"There is a good tradition of love and hate; stayin' by the fireside.." Hey Tanita Tikaram, your lyrics just about sum up my experience of The Bridge Inn. Well, hate is a rather strong word in this instance, but otherwise, these lyrics are perfect! Our first visit was true love - we didn't want a big lunch (although it was Sunday, and the Roast Pork was tempting the SR); so settled for a couple of cheeky lemonades and a snack. For the boy, this was a mightily packed chicken and bacon sandwich with shoestring fries; for me it was (what I thought was a salad) roast vegetables, ciabatta and beetroot hummous. Well, the sandwich paled into insignificance to my vegetable sharing platter (not a salad, as it turned out) - a pile of warm, grilled vegetables, sliced and toasted mini ciabatta and a pot of the purpl-iest hummous I have ever seen. Melt in the mouth too, the beetroot serving as a gently earthy undertone to the traditional chickpea and garlic mix. I had assumed I would just snack a little bit on the hummous... when in reality, I wolfed every single bit down. Having had such a good meal, we returned with my parents a few weeks later. I had, at my first visit, noted that there wasn't a massive non-meat selection, but had forgotton this in my post-hummous comedown (2 of said options contained egg, which I'm not a fan of, so narrowed my options further). When we got to the restaurant and saw the menu, I remembered. While my parents and the SR tucked into steak pie of gigantic proportions, and my mother into a beautifully presented trio of lamb, I had a rather more forlorn looking bowl of chickpea curry, with not even a garnish to cheer it up. To say, it tasted of disappointment and I secretly wished I'd ordered the vegetable platter again. One side note: the restaurant is popular, and as a result, can be extremely loud - we struggled to hear each other talk, making the Silent Reviewer even more silent than he normally is. I left a comment card at the end, as I felt so disappointed and it seemed to me that there was a significant difference in the meat and non meat based options, in presentation and flavour. The owners called my mother back (I'd left her name, rather than mine, as I know she would return for the roast) and followed up on my criticisms. And that, my friends, is how you get a 4th star - food is good, but customer service can create memories for far longer. If we return, I hope that feedback turns into action.
Choose: was this review given positively or negatively?

1). negative
2). positive
2).