FOR A pre-Christmas get together with friends and family, Squire’s Wokingham is a great lunchtime choice.
After a relaxed festive catch-up complete with crackers to pull, diners who haven’t quite finished their Christmas shopping can follow their meal with a browse of the store’s decorations and gifts.
Squire’s festive menu begins on Monday, November 25, with traditional Christmas lunch, and vegan, vegetarian and gluten free on request options that offer a continental twist.
For starters people can choose from:
Roasted parsnip and thyme soup with sourdough bread and croutons
A classic prawn cocktail with lettuce, celery and cherry tomatoes and malted bloomer bread
And two different flavours of arancini, or crisp breadcrumb-coated risotto rice.
The spicy sausage and mozzarella arancini has a delicious crunchy outside, and a pleasantly sticky inside.
Served with a rich tomato sauce and Italian style hard cheese, it’s tasty without being too spicy.
The mushroom and truffle arancini offers the same crispy exterior, but its gooey centre has subtle notes of truffle and honey.
Served with truffle mayonnaise and Italian style hard cheese it was a favourite with tasters.
Main courses are:
Smoked haddock Florentine fishcake with crushed and roasted herby new potatoes, crisp green beans, and a hollandaise sauce.
Cauliflower cheese tart, served with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and gravy.
Vegan Lincolnshire sausage, also served with roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy.
Traditional Christmas roast, with turkey or maple glazed gammon ham and all the trimmings; roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, seasonal vegetables and gravy.
The turkey is generously cut and tender, and an unstinting portion of everything on the plate meant we definitely didn’t leave feeling hungry.
The vegetables are nicely cooked too; not overdone and still slightly crisp, while the roast potatoes are crispy and tasty.
And for parsnip lovers, there’s a real treat – these are honey glazed; sweet, slightly sticky, and delicious.
The meal can be rounded off with one of three desserts:
Chocolate and vanilla torte with raspberry sorbet
Rum and raisin custard tart with caramelised biscuit crumb and vanilla bean ice-cream
Classic Christmas pudding with brandy sauce or vanilla bean ice-cream.
Both the classic Christmas pudding and rum and raisin tart brought the relaxed meal to a pleasant sweet, but not too sweet, conclusion.
Squire’s restaurant is cheerful, light and spacious, with comfortably-spaced tables.
There’s a gentle buzz of conversation and the staff are friendly and helpful, making it a pleasant location to meet up for a seasonal lunch followed by a wander through the store’s winter wonderland of gift ideas inside, and its lush garden plants outside.
The Christmas menu is available seven days a week through to Monday, December 23, with booking start times from noon until 2.20pm.
This is a change from last year, when festive lunch was not available at weekends.
Christmas lunch costs £22.99 for two courses, or £24.99 for three, with children’s portions costing £17.99 for two courses, or £19.99 for three.
To book, visit: booking.squirescafebars.co.uk
For information log onto: squiresgardencentres.co.uk
