Eating No need to be shellfish with prawn starter

HEADING out for a midweek tea with a chum who was visiting from abroad, I decided to take her to somewhere I’ve enjoyed tasty food in the past.

Hence we rocked up at the West House at around 5pm and were given our choice of seats.

The serving staff were over in a flash with the menus and taking our drinks order.

As I said, it was a midweek teatime so obviously there was nothing for it other than to order a bottle of rose – well, I haven’t seen her for six years!

The wine – a Pingo Grigio blush (£19) was brought in a cool bucket and was very light and refreshing.

I’d noticed our table was a wee bit sticky and when I pointed this out, it was taken care of immediately with a polite apology.

The menu has a large range of starters and sharers, sandwiches, ciabattas or flatbreads, salads, pizza and pasta. All the food I like.

We decided to share two starters – the king prawn skewers, with a sweet chilli dip (£6.45) and the chorizo and red pepper pot served with garlic ciabatta (£5.95). I was also quite taken by the option of halloumi, tomato and red pepper skewers and the hummas (both £5.45). Indeed I could probably just eat my way down the starter options as they all sounded delicious.

For mains I, finally, chose pollo penne (chicken pasta for £8.95) while my friend had a Caesar salad with added pancetta (£9.95). I don’t think of Caesar salad as being a main course dish, but she assured me it was and it was worth having.

The bar is more bistro style I’d say. All white walls and tiling with wooden flooring with some high tables and more standard size ones. It’s quite spacious and with big windows it gives a light and airy feeling.

I remember (vaguely!) this building as the Ascot Bar and light and airy isn’t what springs to mind at all, though at night time this bar darkens itself down and is frequently packed to the gunnels. It has a nice cocktail list as well as a range of traditional drinks.

The starters arrived and, as we were sharing, we were delighted to see two skewers with five prawns