Toby Carvery

I was staying at the Hilton down the road, and so to avoid pay hotel prices for dinner I came down here two nights in a row. The experience was much the same both nights — by that I mean that the waiting staff were polite and generally excellent. It was a delight to hear their interactions with families seated nearby — as a solo diner I just wanted to eat and leave!
The place is cheap (food wise) — for example, unlimited sodas, a self service plate of roast and a tip all came to £10 for a single diner. The roast plate itself is £5.99, an absolute steal when you consider that the only thing that you’re being restricted on is the number of yorkshire puddings (1 — but a very large 1) and the volume of meat is at the whim of the guy carving it behind the station. Then all the veg etc, you put on your late yourself — and you can pile it on.
A couple of the highlights — the gammon is fabulous, basted in honey — it’s just very succulent. The self service stuffing is so like Stove Top stuffing from the US that it isn’t funny. I could eat a whole plate of the stuff with gravy poured on top. Oh, and if you think for a second that you’re actually hungrier than that, then for an extra £1.50, you get given a large platter instead of a plate. Then you get an extra yorkie, double the meat and a couple of sausages to see you on your way. As well of course as the extra room to put even more veg on the plate.
That being said, I failed to have pudding both nights because I was so full from the meal. I don’t usually go in for roasts having been force fed them every Sunday as a child, but Toby Carvery does them very well — I was dreading going in the second night because I didn’t want to have the same thing again but after tasting the plate of gravy soaked turkey and gammon, I was in heaven. Oh, and another thing — the gravy soaked onions are simply fab.
While many of these remarks might be general about the chain, this particular premises is a nice sized building with a bar and eating area that feels separate. The staff are first class. Frankly if I lived within travelling distance of here, then I would be a regular as they’ve managed to recharge my love for roast dinners. They say that Toby Carvery is the home of the roast — this place is.