LAST Christmas I enjoyed a lovely and very cheap roast dinner in the Beales restaurant.

I have been hoping they would be offering them again this year and to my joy they are.

At £5.25 they are not quite as cheap as last year but it is still a very good price for what was a lovely Christmas meal with all the trimmings.

The department store gives you a festive feel as soon as you get in with the dazzling trees decorating the ground floor.

So by the time you pass the board games on the way to the restaurant and look over the view of the town centre we were virtually singing Christmas songs.

We ordered our food at the buffet counter and the waitress brought our meals to us so it’s not completely like eating at a canteen.

Our plates had lashings of cranberry sauce on our generous portions of turkey, a sausage wrapped in bacon and parsnip.

I would have loved more potatoes and Brussels sprouts but for the price I was far from complaining.

And with the meal you can order a lovely mince pie for only 50p so we were nicely full up afterwards and revitalised for more shopping, or in my case going back to work.

The child’s lunch box included a very smart sandwich cut into quarters with the crusts sweetly sliced off as well as a juice or milkshake and two more items from a choice of crisps, fruit, jelly and biscuits.

If you don’t fancy the Christmas meal there is also a choice of sandwiches, toasties and paninis.

The other hot meals include scampi, fish, chicken, broccoli and cheese bakes and omelettes as well as baked potatoes.

And for those who don’t fancy the stairs up to the fifth floor restaurant there is a lift.

This is an independent review by a reporter without the cooperation of the establishment.

My Beales bill:
Turkey Dinner x 2   £10.50
Mince Pie x 2  £1
Kid’s lunch box  £3.30
Pot of tea for 1  £1.50
TOTAL:  £16.30

Ratings board

  • Location ****
  • Atmosphere ***
  • Value for money ****
  • Quality of food ****
  • Service **
  • Comfort ****
  • Family friendly ***
  • Menu choice **
  • Overall rating ***

Recommend to a friend? Yes