A menu of meal stops
Finding an eatery to suit all of your group members can be a tough task. From gourmet dining and themed medieval banquets to fast food outlets, Kerry Bailey provides a summary of what’s on offer to aid your search.
GTOs looking to book a group meal will find themselves swamped with possibilities. Whether you require a three course meal or a quick and easy light lunch, here is a selection to help narrow your options.
Forming a chain
When booking with a large restaurant chain, GTOs can feel secure in the knowledge that the standard of service will be consistent at each establishment.
Believed to be the UK’s largest restaurant operator is Whitbread, which owns both the Brewer’s Fayre and Beefeater chains. There are 263 Brewer’s Fayre restaurants nationwide offering classic British menus whilst the 134 Beefeater outlets place more emphasis on specially prepared flame grilled dishes and steaks. GTOs should pre-book with individual venues.
Tragus Holdings owns three restaurant brands in the UK as well as 14 brasseries, which operate on an independent basis. Cafe Rouge outlets offer French food whilst Ortega restaurants specialise in tapas, sangria and other traditional Spanish fare. The Bella Italia Italian themed brand has expanded this year with the re-branding of the company’s former Mamma Almalfi restaurants, which now all operate under the Bella Italia name, and the acquisition of the 16 Ma Potters restaurants in the UK, which will all be converted to Bella Italia restaurants by June. Each brand has its own group menu with discounts available when pre-booked.
Boasting 36 restaurants at tourist attractions all over the UK is digby trout restaurants. The outlets range from sit-down restaurants with table service to self-service cafes and bars. These can be found at attractions such as the Historic Royal Palace properties and Harewood House near Leeds. Groups can negotiate discounts at individual venues.
Far from its humble beginnings as a wooden fish ‘n’ chip hut near Leeds, today Harry Ramsden’s boasts 25 outlets nationwide that welcome group visitors. With seating for up to 200 members and menus tailored to suit, GTOs can also take advantage of a free meal for themselves and the option of pre-booked entertainment.
Following a theme
Offering more than just dining, themed restaurants can also keep your members entertained whilst they eat.
For a taste of 1950s Italian American restaurants, Frankie and Benny’s operates 141 eateries nationwide with five new venues including Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. A further 12 new sites will open throughout the year at locations including Reading, Greenwich and Cardiff. Groups can enjoy a discounted menu between 11am and 5pm featuring dishes such as meatballs and spaghetti, pizza and grilled sandwiches.
The very first T.G.I Fridays restaurant, meanwhile, opened in 1965 in New York. Today, groups can sample the traditional American menu of hamburgers and flame-grilled chicken at 45 sites around the UK. The group was sold by Whitbread at the beginning of the year and bought by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide. Groups should pre-book.
Groups of 10 or more are offered a discounted set menu at The Sports Cafe, where American food can be enjoyed whilst diners watch sporting events on large plasma television screens. There are eight venues in cities nationwide with a new restaurant set to open in Cardiff this year.
Also offering dining with an American theme is Hard Rock Cafe, which owns seven branches in the UK. There are four set group menus that serve traditional American fare ranging from the economic Vinyl to the slightly more elaborate Platinum. Groups can also take advantage of bottomless soft drinks with no limit on top-ups. Additionally, as well as tours of the extensive collections of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia at each Cafe, GTOs can pre-book live entertainment to accompany their meal.
Another venue boasting large collections of memorabilia is Planet Hollywood, near Leicester Square in London. Inspired by the glamour of Hollywood, menus contain an extensive list of exotic cocktails and a blend of fish platters, hamburgers, steak and Mexican food. Groups can pre-book discounted meal options as well as private dining in one of the venue’s many themed function rooms.
If you prefer a more natural dining experience, The Rainforest Café offers wholesome organic food in a recreated tropical rainforest environment. Located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the heart of London, groups can experience similated tropical storms and animated models of gorillas, elephants and crocodiles. Discounted set group menus are offered on weekdays to pre-booked groups of 15 or more.
For a real taste of oriental cooking, meanwhile, head to Imperial China in London’s Chinatown, which is particularly geared up for groups and has a large selection of set menus.
If Indian cuisine is more your thing, groups can sample the delights of Brick Lane in East London, where some of the UK’s first Indian restaurants were founded.
Banqueting options fit for a king
With many allowing you to dress up and join in, themed banquets really allow your group to get into the spirit of dining out.
Taking place amidst flickering torchlight in the vaulted cellars of Ivory House in the centre of London, The Medieval Banquet offers a four-course feast with unlimited beer and wine to pre-booked groups during its evening events. Entertainment includes jousting knights and medieval musicians.
In the south east, Leeds Castle in Kent hosts both medieval banquets and ‘Kentish Evenings’, where groups can enjoy traditional Kentish fare, music and dancing. Pre-booking is essential.
Based at The Wychwood Stud in Buckinghamshire, meanwhile, The Devil’s Horsemen also offers medieval banquets, during which groups can enjoy live horse displays and jousting tournaments whilst they eat. Group discounts are available when pre-booked.
In Berkshire, Warner Breaks’ Littlecote House property hosts medieval banquets in its Great Hall, where medieval fare and free-flowing beer and wine are served by costumed characters whilst musicians provide entertainment. Warner Breaks’ other properties, meanwhile, all provide catering to pre-booked groups with a full menu and a carvery available every evening. The Thoresby Hall property in Nottinghamshire is especially popular with groups as it offers both the Pierrepont restaurant, which specialises in candle-lit suppers, and The Blue Room Restaurant, which overlooks Thoresby’s landscaped gardens.
Heading into Warwickshire, groups can take their pick from two dining experiences at Warwick Castle. The ‘Kingsmaker’s Feast’ recreates a banquet taking place at Warwick Castle in 1471, the night before the Earl of Warwick leads his men to battle, with plenty of free-flowing wine and beer, a five-course meal and themed entertainment from costumed actors. The ‘Highwayman’s Supper’, meanwhile, takes place in the Coach House and is set in 1775, also offering unlimited wine and beer and a five-course meal.
Travelling even further north to the aptly named Maid Marion Way in Nottingham, groups of 10 or more are welcomed with discounts at The Tales of Robin Hood. Here, medieval banquets with free flowing lager, ale and cider can be enjoyed with entertainment provided by fire-eating jesters and musical minstrels. For a private banquet, groups must have a minimum of 50 people.
A glass of mead, plenty of traditional Welsh fare and costumed musicians await you in the 15th century undercroft of Cardiff Castle at one of its ‘Traditional Welsh Banquets’. Private banquets are offered to 40 or more people.
Staying in Wales but moving to Denbighshire, Ruthin Castle offers a ‘Medieval Experience’ to pre-booked groups. The evening begins with a guided tour of the 13th century Castle including the dungeons, whipping pit and drowning pool. A four-course meal is then served in the Banqueting Hall with free-flowing mead and costumed actors and musicians providing the entertainment.
Meals on the move
A particularly popular option for groups is to dine whilst enjoying a river cruise or journey on an historic railway.
As well as offering dinner, lunch and afternoon tea options to groups onboard its vessels, City Cruises – the riverboat operator based in London – provides a River Thames sightseeing breakfast cruise, which allows you to take in the capital’s sights whilst enjoying freshly squeezed orange juice and croissants. The R.S. Hispaniola vessel, meanwhile, is permanently moored on Victoria Embankment and can provide a Latin-themed experience in its Tapas Bar or more formal dining in its 130-seat restaurant.
Further up the River Thames with bases at Windsor, Runnymede and Maidenhead, French Brothers offers lunch and supper options in addition to an afternoon tea cruise on most of its routes. Groups of 20 or more receive discounts on all cruises and packages.
Thames Cruises, meanwhile, based in Reading, can tailor-make on-board menus to suit the individual needs of your group. Catering options include a sit-down three-course meal, a warm or cold buffet and afternoon tea.
For something more traditional, groups can enjoy either a five-course Evening Dinner or a four-course Sunday Lunch onboard the East Lancashire Railway’s restored Pullman-style coaches. Groups of 20 or more receive a 10% discount. Pre-booking is essential.
The Severn Valley Railway, meanwhile, which operates between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth in Worcestershire, offers a three-course luncheon on its restaurant car services. Groups can also privately hire cars for dining. Pre-booking is essential.
Grabbing a bite
Motorway services specialise in offering a venue for a quick bite to eat and a comfort stop for people on the move.
The largest operator of motorway service stations in the UK is Moto, which currently has 43 sites nationwide. Its food outlets include Burger King, Harry Ramsden’s and Little Chef with 17 sites now also offering Marks & Spencer Simply Food outlets. Various discounted meal vouchers are available providing your coach driver is a member of the Moto Coach Club.
Offering 29 service stations in the UK, meanwhile, is RoadChef. A self-service restaurant and a Costa Coffee outlet can be found at every location whilst Wimpy restaurants are at every site with the exception of Bothwell and Hamilton in South Lanarkshire and Pont Abraham in Carmarthen, Wales. GTOs can make use of the Coach Support Team, which is on-hand to advise motorway routes and pre-book large numbers.
Welcome Break has service stations at 28 locations throughout the UK and offers various catering facilities from Burger King and KFC to the more elaborate Premium Range restaurants featuring dishes such as Thai Salmon on its menu. Starbucks and Primo Coffee outlets can also be found at a selection of sites. Group members can benefit from several discounted meal packages in addition to a 10% retail discount.
Operating both northbound and southbound at Junctions 38 and 39 on the M6 is the Westmorland Services, believed to be the only motorway service area in the UK to be built and run by local people. The Junction 38 site unveiled its brand new £500,000 refurbishment this month, which saw a new 84-seater cafe created with home-made dishes such as steak and ale pie made using locally sourced produce.
Tea for two, three, four and more …
Many visitor attractions around the UK can provide group catering in their tearooms and restaurants, allowing groups to enjoy a meal without the bother of travelling to another venue.
Several English Heritage properties welcome pre-booked groups for meal stops and traditional afternoon tea. A variety of discounted menus are available.
In London, Eltham Palace boasts a waiter-service restaurant with seating for 50 whilst, in the south east, the new 60-seater self-service restaurant at Battle Abbey in East Sussex opened in February and offers both hot and cold meals.
On the Isle of Wight, meanwhile, at Osborne House, groups can choose between the property’s table-service restaurant overlooking the terraces or the self-service cafe in the visitor centre.
Further north in South Yorkshire, Brodsworth Hall and Gardens can provide a pre-booked buffet for groups of all sizes whilst in North Yorkshire, Rievaulx Abbey offers hot and cold meal options made from locally sourced ingredients.
Similarly, The National Trust has a wealth of properties with eateries that offer traditional home-made fare, often from locally sourced ingredients. Discounted menus are available to groups; however, vary at each property.
Starting in the south east, Chartwell in Kent – the former home of Sir Winston Churchill – is particularly well geared up for groups with its self-service restaurant able to accommodate 200 people.
If you require a meal stop in the west country, Killerton in Exeter boasts the table-service Garden Restaurant as well as the slightly more informal Orchard Tearoom, where a large selection of cakes are on offer.
Travelling to The Midlands, meanwhile, both Calke Abbey and Kedleston Hall in Derby can cater for large pre-booked groups.
In the Cotswolds, The Costwold Wildlife Park offers catering for groups in both its Orangery and Manor House restaurants. The Orangery is slightly more informal than the Manor House restaurant, which offers waitress service, but both venues offer a good selection of starters, main courses and desserts. An exclusive offer to groups is the ‘A Gardens Special’ package, which includes entry to the Park, a talk by the Head Gardener and a Cream Tea with scones and cream.
For a traditionally British experience, the Wedgwood Visitor Centre in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire unveiled a newly built tea room in March. Uniformed staff serve a selection of finger sandwiches, pastries and cakes to visitors on traditional tri-tiered Wedgwood stands to complement the variety of teas served in Wedgwood china. Set discounted group menus are available when pre-booked.