THE last time we’d dined there we ate lobster eyes, so with a new menu to sample, we thought it was time to revisit The Lydiard Beefeater restaurant.

Perhaps I ought to point out that crustacean peepers aren’t a dish all by themselves but came attached to the seafood in a surf and turf special.

My son and his friend dared each other to eat them but, if I remember rightly, it was myself and his big sister who actually did (girls rool!).

This time we went with the intention of trying the new items on the menu.

We started well with the dipping bread trio (£3.95) to nibble on while deciding our order.

There was a cheese twist, seeded and white breads served with three dipping sauces - balsamic vinegar and olive oil, melted garlic butter and chimi churi - which was a good way to stave off the hunger pangs while waiting for our starters.

The restaurant - a nice, open space with high ceilings and modern decor - was surprisingly busy for early evening on a rainy Tuesday.

That might have something to do with The Lydiard’s special offers: Monday to Saturday before 6.30pm you can have one main course for £5.95, two courses for £7.95 and three courses for £9.95; Monday to Thursday after 6.30pm you can have two courses for £9.95 and three for £11.95. You can only choose from a limited number of dishes but they offer a fair mix, covering most preferences.

On to the starters and I went for the prawn trio (£4.75) - not new to the menu but new to me. It was a mix of Cajun battered prawns, crispy potato wrapped prawns and chargrilled skewered prawns with a soy and ginger dipping sauce; tasty enough but nothing special.

Friend Emma enjoyed her garlic and herb breaded mushrooms (£3.75) but it was son Tom who scored with the best order - off the specials board - scallops in a garlic butter. He said they were as good as he’d had recently at a top-notch hotel and at £4.95 were less than a third of the price!

For mains he wasn’t quite so complimentary, labelling his beef burger (£7.99) as merely “adequate”.

I enjoyed my 7oz fillet steak (£14.99) but found it on the medium well side rather than the medium rare requested - which is a bit poor for a steak house - and my pine nut side salad (£2.95) came without dressing. I also tried the new chimi churi sauce (£1.35) with the steak, a blend of olive oil, parsley, garlic and red chilli. I’m sure there are various recipes for it but I didn’t like this one, which was heavy on the oil rather than the other ingredients.

Emma’s main of sea bass fillets (£11.99) served with chips, salad and garlic butter was the most successful.

Desserts of cheese platter (£4.45), chocolate fudge brownie sundae (£3.95) and caramel apple crumble pie (£3.95), also went down well - although none went down completely as we were pretty well fed by then.

Even without the lobster eyes!



THE LYDIARD
Great Western Way, West Swindon
Tel: 01793 881490
Restaurant opening times: From noon every day, closing Monday to Thursday 10pm, Friday and Saturday 11pm and Sunday 10.30pm