Frankie & Benny’s Cheshire Oaks Review

Reviewed by Laura Fairbairn

I was delighted to have the opportunity to review the new menu from Frankie & Benny’s. As parents to a nearly six month old baby daughter it was probably our first chance to visit a really child-friendly restaurant, so we were quite excited.

When we visited the restaurant on Tuesday we were greeted in a very welcoming manner by the staff and escorted to our table by a well-presented and friendly manager who took our drinks order and left us to look at the new menu and make our selections. We were curious to see what was available on the new menu and were pleasantly surprised to find that there really is something for everyone. With over 80 options across the main food menu, you are sure to find something that takes your fancy and with consideration given to those with special dietary requirements no one really needs to feel concerned – the gluten free menu, for example, has a substantial selection of attractive options, such as Warm Chicken and Gem Lettuce Wraps, Mediterranean Vegetable Risotto and various Ice Cream Sundaes.

To start, we shared a pleasantly sized portion of dough balls that were served with two dips alongside them – this worked out well as my fiancé particularly liked the traditional garlic dip whilst I seemed to favour the spicy cheese dip which I was unsure of to begin with but soon found that I couldn’t get enough of it (very addictive!).

Choosing my main course took me a while because there is a huge selection of pizzas, pastas, salads, burgers, meat, chicken and fish dishes available, but eventually I settled on the Rigatoni Manzo – a pasta dish that came absolutely loaded with different types of meat from meatballs to chorizo, chicken and streaky bacon! It was very tasty, but in hindsight I perhaps would have been better off going for the Cajun Chicken Pasta Bake because although the Rigatoni Manzo was good I did completely underestimate the amount of meat that was going to be in the dish and for me personally it was a little overwhelming. Alongside, the pasta dish I had a Cesar Salad Side that was delicious, in fact with a few tweaks it would make a fabulous main! My fiancé opted for the 8oz Sirloin Steak with fries and ordered it medium-rare. When the steak arrived it was beautifully presented on a wooden serving board with the fries in a brown paper bag. My fiancé felt that the steak was more rare than medium-rare but said it was tasty nevertheless and with very little fat on it this cut it wouldn’t be considered to unhealthy either.

We didn’t manage a dessert because we were both so full from the mains, however, there is a wonderful selection available and if I could have fit it in I would definitely have gone for the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Salted Caramel!

There is a lovely Kid’s and Junior’s menu available with a good selection of meals on offer and we were pleasantly surprised to find that baby food was also available. The baby food was for 7+ months and 10+ months so it would have been nice to see an option for 4+ months as well so that younger babies are also catered for with a smoother baby food.

We really enjoyed our visit to Frankie & Benny’s at Cheshire Oaks and would definitely consider visiting again.

Rating: 4/5

For more information, to view the new menu or to book a table visit
www.frankieandbennys.com/restaurant/frankie-bennys-cheshire-oaks

Frankie & Benny’s, Coliseum Park, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire Oaks, CH65 9HD
0151 355 1966