Dinner and a show? How terribly civilised (From Swindon Advertiser)

Dinner and a show? How terribly civilised

3:49pm Thursday 10th November 2011 in Reviews

EAT AT:

Rudi’s, 21 Regent Circus, Swindon SN1 1PR. Tel: 01793 523892

Food served:

Monday to Saturday 10am to 9pm. Sunday roast from noon to 4.30pm

MICHELLE TOMPKINS samples the pre-theatre dining experience... Swindon style

SWINDON isn’t exactly spoiled for pre-theatre dining, at least not in the centre of town.

We don’t quite have same early evening culture as neighbours such as Bath or Oxford, for instance, where cut-price pre-show suppers are the norm in city centre restaurants, and staff recognise that diners need to eat and run.

In fact, there was only one place which sprung to mind when I needed to grab a bite before a performance at the Wyvern last week – Rudis.

Rudis has been around for as long as I can remember; if my memory serves me well, it was one of Swindon’s first wine bars in the 1980s yuppie era, and we flocked there with our shoulder pads and white stilettos to quaff Chardonnay and see who had the biggest hair.

Times have moved on, although Rudis is as popular as ever. Even on a Wednesday evening there was a decent crowd in there and the low murmer of conversation buzzed around the room.

“We only have an hour – we’re going to the theatre,” we told our waitress, and she assured us we still had time for two courses.

Choosing the two courses was easier said than done, however. Rudis’ tapas menu was calling to me, with the likes of Spanish tortilla and patatas bravas for £3.95, roasted red peppers with pine nuts for £4.50, and spicy baby squid for £5.50.

In the end, and after much time-wasting, we settled on a meat antipasti sharing board for £11, and it was worth the deliberation.

Slices of salami, chorizo and parma ham, alongside olives, sundried tomatoes, pickled vegetables and salad, looked good and tasted better, all the more with the warm bread that came with it.

Our main courses were chosen from the specials board; I had a butternut squash risotto (£6), which was obviously freshly made and was was oozing with cheese. Gorgeous.

Even more impressive was my guest’s Spanish paella, which again came sizzling and fresh and was packed with chicken, chorizo, mussels, calamari and prawns. How they do all that for under £7 I don’t know.

The portions were so huge, we slowed up in our eating and then had to dash to make the start of the show, but that was hardly the fault of the restaurant.

In fact, my only grumble about our visit was the price of our soft drinks. Two small glasses of lime and soda (usually no more than 70p in other places) cost us a whopping £4.20... yes, £4.20.

I might as well have had a Chardonnay.