Windsor Grill, Windsor

Overall, Windsor Grill (http://www.awtrestaurants.com/windsor/) is a good place - the service is friendly and efficient, the food is pretty good and it doesn't really just feel that Antony Worrall Thompson is just trading on his name..although with branded cutlery and more AWT references on the menu than I could be bothered to count, it plays a fairly prominent role. The website claims that this and the other restaurants in the group offer "real food for real people, no pompous surroundings, no fuss, just excellent quality traditional food in a relaxed and enjoyable way" and I'd say that's pretty true. It's a nice environment and does a good job of not being pretentious - the bar is friendly for pre-dinner drinks and jeans were perfectly acceptable attire. I've visited on a number of occasions and have also been to Kew Grill in Richmond (http://www.awtrestaurants.com/kewgrill/), but much prefer Windsor for its relaxed yet smart feel.

This foodie adventure was for McFoodie's work dinner club, and eight of us ate in the private dining room, which was a generally pleasant experience. The room was well-decorated and great for a group that doesn't want to keep the volume too low. However, it could have benefited from a little air and a better music system - we plugged our own iPod into a not very good dock to provide some atmosphere.

Nobody in our group ordered a starter and I was impressed that the staff didn't look down on this when we were making use of the private dining room. Bread and olives were delivered swiftly to the table (more on that later) and our orders were taken efficiently. Several people in our group opted for fillet steak with one of the several sauces on offer, and this seemed to be a good choice although one person found that their sauce was cold. McFoodie opted for one of the specialities - Antony's own roast middle white suckling pig, sage and onion stuffing and apple and chilli jelly, and was very impressed - he loved the stuffing and the jelly. The mouthful I tried was certainly very good, with excellent crackling, although I'd say that for £18.95, being charged an extra £3.25 for fries was a bit cheeky. I opted for one of the daily specials - medallions of rump steak with rosemary and parmesan potatoes and pepperonata, which was lovely. Another person ordered the daily special of halibut - a mammoth chunk of fish! The dessert menu was greeted with open arms, albeit alongside already-full stomachs - McFoodie had sticky toffee pudding with ginger ice cream and liked it a lot, while my pecan pie was nice but the cinnamon ice cream that came with it was very grainy and not so pleasant. Elsewhere on the table, the creme brulee seemed to be enjoyed but the chocolate tasting plate was disappointing and lacked flavour. There was also a good choice of wines - we opted for an enjoyable Montes sauvignon blanc from Chile - and jugs of water were delivered with great efficiency.

Overall this was a good experience - my only significant criticism is that everything comes at a price. Very few of the dishes on the extensive menu came with any potatoes or vegetables and I can't help thinking that if bread is brought to you with no prompting, charging for it is a bit cheeky. If I order something, I have no issue with paying for it, but if I don't, I assume that I won't see it on the bill, so I ended up in a bit of grump at the approach taken here...it wasn't even great bread!. Had the service not been good, I'd perhaps not have paid the 12.5% service charge added to the bill - but as the website states that this is distributed to all staff, I'm glad I didn't do that. The bottom line is that for meat eaters in particular, Windsor Grill is a good experience, but with Mr Worral Thompson clearly facing some economic challenges, having recently closed four of his restaurants, he shouldn't rest on his laurels. The current concerns regarding the economy have led to restaurants at either end of the gastronomical spectrum to be far more aware of what diners are looking for, but this one seems to be living in blissful ignorance and doing all it can to keep the coffers full. There are other restaurants in the area that are just as good as this - if not better - and which feel a bit less commercial. Having visited several times when someone else was picking up the bill, I think it felt more special then!