Flaming Grill is taking Christmas to a whole new level this year by creating the ultimate festive favourite, pigs in blankets advent roulette.
Intrigued? So were we, so when we got asked to give it a try, we jumped at the chance and headed straight to our nearest Flaming Grill.
If you live in Cardiff, your nearest Flaming Grills are Cardiff Bay Tavern, Parc-Y-Prior Inn or Man of Gwent, but the festive menu is available across 145 pubs nationwide as part of the national pub chain owned by Greene King.
The festive menu is pre-booking only, so if you fancy some of what we’ve had today and want all of the trimmings, you MUST book or risk missing out.
The Cardiff Bay Tavern can be found at The Red Dragon Centre at Atlantic Wharf, and is perfectly situated within the entertainment complex, complete with ODEON cinema and Hollywood Bowl. The entire centre has just been decked out in readiness for the festive season, including the Cardiff Bay Tavern, complete with Christmas trees, bunting, garlands and other decs.
Arrival
We didn’t have to wait long to be seated and we were quickly shown to our table, which has been transformed for our Christmas booking. If you don’t book ahead and say you want the Christmas menu, then your table won’t look like this – so it’s vital you book, if you do decide to visit to have the full experience.
The table was wonderfully decorated, complete with all of the trimmings, including Christmas tree, crackers and little gift boxes.
Also don’t forget, if you’ve travelled by car, enter your vehicle registration at the restaurant to benefit from complementary parking for the duration of your visit.
Starters
For starters, we opted to take on the UK’s first pigs in blanket roulette (challenge). We call it a challenge for two reasons. First off, it consists of 24 pigs in blankets that are near enough full-size sausages, so they are whoppers. Secondly, there is a hidden tabasco scorpion sauce covered pig hidden somewhere inside, so you’ll want to have a glass of water on standby, just in case.
We should point out that there is also a mixture of Texan-style BBQ, Clementine & Piri Piri and Sweet Chilli sausages, in addition to the hot one, so plenty of choice and flavours to choose from.
At £14.99, it’s a starter (or side) for two people, and you’ll want to share with a friend or family member due to its size. It also makes it fun to see who gets the spicy one!
Our second starter, the Festive Nachos (as part of the festive set menu) was brimming with firm festive favourites.
The loaded tortilla chips were smothered in nacho cheese sauce, chopped up pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce and crumbled safe & onion stuffing. Keeping with the hot theme, jalapeños were also sprinkled across the top for an extra kick. Again, another fairly large portion, which turned into a bit of a sharer for us.
It certainly put a festive spin on a classic dish.
Mains
Sticking with Flaming Grill’s reputation for doing things different and BIGGER, we took on the Rudolph Christmas Club Sandwich (£22.99), which unbeknown to us at the time is a mammoth two-person sharer.
The Rudolph Christmas club sandwich features a staggering two flattened and flame-grilled turkey breasts, an 8oz gammon steak, 6 smoked streaky bacon rashers, 6 pigs in blankets, topped with 2 free range fried eggs, nacho cheese sauce and melted cheese, served in a whole bread loaf with a jug of beef dripping gravy.
The pictures don’t do it justice and when we say a whole loaf of bread, we mean it. It is packed full of Christmas favourites, and we’d highly recommend sharing it as suggested, although if you like eating challenges, you may want to pop this on your Christmas list to try.
We’d love to tell you that we got through it and licked the plate clean, but sadly we can’t. Instead, we were provided with TWO, not one, food boxes to enable us to take it home to finish.
The other main that is a must try was the flame-grilled beef and camembert burger, offering a whole melted Camembert sandwiched between two flame-grilled beef burgers topped with caramelised red onion chutney.
Served in a bun with baby gem lettuce, tomato, and red onion; skewered with 3 onion rings, a pig in blanket and a secret sprout! Even the fries have been treated to a festive twist, topped with beef dripping gravy and crumbled sage & onion stuffing for £11.49.
This was not a sharer and a more manageable portion for one and can be part of the set menu.
With portions that are certainly bigger than expected and value for money, it’s a great place to take the family especially with the current recession and cost of living crisis. Especially at this time of year, it is nice to eat out (if you can) and soak up the Christmas festive atmosphere without breaking the bank, and you can certainly do that at Flaming Grill.
We didn’t have room for dessert on this occasion, but there are a number of sweet treats available, which have all had a festive makeover. Look out for the Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake and Gingerbread Cheesecake in a Jar!
The Flaming Grill festive feast menu is now available until 1st January 2023.
The set menu starts at £17.99 for two courses and £20.99 for three courses. Just note, the set menu option doesn’t include the pigs and blankets roulette or the Rudolph’s Christmas Club Sandwich!
To find your nearest pub go to: www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/flaming-grill/
