Living in Berkshire has many perks, one of them being the abundance of gorgeous country pubs and restaurants on our doorstep. The Warren has been a firm family favourite of ours for many years, and we also love it’s sister, The Belvedere Arms in Sunninghill. As lovely as The Warren is, it was due a little tidy up and lo and behold thats exactly what they did with the place. I was invited along to take a look at the stunning new refurbishment just a few days before doors re-opended to guests a few weekends ago.
The makeover includes an expansion of the restaurant, dining and bar area, as well as plans to expand the outdoor garden area, with talks of an orangery!
I loved the new interior and the updated bar area is a great place to grab a casual drink with friends, or to enjoy a pre dinner drink at. We had a few delicious nibbles and some cocktails to start with in the bar area before being seated in the newly updated dining area.
I love the feel of the new dining area, it is very warm and comfortable and I adore the furnishings!
Now onto the food! To start I had the Sweet Chilli King Prawn Roll (£6.75) – a gorgeous roll with julienne vegetables, chilli and coriander, wrapped in rice paper, with a sweet chilli & soy dipping sauce. My only issue with this lovely, fresh and light starter is that the heat level of the chilli was not stated anywhere and it had the word ‘sweet chilli’ in the name. However this was NOT a sweet chilli roll at all, it was a hot hot hot chilli roll. And unfortunately after I had picked the prawns out I couldn’t eat much else of it because it was so so spicy! As keen scallop lovers, my parents both had the Scallops Of The Day (£5.25), which they LOVED. The portions were super generous and a really lovely treat. I love eating out as it allows you to go for dishes that you wouldn’t normally go for at home, and makes the meal a proper treat.
For mains I went for my classic The Warren favourite, the Wholefood Salad (£9.95) with extra halloumi. Because you can’t go wrong with added halloumi ever. I love this salad as it combines Kale & cauliflower couscous, asparagus, Tenderstem broccoli, avocado, butternut squash, sweet potato, pomegranate and roasted pumpkin seeds with a pineapple ,lemongrass & ginger dressing. It’s super light, filling and delicious, and leaves just about enough room for a good pudding too. My parents both went for steaks and thoroughly enjoyed the generous size and quantity and the quality of the steak, both cooked to medium-rare perfection.
For dessert I squeezed in a Sticky Toffee Pudding (£6.50) and a cheeky little Espresso Martini (£7.95) because I love a cocktail. Both were delicious, and I always appreciate a restaurant that offers a nut free sticky toffee pudding. Due to my nut allergy I have to be extra cautious with sneaky desserts but this one was a Sophie friendly option! My mum went for the Pineapple Tart Tatin (£7.25) for pudding and was a little dissapointed as the pastry was so soggy it was practically inedible. But the tasty topping and coconut milk sorbet almost made up for it.
Overall we had a lovely visit back to The Warren to check out the gorgeous new refurb and I can’t wait to visit again soon. I love that blogging brings me many fun and special opportunities, but the ones where I can share experiences like reviewing restaurants with my family are easily my favourite type of blog event!
Sophie x