressing. The steak was cooked perfectly (medium) and was a real sizeable portion – you certainly weren’t hunting around for bits of steak in this salad. There was plenty of dressing to give the salad real depth of flavour, and the mix of salad veggies worked really well. For £10.99, this is a real bargain, and at less than 500 calories this is for food saints not sinners.

My salad choice is a favourite of mine that often proves to be a let down. The Chargrilled Chicken Ceasar Salad was delicious, with crispy Romaine lettuce leaves, a full sliced chicken breast that had been chargrilled to a gorgeous smoky flavour, and the unusual, but very tasty addition of Regato cheese, rather than the hard Parmesan that is sometimes used. The dish was plentiful, again the Ceasar dressing gave the dish a good coating that ensured flavour throughout. This is one of the best Ceasar salads I have tasted, and would definitely order again.

We both accompanied our mains with a side order of Garlic King Prawns. Served in mini skillets, these were stunning in flavour with the garlic coming through beautifully. The garlic butter in the pan was so tasty I found myself mopping it up with chips – it was too good to waste. We also had a side of skinny chips. These can be ordered plain or spiced – we opted for spiced and they came with a great Paprika covering that was very appetizing and they soon disappeared. Luckily you can ask for refills on fries so another portion was swiftly devoured too.

While we were enjoying the delights of the adult menu, Joe was sampling and enjoying the Mr Men and Little Miss Kids menu. This is one of the reasons I feel Beefeater is a great destination for family meals, the children’s menu offers real choice and the option for children to enjoy a three course meal with their parents – so many places fail to offer kid’s starters. Joe went for his favourites, garlic bread, Mr Perfect’s popin’ chicken, chips and beans, and the fabulous ice cream and sweeties desert. All were enjoyed, and the popin’ chicken in particular pronounced a hit.

There was just time for a dessert, and I kept to the healthy theme by enjoying the lemon curd sorbet. This was lovely, a real palette cleanser that was light as a feather. The lemon was tasty rather than tangy, non of those pulled faces as the zest hits the throat. Another good sized portion, this is another desert I will definitely try again.

The Beefeater at the Longford House hits all the right notes with the tasty new menu. With great, friendly service and knowledgeable recommendations from the staff when it comes to food, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Beefeater as a restaurant for good family food that is reasonably priced.

*We were given a voucher code for £50 to test drive dishes from the new menu, the remainder of the bill was paid by ourselves.