When I was contacted recently asking if I wanted to a review of a local Brewers Fayre restaurant I was shocked to find that we don’t have a local one anymore. Our closest one is at Lodmoor in Weymouth which I was really surprised about as there used to be loads locally.
We did agree to the review as the restaurant is positioned next door to Weymouth Sealife Centre so we took the kids there first to work up an appetite first.
This is the first time we have been to the Sealife Centre with Sebastian walking and he adored running up to the fish tanks and pressing his nose up against them to see what was inside. Of course the Penguins were his favourite, closely followed by the turtles.
As the rides were closed it only took us around an hour to get around the Sealife Centre so we headed in to Brewers Fayre just after 2pm. This was my first mistake as the restaurant was packed and I hadn’t booked a table. They couldn’t seat us for at least an hour but thankfully we had our Merlin passes so we headed off to do the Sealife Tower whilst we waited.
We walked straight onto the Sealife Tower and were the only people aboard our flight. It was quite windy and we could hear the wind howling around us as we rotated 165ft in the air above Weymouth taking in views of the Jurassic Coast, Nothe Fort, Portland and Weymouth Harbour. The kids loved pointing out the things they could see and Sebastian had no fear at all as he had his nose pressed against the window.
By the time we got off we had all built up an appetite so we headed back to Brewers Fayre. Thankfully we were seated almost immediately and the kids made their food order from the menu whilst Kian, Hubby and I all went for the carvery option.
I was a little disappointed that the kids weren’t offered a kids activity pack to help keep them occupied and our table had only been partially laid as we had knives but no forks so we had to go on a cutlery hunting mission, however their meals arrived within 5 minutes so they didn’t get too restless. Whilst they got stuck in we went to get our carvery which started with a delicious tomato soup option.
We had three choices of meat – Beef, Turkey and Gammon and could choose to have a slice of each if you wanted too. All were cooked to perfection and there was a good selection of vegetables on offer too although we were sad to see there were no roast parsnips.
This is where the meal unravelled a little. After the speed of the children’s’ meals coming out we expected fast service again however we waited for ages for our table to be cleared and the desserts to arrive. The kids were fidgety and bored by this time and weren’t allowed in the attached soft play area as a party was in progress. However, when the dessert finally arrived it was delicious.
Once the kids had finished their desserts the play area became free so we let them burn off some energy before the drive home. I do miss having soft play attached to pubs / restaurants locally as it gives the kids something to do, however it was tired and grubby and very apparent that despite having signs to say that children must be supervised – they weren’t so after a few near misses we decided to leave.
Our carvery meals were £9 per head for adults and £3.95 for children plus an extra £2 for dessert and the kids meals were £3.99 for two courses which was very reasonable. All the staff were very friendly but the addition of a kids activity pack, a laid table and more speedy service would have improved our experience.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a £50 voucher to review Brewers Fayre Lodmoor.
It’s a shame about the service, you really done want to be kept waiting especially with children, but the food looks lovely! x
There are so few pubs with soft play these days arent there, when Betsy was little there were loads of them – a shame it is looking tired these days tho – and parents leaving their kids to run riot drives me barmy! We have eaten there a couple of times, after Sea Life visits too, and it was pleasant enough if not so exciting that we would make a special trip from Dorchester just for that!
The delay in pudding coming can make or break you meal out where young kids are involved. SO many places fail to understand how fast a mal out with young kids needs to be!
What a shame to be kept waiting. That can be hard with little ones can’t it. Those mini donuts look a lot of fun though!
What a shame to be kept waiting. That can be hard with little ones can’t it. Those mini donuts look a lot of fun though!
I can’t believe there wasn’t one closer to you. They can get really busy especially at this time of year. We have just come back from ours and looking forward to go back again Monday for the Christmas disco 🙂
Such a shame you were kept waiting but the food looks amazing especially the dessert!! x
Shame you were kept waiting, food looks great though
It is a shame the service was a bit shoddy because the food looks amazing x
For me service is often everything. It is more important to me than the actually food.
That’s a shame you service wasn’t tip top, but glad the food was! I do love a carvery.
What a shame the service wasn’t all that. We went last week and a few things let down our experience too.
Love the views from the tower and thank goodness for those passes. We used to have some and I miss them. You meal looks excellent value though it sounds like a little attention to detail would make it amazing. I cringed reading about the soft play, I just gave ours a good clean today and know it is getting tired, it is on our to do list to build a new one but so hard to fund everything before it begins to show its age. I remember favouring restaurants with soft play myself, they do it so well abroad.
What a fun day! The views are amazing and so are the pics!
What a lovely sounding day, such a shame about the service for the meal though 🙁 x
I only recently discovered Brewer’s Fayre, and their play area was really impressive. Good food too.
That’s a shame about your service but the carvery does sound great. I know what you mean re soft plays – the kids definitely need to be supervised as it can get a bit crazy in there.
I’ve not been to a Brewer’s Fayre, the food looks good but a shame about the activity pack, our kids love them!
We haven’t been to a Brewers Fayre restaurant for ages. Activity packs for children have become a normal part of service for many places so it’s a shame they didn’t have them.