The White Tower Restaurant, Ocean Boulevard, Blackpool
Part of the Pleasure Beach complex, this Art Deco building has a fine view out along the length of the promenade towards the tower. Some attractive details of this style survive inside the restaurant, like the ocean-liner sweep of the stainless steel facia on the kitchen doors, designed no doubt to protect them against the wear otherwise caused by waiters constantly pushing against them. Our visit was on the last night of the illuminations and the multi-coloured sparkle below us was enhanced by the blurr created by the weather-beaten window glass into the Blackpool Hallucinations.
Hors d'Ouevres. I started with the CAESAR SALAD! A finely crafted "small but perfectly-formed" treat with all the right ingredients - though the anchovies here, as often, were present in the form of anchovy flavour in the sauce. Apart from that there were crispy salad leaves, scrumptious croutons that crumbled flakily (instead of shooting off your plate rather than succumbing to your fork) and small slivers of chicken. I can't claim it was good value for money but it was a good salad.
Entrees. I went for the Steak in Ale. A treat of tender braised steak atop mashed potato/spring onion mix ("champ" in Northern Ireland) and itself topped with finely shredded white cabbage. Lashings of good gravy and good-sized portions.
Dessert. I went for the three cheeses. A Camembert, a good white Lancashire and a good creamy blue veined one I couldn't name (my fault, not chef's). They were straight from the fridge and this was a minus point. Served with an adequate supply of cheese biscuits and a few grapes - one of which was slightly over-ripe and would not have been on my table at home (attention to detail chef).
Wine. A deep Sicilian red (sorry, can't tell you more) of adequate quality with strong berry flavours and a good length.
Price. Special offer of £20 for two including on bottle of wine. Can't be carped at. This didn't include the dessert, which was about £3.50 extra. Of course, with five of us hard at it covering quizzes from the 60's and the current flow of skills into the labour market (or was it PJ Proby's recent stage appearance in Blackpool?) PLUS the A to Z of cigarette names (from Anchor to Z... - we couldn't think of one) we more than doubled that in extra wine but a good time was had by all and we would return without hesitation.
Hors d'Ouevres. I started with the CAESAR SALAD! A finely crafted "small but perfectly-formed" treat with all the right ingredients - though the anchovies here, as often, were present in the form of anchovy flavour in the sauce. Apart from that there were crispy salad leaves, scrumptious croutons that crumbled flakily (instead of shooting off your plate rather than succumbing to your fork) and small slivers of chicken. I can't claim it was good value for money but it was a good salad.
Entrees. I went for the Steak in Ale. A treat of tender braised steak atop mashed potato/spring onion mix ("champ" in Northern Ireland) and itself topped with finely shredded white cabbage. Lashings of good gravy and good-sized portions.
Dessert. I went for the three cheeses. A Camembert, a good white Lancashire and a good creamy blue veined one I couldn't name (my fault, not chef's). They were straight from the fridge and this was a minus point. Served with an adequate supply of cheese biscuits and a few grapes - one of which was slightly over-ripe and would not have been on my table at home (attention to detail chef).
Wine. A deep Sicilian red (sorry, can't tell you more) of adequate quality with strong berry flavours and a good length.
Price. Special offer of £20 for two including on bottle of wine. Can't be carped at. This didn't include the dessert, which was about £3.50 extra. Of course, with five of us hard at it covering quizzes from the 60's and the current flow of skills into the labour market (or was it PJ Proby's recent stage appearance in Blackpool?) PLUS the A to Z of cigarette names (from Anchor to Z... - we couldn't think of one) we more than doubled that in extra wine but a good time was had by all and we would return without hesitation.
posted by Jean-Paul Sartre at
8:10 pm
