Frankie and Benny's have a new Specials Menu where diners can select two courses for £10.95 (a third course can be included for an extra £2.25) Drinks are not included in the Specials Menu and a fizzy drink costs £2.55. The offer is available all day Sunday to Friday.
As a family of vegetarians, I was pleased to be see not one, but two veggie options in both the starters and the main course options. We were looking forward to sampling them when we were sent to test out the Specials Menu!
Our closest F & B's is about 20 miles away from home in Telford. The menu was well advertised both indoors and out, and the sound of old rock n roll songs being played over the loud speaker got us well in the mood! We really like the layout and decor of Frankie and Benny's with its New York Italian styling. We were greeted at the door and escorted to a comfortable booth where we were given the menus to look through.
Our orders were taken and the starters arrived very promptly. The Cajun Blue Cheese Mushroom Crostini looked good. A good portion of creamy mushrooms was heaped on two slices of garlic ciabatta bread. My only criticism was that by the time it reached the table the bread under the mushrooms was really soggy. Other than that it was a tasty and well conceived starter.
The Warm Dough Sticks with Philly Cheese Dip consisted of four large freshly baked dough sticks and a pot of spicy cheese sauce. I really liked this starter as the dough sticks were perfectly cooked and still warm. The cheese sauce complemented them well but you couldn't eat too much of it as it was so intensely flavoured.
For the main course, we sampled the Cajun Mushroom Pizza. The thin base was topped with a handful of spiced sauteed mushrooms, chopped red onion and tomato bruschetta mix and a drizzle of philly cheese sauce. It was a good pizza and I enjoyed the mix of toppings. However it was basically the same as the children's margherita pizza except with the toppings added on top. Given that the kids' pizza comes with a dessert and a full size drink and costs just £3.95, it would be nice to add a side dish to the adult's pizza to justify the huge difference in price.
The Veggie Gnocchi Bake was a bowl of gnocchi tossed in Neapolitan tomato sauce, red onion and green chillies, topped with Mozarella and glazed in the oven. The gnocchi itself was incredibly filling. I feel it could have done with a bit more sauce to make it more palatable and less heavy to eat. The tomato sauce tasted nice and the red onion was crunchy and added texture. It had hardly any cheese on top which was a shame. It had a sprinkling rather than a topping. It was almost a nice dish, but was just too dense and was a bit of a struggle to eat. A higher sauce to gnocchi ratio would have definitely helped.
Our meal that consisted of the above two specials meals of two courses and two glasses of fizzy drinks cost £27.00. We were two full for pudding but could have added a cheesecake, waffle, brownie or crumble for an extra £2.25 each, which is great value.
The service we received was attentive, friendly, speedy and efficient. The surroundings are attractive and well maintained and the atmosphere is fun and relaxed with the added bonus of a great soundtrack. The food was mostly pretty good and I was glad to have some new and different vegetarian choices to choose from on the Specials Menu.
Find out more at www.frankieandbennys.com