Review: Giraffe

So, a new branch of this wonderful chain has now arrived in Bath! It is in the shiny new Southgate area, opposite the bus station. I like what they’ve done with the place actually- the décor wasn’t atall like the one I went to in Horsham, which was all quite colourful and plastic-y. It’s nice and dark and atmospheric, and based on two levels, so it’s quite a big place. They had this cool opening 50% off food offer going on, so me and my brother decided to take our mum out for dinner there (as our “mother’s day gift” to her was for us to take her for a meal at some point).

So we got a few cokes and sat down. Waitresses fairly chatty and friendly. I really like the menu as well- it isn’t MASSIVE, but it seems to have something for everyone. Not too bad for vegetarians either. For starters, I had the “hummus, baba ganoush, and mixed olive sharing platter” to share with mum. This was soooo gorgeous! Was very impressed with the baba ganoush as well, often restaurants get it wrong and it ends up tasting far too smoky, but it had quite a traditional flavour. The breads that were served with it, toasted bits of focaccia and pita bread, were hot and super tasty as well. This was the best bit of the meal definitely; I really recommend their sharing platters. Michael had the chicken potstickers with soy chilli dip. I had these last time I went to Giraffe, and ehhhh, they’re not that amazing to be honest. Fairly average I would say.

For mains I had the “Rodeo Chicken Burger”, which was very tasty. It is basically a tasty piece of grilled chicken, with cheese, fried mushrooms, barbeque sauce, and an onion ring, served with skin-on chips. I was slightly annoyed that I had asked for it without mayonnaise and not only did it still have mayonnaise on it, it seemed to have LOADS. I wonder if the kitchen though “no” was “extra”, lol! I ate it anyway, but I thought that was a bit crap, cause eating too much egg products can make me a little ill. And the chips could have been a little hotter- they were kinda lukewarm. But, despite all of this, it was a verrrry tasty burger! Their onion rings are fab as well, I recommend ordering a side dish of them. Mum had the “Falafel Deluxe” Burger, which looked very nice, as did Michael’s Parmesan Chicken Schnitzel with mash and salad. I think the portions are the perfect size as well actually, not too small or big.

So after all this, we got the bill, and of course due to the 50% off the food thing it was very reasonable. The normal bill without discounts would have been £52.70, which for 3 starters, mains and a drink each, is around average I would say. Our bill came to £29.70, result! Mind you, one last comment on the bill. We waited for a fairly long time for this bill, and when it got there I noticed the 10% service had already been added to the bill. I found out that this is a company policy- they do it with all meals. But I happen to think that this policy is a little bad really, as I consider service/ a tip as an optional device. It shouldn’t be forced on you atall, I’m not saying I’m a stingy non-tipper here- but if the service has been inadequate, then I honestly DON’T TIP. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does I think I should have to right to not tip them.

So, I would give the service at a 8/10, and the food 8/10, giving it (obviously!) an average score of 8! They gave me a 2 for 1 main meal voucher, so will definitely be bringing Nick there some time in the next couple of weeks.