Bill's Restaurants is the kinda place you just know you can rely on for good food, brilliant service and a great atmosphere and so with their oh so beautiful refurbishment complete that's exactly where we headed recently. Bill's Southampton is situated within West Quay's newest development filled with fabulous eateries and views of the old walls that once protected Southampton. They have a beautiful outside eating area as well as plenty of room inside so you can enjoy breakfast, brunch or a leisurely dinner with friends. Arran and I were invited in recently with Joshua on a Saturday evening while we were having a staycation in the city and had the best time.
The restaurant was packed, inside and out as you would expect on a Saturday evening but the service from start to finish was brilliant and didn't falter once. We were seated quickly with a highchair appearing in seconds before sitting ourselves down to look at the menu. Arran and I ordered a cocktail each while Joshua enjoyed some orange juice, drinks arrived quickly and it was the perfect way to start our little dinner date.
There's a lot of choice on the menus from delicious bar nibbles and starters to yummy mains and incredible desserts if you manage to leave room for one. We were given the allergen menu for Joshua which was really clear and concise but as there wasn't much available for him on the children's menu we ordered from the main menu for him. The staff were fab when it came to allergens and anything I felt like I needed to query was answered straight away.
For Joshua we ordered the Vegan Glow Bowl which included pea falafel, grains, chickpeas, hummus, roasted butternut squash, long stem broccoli, pickled red cabbage, red pepper tapenade, spinach, miso dressing & grilled flatbread. It was delicioussssss. You can also add chicken skewers or halloumi to the bowl for a extra charge. It was full of flavour, the pea falafel was so tasty and Joshua loved it which was the important thing after all!
This is 100% what I am ordering next time I go to Bill's.
To start, Arran and I ordered the Fried Halloumi Sticks with Bill's Chutney and Devilled Chicken Skewers with a spicy barbeque glaze, spring onion, lime & tzatziki. The fries were lush but could've been a little bit crispier, that's just my personal taste though. The skewers were really yummy though and the glaze paired with the tzatziki was such a great combo!
We definitely chose good although the chicken and sesame dumplings are in our sights next time.
For mains, I went with a Bill's Classic Burger. I'd been fancying a burger for weeks even though it's not usually my go to so it was practically fate. The only downside was that we weren't told the burger special upon ordering which was a chicken and stuffing burger with pigs in blankets and I WISH I'd been able to order that instead. I added cheese and bacon to my burger and it was nice but it was just your bog standard burger, nothing mind-blowing.
Arran ordered the Chicken Green Curry with sugar snap peas, red peppers, mint, spring onions, chilli & coconut rice. It smelt amazing and looked pretty tasty too but alas I did not try any. Arran cleared his plate though and announced he'd order it again so I may have to set my sights on that dish next time too. I'll be there all night again at this rate.
Our server for the evening was Harvey and I have to give him a mention because he was so brilliant. He was constantly topping up water, checking we were okay and clearing plates away quickly and he made the evening go so smoothly. He also made a friend in Joshua, he was so good with him and it was great to see because Joshua just wanted to chat with him and Harvey did exactly that back which was so lovely.
We couldn't help but look at the dessert menu as there was so much choice!
Joshua had the vegan coconut ice cream while I opted for the Apple and Salted Caramel Crumble with ice cream and custard. I'm not usually a fan of apple crumble mixed with other flavours but I really fancied it so I gave it a go.
I'm of the firm belief that if it ain't broke don't fix it because apple crumble is delicious on its own but on this occasion the salted caramel was a nice addition.
We had such an enjoyable time at Bill's Southampton and the new decor is beautiful. There's so many knick knacks dotted around and so much to look at it. I'd quite like the designers to do their best with my home or at least chuck one of the lampshades my way because I'm obsessed!
I can't wait to give their breakfast menu a try soon with the boys, you just can't beat a lazy weekend brunch.
Bill's Southampton is open from 8am daily serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You can book a table by phoning 023 8082 9240 or using the website bills-website.co.uk
Complimentary meal for the purpose of review - see disclaimer.