Idlewild

Food is consistently very good, as are cocktails and ambience. Service is consistently slow, though (even if friendly).

I met a friend on the way to Idlewild who had been before and complained to me that this was not a good choice of venue for our group of friends to meet in due to unpleasant staff and bad value for money – well, had we not been happy we would not have stuck around.

The bar service was nothing to be complained about, the bartenders were friendly and obliging.

In fact we stayed so much later than planned that when it started to get busy the manager (I think) who had checked we were happy earlier in our visit gave us our own sectioned seating area.

We came across something like 2 faulty glasses (dirty, chipped) on our visit and we were apologised to immediately upon receiving fresh drinks. – You can't do more than that!

Maybe it was not so welcoming in 2008 but there has definitely been vast improvements since then.

Idlewild has a fantastic menu. Usually when I find a favourite eating-spot with such beautiful interior and friendly staff I find myself ordering the same or similar dish on every visit.

It is impossible to do this at Idlewild, especially if you are a big fan of traditional English food like me.

Everytime I go I see a waiter bring out another scrumptious looking dish and before I know it I'm booking a table and planning another get-together so I can return to try it.

I would not recommend going during peak-service hours without a reservation. I have seen people wait for over an hour at the bar for a table.