A happy happy hour (or three) at Turtle Bay

At work, I sit next to our events manager extraordinaire, Natasha. During the course of an average working day, we’ll very often put the worlds to rights (while working hard of course – we’re first class multi-taskers) and our conversations will wander all over the place. But one thing they always come back to is food. We both like our food. Lots.

So when I was invited to review Turtle Bay’s new menu, the first major menu change they’ve introduced since the restaurant chain arrived in Bristol, I had to invite Natasha along to test it out with me. OK, so my husband was a little bit grumpy when he found out, but he’s reviewed so many places and products with me, I really don’t think he has too much cause for complaint.

We decided to put the new Turtle Bay menu through its paces at the Cheltenham Road restaurant, which opened last summer, and we had a brilliant night. But isn’t that to be expected at Turtle Bay? Well known for its delicious 2-4-1 cocktails (daily until 7pm and then from 10pm til close), reggae beats and sparkly staff, it has a reputation as the place to party. Continue reading “A happy happy hour (or three) at Turtle Bay”

Eating out: Turtle Bay

I have to admit to being slightly surprised when the Caribbean chain Turtle Bay invited my family and me to review their new Bristol restaurant, which has recently opened on Cheltenham Road. Having been to the launch event a few weeks back, I know it’s got a strong reputation for being party central and when I asked friends at work about it, all everyone talked about were the great cocktails.

Turtle Bay Collage

But since I was told that Turtle Bay is also very popular with families and since we love eating out with the kids, especially when there’s spicy food and good tunes on offer, well… we just had to give it a go. Continue reading “Eating out: Turtle Bay”

Eating out: The Milking Parlour

It’s not all that often I get the chance to dine at beautiful country house hotels. It’s usually only very special occasions these days – significant birthdays and anniversaries, big family gatherings, that kind of thing. But the very next opportunity we have to put on our glad rags for a smart night out, I’ll be suggesting a visit to the Milking Parlour at the Old Manor Hotel, near Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire.

Continue reading “Eating out: The Milking Parlour”