The Riverside - Festive Menu Review*

I've mentioned my love of a roast dinner many times around these parts on becc4.co.uk. Many of my Sunday evenings at university were spent whipping up a roast and now that I've moved back home, my sister and I are begging my Mum to cook one pretty much every day of the week. 

At the end of November, my Mum and I were invited to The Riverside in Tuckton to try out their three-course festive menu and we had such a great evening. The meal was complimentary but all of my opinions - as always - are very much my own. 

The Riverside actually have multiple festive menus on offer this Christmas but the Classic Festive Menu was the one we tried. At £26.95 for three courses, it's not a bad deal at allll. The other menus available include four and five courses and a Christmas Day Menu.

We were handed a glass of prosecco on arrival and were treated to a festive cocktail too. My Mum was driving so I happily chose both drinks and sipped away.  I chose the Sipsmith Spiced Bramble Royale; Sipsmith spiced bramble gin topped with decadent prosecco and the Festive Pornstar Martini; Ciroc Vanilla Vodka, Passionfruit and mixed winter spiced syrup with a shot of prosecco on the side. Now, I'm not too sure what I thought of the spiced pornstar martini - don't fix what's not broken and all that! The Spiced Bramble Royale, on the other hand, was delicious and I'd definitely have that again this December! 

To start, I had the deep-fried Brie. Shock horror, I'd never actually had Brie before but figured that I'd probably like it, I mean, anything deep-fried is delicious, right?! Yeah, I was right. The cheese was creamy and melted - almost like baked camembert - whilst the breadcrumbs were crispy in all their deep-fried goodness - yuuuum! 

For our mains, we couldn't have anything but the roast turkey, could we? It came served with lots of INCREDIBLE roast potatoes, a pig in a blanket (that sounds weird in the singular), pork and clementine stuffing, a side dish of seasonal vegetables, bread sauce and a red wine gravy. I absolutely loved the stuffing - honestly, it literally tasted like Christmas. I wasn't a massive fan of the actual turkey itself, however, but I'm not generally a massive turkey fan, give me chicken any day!

To finish, I had the apple and plum crumble which was served with custard, and I loved it. You really can't go wrong with a good crumble, can you? It was a really decent-sized portion and I liked how it was presented, crumbles have a real tendency to look a little dull and beige! 

As we arrived there were reindeer in the carpark - who are there twice more in December if you'd like to see them too - and there was a local church choir whilst we ate. I'm sorry but can you think of anything more festive?! The decor in the Riverside is really nice and the staff were really helpful. My Mum and I had such a great evening and I'd definitely recommend checking out the festive menu if you're in the local area, it's a really good deal!