Looking through the menu, the prices didn't look too bad. Not Spur, but we were looking for something other than Spur anyway. The only thing was that the website didn't specify that they had a smoking section, so my wife phoned to ask them. They did. We booked.
It's a delightful place, with a children's play area, and a red carpet rolls out to greet you. The interior of the place was pretty dark, and with my night-blindness I held onto my wife as she guided me to the smoking section. The smoking section is really bright! Plate glass windows all around, for a perfect atmosphere in the middle of the day (I think that too might be a little dark at night, though, as there are only down-lights embedded in the ceiling, and a few wall lights here and there). It's very close to the airport, and so we lost count of the number of planes we spotted coming in for landing, so low it felt like we could reach out and touch them! My wife and I had endless fun trying to identify airliners by the colours on their tail fins.
We were served by a pleasant man called Cleo (I'm not sure if I'm spelling that right). He was very professional--there when you needed him, but unseen when you didn't. My biggest pet-peeve are waiters who are in your face every five minutes asking if everything's alright, specially while you're eating. If I have a problem, I'll call you, dammit!
The food wasn't bad. I'm pretty sure that "The House of Ribs" is supposed to be known for their ribs, but we weren't in the mood. We each had a 500g rump and chips. We asked for our steaks "well done". To be honest, I've grown accustomed to food coming more "medium-well" than "well-done" when I ask for "well-done", but these chefs know what "well-done" means (Here's a clue: it does not mean "burnt")! I was pleasantly surprised. The sauce was unique; my wife said it was the rosemary. I can't remember ever having rosemary before. It was a nice change, but it thankfully ended before it got too much. The spices on the chips were very nice. Not too spicy at all (I don't like spicy food).
Cheesecake for desert. It was served in a sundae glass, which I found quite strange. The highlight was the fresh cherry (with stem) it was topped with, and the cream on the top was very nice. The cheesecake itself was quite bland, but I don't think this place is really revered for its desserts anyway.
The bill came, and I was quite happy to give Cleo his full 10%... except that only after I wrote my tip amount onto the bill did I notice that they had already included a 10% "service charge". For two people?! OK, but it's not Cleo's fault, and I'd already settled on the amount I was going to give him anyway, so it wasn't like I was losing money.
The bottom line? A pretty decent place, prices a bit over average (for what we're used to anyway), and interesting food. I think we'll be going there again!
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