Tahlula and I thought we'd head to The Orange Tree on High Street because we've usually had good experiences there and it's great for some comfort food. We walked in at around 12.30 pm and it was surprisingly quiet so we ordered our diet cokes and grabbed a table. Now, Tahlula and I may not know much but we do know our diet coke - and this cannot possibly have been the real deal. It tasted much sweeter in a sickly way and must have been another brand of cola disguising itself as our beloved DC.
Anyway, on to the food... Tahlula knew straight away that she wanted to go for the Tuna Melt (this comes in small or large or in other words 1 slice or 2. She went for the 2) and after much deliberation I decided to go for the Sandwich of the Day - Steak, Mushroom and Stilton! We decided that as it was Valentine's Day we may as well treat ourselves to a bowl of chips to share too - it'd be rude not to.
So off I went to the bar to order the food - 1 large tuna melt, 1 sandwich of the day on granary bread and 1 large bowl of chips please. I was pretty content with my order until I was challenged by the girl behind the bar, "are you very hungry?", somewhat taken aback I replied "well yes, quite, I'm hungover, so yes", still bemused and suddenly feeling very self conscious that I look like a fat greedy muncher she replied "well... the large chips is really quite large, and if one of you is having a... LARGE tuna melt then it might be too much. But if you're really reeally hungry..?" Yes yes I am really hungry, please just take my order, bring me my food and stop making me feel fat. Thanks.
So before we'd even got our food we decided that we couldn't possibly now order dessert or we'd look like heiffers, so we just settled down in anticipation of the food. In the girl's defence when it came out the chip portion was rather large, but that's by the by.
The tuna melt looked incredible and I had instant food envy upon seeing it. It consisted of 2 rounds of toast covered in a tuna and onion mayo and then quite literally smothered in cheese. You could by no means grumble at the portion size - I'm not sure why it's listed under light bites. I was sat salivating across the table so Tahlula gave me a piece to try. It was absolutely delicious, just the right amount of onion so as not to overpower the tuna, and it wasn't too heavy on the mayo. The cheese on top complimented it really well. Oh and here's what it looked like...
So, then came my sandwich du jour! Now, 3 of my favourite things in the world are steak, mushrooms and cheese so I was pretty excited at the prospect of lunch. When it came out I was mildly disappointed (but not hugely). Firstly, I always prefer to be asked how I like my steak to be cooked because I'm a big fan of rare meat, but they never asked me. Secondly it was a little on the dry side. I'd chosen granary bread but it wasn't spread at all and the stilton was far too sparse to moisten up the whole thing, so I ended up having to spread some mayo over it to compensate. The mushrooms were lovely, but on the whole I think a few more mushrooms and a little more stilton wouldn't have gone amiss. The meat was pleasant and quite tender, but if anything a little overcooked. I wouldn't complain about it, but I wouldn't order it again. I'd say if you're after a very simple steak sandwich then go for it, but don't expect fireworks.
In case you were wondering about just how big the chips were, here they are.... I must say though that I am a big fan of the Orange Tree chips. They're chunky but not too much and they always taste quite fresh. You also have a choice of dips and we went for mayo and bbq (can't go wrong). I'd say this is a fair old portion - we did have to leave in order to stop ourselves eating the entire bowl.
As I said we were far too embarrassed (and, to be fair, too full) to order dessert so that will have to wait for another day. Although the menu options of belgian waffles, New York white chocolate fudge cheesecake and bread and butter pudding do sound ridiculously good! Another time, another time!
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