Frankie and Bennie's - Bishopbriggs, Glasgow

Frankie & Bennies - Bishopbriggs, Glasgow

 

After a long hard day at work, we ventured to Frankie & Bennies. We don’t usually like to review chain restaurants as we much prefer the vibrancy and atmosphere of independently owned eateries, but who doesn’t love a F&B’s once in a while?
 

 Mr Eats: The location of this Frankie and Bennies is a bit out the way. It’s sort of just plonked in the middle of a retail park which I don’t like. Inside was just a typical American/Italian restaurant, with black and white photographs up of New York etc nothing too special.

 

 For my starter I ordered Meatballs Italiano, which are two beef and pork meatballs with a garlic ciabatta on the side. It came in a basic Neapolitan sauce with onions, it looks more homemade than restaurant made, which in this case isn’t a good thing! It was a bit sloppy. The meatballs were hot in the middle, but cold on the outside which gave me the impression that they were heated up in the microwave, but they were tasty regardless. The garlic ciabatta was more just.. bread, and more crisp than toasted.

 



I choose to get New Yorker Burger which is a beef burger with jalapeno cheese, BBQ sauce and bacon. The chips were your bog standard chips, no fancy double fried, just plain and simple chips. As always from American style places, the burger was more than a mouthful. I liked the buns that they used, as it was leaning towards a brioche bun, but not as sweet. The salad was nice and crisp, and wasn’t soggy which often happens if it’s left sitting on a burger for too long. Both the meat and the bacon had either been overcooked, or had been precooked because they were both really dry. Despite there being a lot of cheese on the burger, I could feel the texture but had no taste at all – it was pretty much just a lubricant which actually helped with the dryness of the burger. It came with a side of a sweet tomato relish which was really flavoursome, I didn’t add it to the burger but it went well as a dip for my chips. Mrs Eats gave me her corn on a cob which was cold but firm and juicy. I like a char on my corn, but it seemed like the char was focused to just one side which made it a bit inconsistent in taste.

 

 

 

 



Overall I think it came to around £12 for mine. For a starter, burger and chips I think this is a pretty reasonable price – but with what I actually got on my plate, I’d have rather paid less! I probably wouldn’t go back due to the poor menu selection, and from my experience it is poor quality. They’re not trying new dishes, I like to see different twists of classics, but they’re playing it safe and going bog standard. Disappointing, but I guess that’s what you get with some chain restaurants, no freedom to play around with dishes. I would believe it is someone told me that that was the exact same menu that they had 10 years ago!

My 5 point sum up:

 

-          Overcooked

-          Not enough flavour

-          Poor menu selection

-          Reasonable price

-          Wouldn’t go back

 

Mrs eats: I really love going to Frankie and Bennie’s, as I think it’s just a nice, simplistic restaurant to go to when you don’t want somewhere fancy, but want more than a takeaway. I’ve been to this Frankie and Bennie’s before so we went one Sunday afternoon as a wee treat for us. We chose from the Specials Menu which is available Sunday – Friday, and it’s just £9.95 then an additional £2 per starter and dessert.

 

For starters I ordered the Cheddar & Bacon potato skins, I’ve had these before and really enjoyed them, and this time was no different. The potato skin was lovely and crispy whilst the bacon and cheddar added tons of flavour on the inside. It came with a side of sour cream which was really delicious when dolloped on the top. I love this starter!

 



 Again I chose a main which I’ve already had before, the Cajun Chicken Melt. This is a chicken breast with cajun spices topped with bacon, monterey jack cheese and BBQ sauce. I really enjoyed this last time, but on this occasion the meal was lacking. I couldn’t taste any of the spices from the chicken, the bacon wasn’t ‘crispy’ as it states in the menu, and the cheese looked as though it had been sat around for a while as it had solidified in a gloopy  mess on top of the chicken instead of a lovely melted cheese blanket like last time. The BBQ sauce was a bit more runny than usual and not as full of flavour as i'd have liked, but the cajun mayo that comes on the side is to die for – I could happily eat another 5 pots of it. The fries were typical American style fries. But sadly a let down, as I was really looking forward to this main. Although, I would order it again, as I know the potential that the meal has.

 



 I wouldn’t write off this Frankie and Bennie’s, as I’ve had experience in the past where I enjoyed it. Unlike Mr Eats, I feel that the small selection of foods is a good thing, as a large menu sometimes makes it overwhelming to choose from. Plus, sticking to traditional meals makes it easy for people to know what they’re ordering, as sometimes restaurants try too hard to change it up. For £12 plus drinks, I would definitely come again as a last minute stop, as I think that’s a bargain for a 2 course meal.

 My 5 point sum up:

 

-          Disappointed

-          Great offers

-          Amazing cajun dip

-          Reasonable menu selection

-          Would go again

 

Thanks for reading, and remember... Enjoy your meal

Mister and Missus Eats x

If you have any suggestions, please comment below or email

mister.missus.eats@gmail.com!

You can now like our facebook page by clicking here and follow us on twitter by clicking here

Wudon Noodle Bar - Great Western Road, Glasgow

Wudon Noodle Bar, Great Western Road Glasgow

Mr Eats loves sushi, so after a lovely day shopping down the iconic Byres Road, we walked to short distance Great Western Road, home of Wudon Noodle Bar. We had previously heard that this was one of the best places in the city to eat some great sushi, so we decided to try it for ourselves! Instead of going for a main each, we sampled 8 dishes in a sort of do-it ourselves tapas style. This meant we got to try more at the one time. We ordered Californi Rolls (crabstick, avocado, Japanese omelette rolled in fish roe), Dragon Maki (king prawn tempura, raw salmon, sesame seeds), Sake Nigiri (raw salmon over sushi rice), Sake Maki (raw salmon in sushi rice and seaweed), Tori Katsu (chicken in breadcrumbs with mild curry sauce), Warteeps (soft dumplings of pork, king prawns and shitake mushrooms), Tze Jup Salmon (salmon fillet with blackbean sauce) and Hotate (grilled scallop).

 

 Mr Eats: I never like walking into a restaurant and it being empty, I don’t think anyone does. There was one other table and as like in most restaurants we were seated on the table next to them. I ordered myself a glass of Merlot and the waitress asked if we wanted some prawn crackers to start. I’ve never had prawn crackers from a Japanese restaurant before, they weren’t like your typical crackers from a Chinese restaurant - they were larger, thicker and a golden brown. I have to say that I prefer those to the Chinese ones! It felt more like I was actually eating a starter instead of eating some prawn flavoured polystyrene. On the table we had some chilli oil and that added a bit of a kick to them. On with the sushi!

 

 



I ordered the Califonia Rolls, Dragon Maki, Sake Nigiri and Hotate, but I managed to try abit of everything.

 California rolls are probably my favourite type of sushi. I’ve never been a huge fan of avocado but in sushi it seems to work. These California rolls probably had the strongest taste of avocado which I ended up liking and I’ve never had fish roe but it added an extra subtle flavour. The only bad thing I would have to say about these is that the rice fell apart when I used the chopsticks.

 

California Roll



 

 The dragon maki is the best of both worlds – a mix of nigiri and maki. Really good flavours and you could tell the fish was really fresh. The sushi held it’s shape – no faults for this one!

 

 

Sake Nigiri (Left) Dragon Maki (Right)



 The Sake Nigiri and the Sake Maki are the two most typical types of sushi, it was good quality and enjoyed a bit of simple sushi whilst being adventurous and trying new flavours.

 I’ve only had scallops once before so I’m still learning to be able to taste the quality of the cooked scallops. The Hotate had a really nice texture, nice caramelisation on the outside. Not something that I would think to put on sushi, but it worked well.

 

Sake Maki (Top) Hotate (Bottom)



 Mrs Eats ordered the Tori Katsu and this was probably my least favourite out of everything. I do like Chicken Katsu but it just didn’t work in sushi form. The chicken was cold and a little bit dry, but the rice and sauce were cooked well. I just didn’t think it worked aswell as others.

 I’ve never had a Japenese dumpling before, but the Warteeps had a very strange texture. It was somewhere in between undercooked pasta and gluey mashed potatoes. As horrible as I’ve just described, once you got used to the texture, it was actually really nice. Pork, prawns and mushrooms – I can’t fault it, they all blended together nicely.

 Mrs Eats also ordered the Tze Jup Salmon, although when it came out she thought she wouldn’t like it so I dived in to try it instead. It was quite hard to eat using chop sticks, as it just flaked away. The blackbean sauce went really nice with the salmon, it had a chicken taste to it, as if it had been cooked in a chicken stock – but it was really nice and I liked it.

 In terms of price, sushi is always expensive. It came to roughly £30.00 not including drinks, which does seem a lot for a mix of something so small, but because it’s rice you get pretty filled fast. It’s a healthy alternative to a takeaway or fast food restaurant, so for a full meal for two, I was happy to pay it.

 Wudon is a great little restaurant with good service and even better food. I would definitely come back to this Great Western road gem!

My 5 point sum up:

-          Great food

-          Good service

-          Wide selection

-          Fresh fish

-          Definitely would go again

Mrs Eats: I’m not as big of a fan of sushi as Mr Eats, but I enjoy the simpler types. I was looking forward to going to Wudon as it has been rated highly on other review sites. It was really easy to find after a short walk from Byres Road although for the number one spot for sushi, it was surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon.

 

 

Sweetened Iced Lemon Tea (Left) Merlot (Right)



 I really enjoyed the Japanese style prawn crackers, they didn’t have an overly fishy taste like some, it was a subtle hint of prawn. When dipped in the chilli oil at the table, it was a really nice combination and it was a great wee starter. I also had a sweetened iced lemon tea, the waitress was very nice in trying to match the amount of sweetness I liked in it and I thought that was a nice personal touch. It was cool and refreshing, and was needed on a hot September day.

 

Chilli Oil





 

 My choice of sushi were the Sake Maki, Tori Katsu, Warteeps and the Tze Jup Salmon. The Sake Maki is my favourite type of sushi, plain and simple raw salmon and rice. Dipped into a little soya sauce – perfect! You could really tell the difference between this authentic sushi, over store bought or even something along the lines of Yo! Sushi. The fish was lovely and fresh, and the rice had just the right amount of stickiness to it, which is key to perfect sushi.

 I got the Tori Katsu because I adore Chicken Katsu curry, but I didn’t want a big main when I could try lots of different things. It was a strange concept to me, having chicken in sushi, and I’m afraid for me it just didn’t work. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the chicken and curry sauce being cold just didn’t taste right to me, the curry sauce went a bit grainy and it just wasn’t enjoyable at all. I love Chicken Katsu, but unfortunately, it should be left in a curry and not rolled in rice and seaweed!

 

Tori Katsu



 The next thing were the Warteeps, which is a soft dumpling with pork, king prawns and shitake mushrooms. When I first tried them, it was hard to get used to the texture (a sort of uncooked pasta), but once used to them, they were absolutely delicious. The mushrooms added a good consistency to the inside, and the pork added a nice saltiness to the blander dumpling. I wasn’t sure that I could taste the king prawn to be honest, but I loved the dumplings and craved more once I’d finished.

 

Warteeps



 My last choice was the Tze Jup Salmon, and when it first came out it wasn’t what I expected and it didn’t appeal to me at all. Mr Eats started chowing it down, and I had to try it for myself, and I was pleasantly surprised. The salmon was lovely and tender, flaking off into the caramelized sauce. It tasted to me like a sweeter, BBQ sauce and it really was pleasant.

 

Tze Jup Salmon



 The only one of Mr Eats sushi that I tried was the Sake Nigiri, which is one that I have when I’m ordering myself as take away. The salmon was so fresh, it really complimented the sushi rice underneath. Again, a clear favourite for me.

 Overall, I did enjoy Wudon. I wouldn’t necessarily be in a rush to go again, but that’s because my preference isn’t Japanese cuisine. If I were to go again, I would maybe opt for a full Chicken Katsu curry with a side of the Warteeps, as they were just delicious! I would definitely recommend them to anyone that wants to try something different. The price was quite reasonable, working out at around £15.00 per person, this is great considering how full we were by the end of the meal. I feel that because the sushi was rather cheap and it came in between 1 and 3 pieces, it was easy to try a lot and really experience Japanese cuisine.

 My 5 point sum up:

 

-          Fresh food

-          Great customer service

-          Value for money

-          Wide range of options

-          Would go again if Mr Eats wanted to

 

 

 

Thanks for reading, and remember... Enjoy your meal

Mister and Missus Eats x

If you have any suggestions, please comment below or email

mister.missus.eats@gmail.com!

 

You can now like our facebook page by clicking here and follow us on twitter by clicking here