Foodie Review – Beefeater Longford House

It is a little embarrassing to say that there is a Beefeater restaurant, situated in a lovely 18th Century Public House, that is just a 10 minute drive from my house, and yet I had never tried it. But until yesterday, this was a true fact. The Longford House is a fabulous old building which has recently had extensive renovations to make it a bright and airy modern restaurant, and on Sunday we went along to sample some of the delights of the current menu.

The Beefeater menu is extensive, with a good mixture of steaks, pasta, salads and grills. On Sunday, it also has the option of Roasts on offer. Beefeater is also very child friendly, with a children’s menu with plenty of choice, and colouring packs to keep the minis occupied while you wait for your food.

Our waitress Emily was very friendly, and our drinks order came very quickly. We were all on soft drinks, and was pointed to the option of refillable Pepsi, a good, money saving option. We all then chose our starters. I chose Garlic King Prawns and was not disappointed. This was a dish that consisted of 10 king prawns grilled in a garlic & parsley butter and served with warm ciabatta. I loved the flavour of the prawns, all buttery from the garlic butter, which was so good it had to be mopped up with the ciabatta. I also really liked the rustic way the dish was served, in a tiny skillet which was still hot as the dish was served.

For his starter, Pete opted for the beef koftas. These were lightly spiced minced beef koftas with flatbread and a crunchy Greek salad, served with yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip. Pete really enjoyed these, they were flavoursome without being overly spiced or hot, and the yoghurt was a great accompaniment. Again, the presentation of the dish was really good, with the koftas served on a wooden small bread board.

Joe is at the age when he also wants a starter, and he chose Nachos with cheese. This was a huge portion for a child, so we all had a hand in eating the Nachos. The Nachos had a slightly barbecue taste, which was nice, but the tomato salsa was a little on the hot side for a child’s starter, so Joe only took small dips.

Starters finished and enjoyed, we then moved onto the mains. Although tempted by the Sunday lunch menu, I decided to try the Smokey Paprika chicken. This was a chunky chicken breast marinated in fragrant smoky paprika, chargrilled and served with crispy triple cooked chips, chunky slaw and a side salad. This was a delicious main, I loved the smokey, barbecue flavour of the chicken, which was a really succulent breast, and I asked for spicy chips too, these came coated in paprika and were really tasty. The salad had a vinaigrette dressing, and, as a fan of coleslaw, I can safely say this was lovely, nice and chunky American style.

Pete’s choice was a pasta dish. This was Meatball linguine, three 2.5oz all-beef meatballs tossed with linguine and a rich pomodoro sauce and served with lamb’s lettuce and a sprinkling of regato cheese. This had lots of strong flavours that melded together to make a really hearty dish, the meatballs were tender and appetizing. The pasta was cooked perfectly too.

Joe is a child who will always choose a roast if there is one on offer, and he went for the child’s beef dinner. This was a really good sized portion, and the beef was amongst the best I have tasted in a long time, so soft and tender the knife literally just touched it for it to fall apart. The meat was so delicious that we sent our compliments to the chef (Ant) because this was really delicious. Joe also loved the large Yorkshire pudding and mass of roast potatoes.

Joe was the only one who had any room left for a pudding and chose one from Little Miss Naughty’s collection, which came with vanilla ice cream, strawberry laces and mini smarties. This was a big hit.

I was really impressed with the whole Beefeater experience, the food was delicious, the service friendly and brisk, and the atmosphere relaxed. It was our first visit, but we will definitely be returning.