Reviewed
Aug 03

The RA was one of those elusive places that I'd heard everyone talk about but had never actually experienced myself, on the misguided belief that leaving my confines of the city centre must signify a horribly long walk to find food.
How wrong! Only 15 minutes from Carfax and I found myself in a cosy, clean and fairly respectable looking pub, sat in a light and airy conservatory and chosing from what I have to admit is probably one of the most extensive and best priced menus I have seen in a pub, period.

The food was served very quickly, along with a generous side order of chips and garlic bread; and accompanied by a wonderfully reasonably oriced bottle of wine at only £5.80 a throw. The food, for its price, was excellent - ok so the ham in my Fiance's omelette was of the cubed, reformed variety and the garlic bread was literally a piece of toast spread with garlic butter, but the portions were enormous and sometimes the good old pub food with its wonderfully chunky chips is just what one fancies, especially as the purse strings are tightening. Looking across at other tables I saw a very appetising curry equipped with 2 huge popadoms, and a respectably sized pie which all seemed to be eaten without complaint, so cant have been too undesirable!

Im afraid that with our underestimate of portion sizes, we failed to order dessert, but a menu of cheesecake, icecream and various hot puds all at around £3 means that next time I'll go easier on the chips and see if I can enjoy some good ol' English Pud with custard too.

Alison Hook