Dock Gate 4

I met some friends for lunch; once again we were impressed with their great value for money Lunch Menu, 2 courses for £13.50 especially as by making use of my Privilege Card - see Discount Directory for details - I got a 10% discount! Once again the food, service and ambience were very good. Their puds are £3.95, again very good value. Do see below the note about parking & we forgot to check if 2 for 1 vouchers are still available. (Just checked their site & they are are until end Nov 2007).

Cost £ £ £ £

To celebrate my Birthday I visited Dockgate 4 with 4 friends for lunch on Wednesday 27th June. We used the 2 4 1 (2 for the price of 1) lunchtime vouchers which have been available on their website for sometime now. If you wish to follow our example best check availability on their site. The 2 course lunch menu at £13.50 is excellent value even if you have to pay full price! It offers a great choice of 7 different starters, 9 main courses and 4 puddings. Please see our previous entry for full report on the venue and visit their website for further info on the menus and opening times.

We discovered that if you go into the restaurant and request a parking permit you may be lucky and get one of the 20 car spaces they have available. As parking around that area is not that easy this is well worth mentioning.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their lunch and wish to remind Privilege Card Holders that Dockgate 4 offer 10% discount off your bill, along with up to 3 guests, at lunch time Mondays to Thursdays (not on top of any other offers!). We agreed that for the excellent service, food and surroundings it is still worthy of it's 9/10.

Cost £ £ £ (with the use of the vouchers)

Yummy Factor 9/10

Report SM

Had a a great deal of trouble booking our lunch table for 5. When I first phoned I was told I had to leave my email for the December bookings coordinator to contact me. I heard nothing until I had phoned a further 3 times! I was so irritated that I was determined that Dock Gate 4 was not going to get a good report..... BUT as soon as we arrived we were so impressed with the beautiful surroundings, the excellent staff, ( they have a barman who's a mind reader, he has your drink waiting for you as you approach the bar to order, actually he just has very good hearing & can tune in to a discussion on what to order from 100yds!) & eventually the food, that I just relaxed & enjoyed our visit. However I would still strongly recommend booking especially for the evening.

You must look at the web site to read the history of the building which was the ballroom of the old South Western Hotel. The decor is lovely & I wish there were more pictures of the interior on the site. You will just have to visit for yourself to appreciate it. The Piano Bar downstairs looks like a very elegant evening destination. Also on the site are details of all the menus which saves me a load of typing!

I am relieved that none of us chose a starter as the main courses were very generous portions. Our choices were, Calves Liver & Bacon with mash & Onion Gravy ( the best I have ever had, the liver was like butter!), Traditional Roast Turkey with all the Trimmings, Five Bean Casserole with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Goats Cheese Crostini, Confit of Duck with Red Cabbage & Rosti Potatoes, & Wild Mushroom Stroganoff with Saffron Rice. Lots of ooos & aaaahhs as we all tasted each others, all very much enjoyed. We shared 2 puds, a Danish, Chocolate & Pecan Bread & Butter Pudding with Custard & a Ben & Jerry's Choc Chip Cookie Dough ice cream... both yummy. Followed by coffees & mini mince pies. Had various drinks at the bar & only one bottle of Pinot Grigio as all driving... unfortunately!

This was actually supposed to be a business lunch & I was being entertained by people I deal with through out the year, which made it all even more enjoyable, but I will have to guess that the approximate