I just realised that I completely
forgot to write a review on a dinner Damien and I shared in Frankie and
Benny’s. To be honest, it probably has something to do with the fact that I was
not overly impressed.
I remember that night, we both badly
wanted to get out of the flat and at the same time we really needed something
cheap and cheerful. That’s exactly how we ended up in Frankie and Benny’s on a
very busy pre-Christmas night.
I have to say that I was fairly
impressed by the little wait despite the restaurant being absolutely packed.
Damien and I were both ravenous and
ready to give up if there was going to be too much of a queue but we barely
waited 15 minutes and had time to order a bottle of wine before being directed
to our table. That was some amazingly efficient service!
At Frankie and Benny’s, everything is
some sort of comfort food, either inspired of American classics that you would
get in a traditional diner or rich, simple Italian dishes such as oven pasta in
creamy sauces.
Burgers seemed to be a good option,
perfect to satisfy our hearty appetite without presenting too much risk of
disappointment. After all, what can really go wrong with a burger? Well to
start with, even for people like me that tend to be a bit specific about red
meat, a dried out-no-juice-left patty is not so much fun to chew on! Let’s be
fair though, except from the buns that came straight out of a packet, the rest of
the burger was not too bad. A generous number of bacon crispy stripes topped
the melting cheese and a lovely béarnaise complemented it all and kind of
compensated the dryness of the patty.
As for the fries, congratulations to the
chef, I couldn’t say if they were homemade and they were probably not but they
were skinny and cooked to the perfection, providing that amazingly satisfying
crunch at each bite! Yum!
After that, I still had cravings for
something sweet, as per usual. So, after a quick look at the menu I chose the
banoffee brownie while Damien ordered the salt caramel cheesecake. If I had
been truly honest with myself I shouldn’t have had high expectations really.
Well, the brownie was awful, I mean dry, crumbly, cardboard style looking and
covered with banana slices and bottled caramel sauce: massive disappointment on
my behalf obviously.
As for Damien, not being as difficult as I am, he ate away
his cheesecake without excessive enthusiasm and concluded that his dessert as
well, was industrial.
Our dinner was certainly cheap; you can’t
beat 11.95 for a main course and dessert. The wine was not too bad either and the
place was packed and buzzing, which is always nice when you go out. I won’t be
back any time soon but I won’t say it didn’t do the trick for a non-pretentious
non-expensive night out either.
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