British Pub With an Interesting Twist - review added on Fri 25th May 2001

Having read the review by Jim (see link to Jim's York Pub Guide) I was a bit sceptical of this place. However, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.I went with my parents for a 17th celebration meal (ie it was my 17th birthday), which was to be followed by a trip to the theatre afterwards. The Slug and Lettuce was one of the few restaurants in York serving evening meals at 5pm, so we decided to go there. The place has two entrances - and inside is huge - it has a capacity of around 250. The atmosphere is very contemporary - off-white walls and furniture that was half rustic, half Ikea in style, with modern-art pictures on the wall. While we could have opted for their big comfy sofas, we decided to sit at a more rustic (though slightly wobbly) table since we were having a meal. Drinks were first - there was a full bar complete with a friendly, well-dressed though slightly intimidating barman who could have been no more than 25 years old. We then sat at the table, and made decisions about what to have. The menu was typical of a pub, but with added twists (for example, bangers and mash with cajun sauce and Guinness). My mother and I went for mussels and red peppers with tagliatelle (a daily special) whereas my father opted for breadcrumbed chicken and chips (no doubt with some posh sauce).So we waited. And waited. And finally, a whole half an hour later, our food arrived, though fortunately it was almost worth the wait. Presentation was good - you got the typical huge contemporary cream plates with a collection of mussels mixed in with the tagliatelle and a couple of red peppers strewn on top. Taste wise it was a little bland - the sauce could have been stronger though I guess the peppers were meant to provide the extra strength, but the mussels tasted fine - I've had better but I've also had much worse.My parents both had digestive problems (not caused by the restaurant, I add), so while my mother was able to finish her main course, my father found that his portion of chips was rather too generous for someone who'd spent the day in bed with an upset stomach. So, I mucked in. The chips had obviously been freshly cooked (how else would they take half an hour) and tasted okay, though even I can make better chips than that. But they weren't bad, and at least they were cooked to order.I then opted for a dessert - chocolate orange pudding, this time on the menu. It arrived 5 minutes later (not bad...) as a black (yes - black) lump in the middle of a huge plate, accompanied by a small amount of vanilla ice cream. The fact that it was black meant that it was dark chocolate (yum) and that it was probably made with real chocolate and not some manufactured powder. It certainly didn't taste like powdered chocolate either - coming from York I have lived off Terry's Chocolate Orange for years and this definitely met my expectations. Topped by a (black) chocolate sauce, this made a very nice dessert.The bill came to just under £30 for the three of us, including 3 main courses, 1 desert and 5 drinks, so for value I'd say this wasn't bad. Overall, I would recommend this place, since it's cool, calm and serves reasonable food - you don't get this at McDonalds, that's for sure.

Overall:	6
Food:	6
Service:	8
Ambiance:	8

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