Dining at hotel restaurants wouldn't usually be my first thought when finding somewhere for dinner but after experiencing some unbelievable meals last year in some of the countries chain hotels, I think they're on to something none of us have realised.
Maybe hotel restaurants really are where the best food is and that is definitely the case when it comes to Jurys Inn. I visited The Kitchen at Jurys Inn Southampton recently and was blown away by the attentive service, brilliant menu and delicious food.
Jurys Inn Southampton is super central so it's the perfect place for a weekend getaway, a night away with the girls or somewhere to stay before you sail away on a cruise.
You don't have to be a guest to dine at The Kitchen, just be sure to give them a ring to make a booking if you fancy heading in and trying the menu for yourself which is what we did. We spent a Friday evening in the hotel's restaurant, it was lively with a great atmosphere and as the restaurant is rather large, tables are laid out nicely rather than all squashed together so you didn't feel like you were on top of one another.
We were seated with drinks orders taken swiftly leaving us to have a look at the menu and decide what we were going to order. There's a huge range of starters to choose from to suit all desires. I think I changed my mind three times before I finally settled on the Tiger Prawn & Chorizo Pil Pil while my friend ordered the Baked Camembert with warm bread rolls.
When the starters arrived, we were so impressed especially as the Baked Camembert ended up being a whole Camembert rather than a mini version you sometimes see.
It was really delicious and I couldn't help but try some myself, I love cheese!
The Tiger Prawn & Chorizo Pil Pil was incredible and I'm so glad I ordered what I did, it was bursting full of flavour as it was cooked in a garlic chilli oil and wasn't too heavy. It was just a really great dish that I would order again as I thoroughly enjoyed it.
For mains, we both opted for steak. I ordered Steak Frites while my friend ordered from the Healthy Options choice of a Protein Plate. The Protein Plate came with 8oz flat iron steak, avocado, tender-steam broccoli, green beans and kale in a rosemary, garlic and chilli oil.
Both steaks were cooked perfectly and tasted beautiful, it was a meal I really enjoyed and the attention to presentation was spot on too. The only downside is that there's no option to choose a sauce to go alongside your steak on the menu but this was something they were able to sort out for us when asked.
You just can't beat a bit of peppercorn sauce on a steak right?!
The sweet stuff was a little too good not to try something and with a crumble of the day on the menu, we just had to try the desserts. I ordered the Apple and Chocolate Crumble with custard while my friend ordered the Triple Chocolate Terrine.
The crumble was delicious but I found the addition of chocolate a little peculiar, I feel like apple and chocolate isn't the match made in heaven I thought it might be. Had it just been apple I would've really loved it but other than that, it was a really great crumble.
I'd be so interested to see what other flavours they do in the future.
The Triple Chocolate Terrine was incredible and the different layers of biscuit, mousse and chocolate paired with a berry compote just totally made it. Safe to say I got dessert jealously big time!
Overall, we had a really enjoyable evening. Service was brilliant and attentive, orders were taken swiftly, drinks were topped up without being asked and everyone was incredibly friendly. Nothing was too much for the team and it showed as everything was done with a smile.
The food really was great too despite my poor dessert choice, it is definitely somewhere I would think of eating again, even if it's just to get my hands on those tiger prawns again!
You can book directly with Jurys Inn on 023 8037 1111 to make a table reservation.
Press visit for purpose of review - see disclaimer.