Rotisserie Smart & Jolly

Best Features: FOODCrusty brown HOT bread so the butter melts on it. (I know, not as healthy as the carrots at Fellini up the road.)Lemon in your waterglass. Two course set menu. (Also a la carte.)STARTERSSoup of the day was cream of spinach or carrot and swede.I liked the gravad lax starter. If you've never had it before, it's like smoked salmon. It covers the plate and is thick. With the usual tasty sauce which looks like mustard with teeny green pieces which must be dill. You might find it on the deli counter in your supermarket and be able to check the ingredients and the most common country of origin. Good.Chicken livers was great and came with greenery. By the time we'd filled up on brown bread and butter and the starter we were too full for the huge main course.MAIN COURSEChicken - generous portion, two large pieces. Choice of peri peri (spicy) or plain corn-fed chicken. I hate spicy - last night I ate barbecued ribs with spicy sauce and something else spicy from Morrisons and it felt like a sewing machine had run up and down the inside of my mouth. So in Rotisserie I chose the plain chicken. Do I care that their plain chicken is corn-fed? I'm more interested in what food tastes like at my end of the food chain than whether what I'm eating enjoyed its lunch. From the point of view of health and diet, I suppose corn fed is a lot better than ground up diseased meat which is what caused the BSE disaster. Okay, so I prefer corn-fed. The chicken was okay. Not dried up. Not as moist as chicken casserole. But okay. Venison.Shellfish which I can't eat but I've seen it suspended from an amazing contraption on other people's plates.VEGETABLESI'd avoided the restaurant for a year because they charged extra for vegetables. Mange tout for one was enough for three of us. Chicken came with finely sliced chips.Chips were good - huge bowl.Lamb came with mashed potato.DESSERTSGreat desserts too. Fruit salad very fresh contained seven or eight items: strawberry, apple, grape, blueberry, melon, pineapple, mint.AMBIENCESo busy and noisy you can have a private chat without being overheard.Upmarket and smart. Big heavy metal menus.Black decor, tables and mirrors. White cloth napkins. Candles. Banquettes on one side. Tiny tables for two the other side and by the front window. Tables for four in centre. Well-dressed crowd.ServiceOn one of my three or four previous visits in 2008 I said, 'Serving staff all highly efficient seem to know what they are doing. One of them smiles.' On a return visit in May 2009 I felt the service was unwelcoming. They forgot the kir we ordered. They asked if the food was okay. Can't help thinking of the American sign, 'Smile at the customers. They are paying your wages.'Closed earlier in the week but by Wednesday it's pretty busy. Friday and Saturday you need to book. Sunday night busy and lively.When I asked for leftovers to be wrapped in 2008 they used tinfoil. Take a plastic bag to wrap this. Last time a restaurant gave me tinfoil I put it in my handbag and a ballpoint pen pierced it. Yuk. In 2009 they gave me a foil dish with a lid.Any negatives? Closes a bit early for my liking. Pineapple juice from a carton we were told did not thrill us. Would have liked fresh juice. A few more smiles from the staff would be welcome. And in winter sit away from the draughty door. They should have two doors or an inner curtain. In summer the tables near the front where the picture windows are open get traffic noise. Also it's light until gone eight pm so not romantic nor sophisticated as it is in winter.Price: The bill for three in April 2008 was about £100 including two glasses of wine, two soft drinks, three starters, three main courses, one vegetable, one dessert, three coffees. The bill for two two-course set meals and two drinks (one was a kir) came to about £45 in May 2009.www.therotisserie.co.ukSee their menu on line and sign up for offers.

A User - 07/12/2007 | report this review