Kelsey Rees gives her review of 29 Park Place, a relatively new bar & restaurant on – you guessed it – Park Place.

With the location in its name, 29 Park Place is a relatively new bar and restaurant that only opened its doors last September, and is ideally situated for any student looking for a relaxing meal out with their friends. Showcasing a menu suitable for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 29 Park Place is the perfect setting for a meal at any time of day for both vegetarians and omnivores.

The interior is very welcoming with relaxing low-key lighting and sofa chairs for the casual cocktail drinkers, itÔÇÖs also vibrantly decorated with colourful dinner chairs, a pool table, a Nintendo games console, and several plasma screen TVs. Some popular yet chill tunes such as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers ÔÇÿDani CaliforniaÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿBy The WayÔÇÖ, and Foo Fighters ÔÇÿLearn To FlyÔÇÖ were playing┬áthroughout the bar to accompany the friendly atmosphere.

As soon as we entered the bar we were politely asked whether we had come for a casual drink or for some dinner. After informing them we would like to eat, we were promptly seated and had our drinks and food order taken. I was intrigued by the whimsically named Radio Guava cocktail, described as ÔÇÿtropical, exotic & more flamboyant than Freddy MercuryÔÇÖs stage presenceÔÇÖ. They had a wide variety of comical cocktails on offer with cleverly thought of names such as Lord of the Gins, The Pear Necessities and Whiskey Business. Although the bar was rather quiet that evening, our drinks still took around 25 minutes to reach us, as we were growing quite impatient. Fortunately, my tropical cocktail lived up to its name, as the smooth concoction was attractively presented with two marshmallows on a cocktail stick, and a taste similar to that of an alcoholic J20. Very delicious indeed.

Ten minutes later our food arrived. The menu was typical of that of a bar, somewhat lacking in diversity and comprising several burgers, sandwiches, steaks, a classic fish and chips option, and the various vegetarian choices of a salad, risotto, grilled aubergine and stuffed pepper.

We opted for three dishes from the small plates section – the chili and lime crab cakes (┬ú5), handmade meatballs (┬ú5) and the buffalo toast (┬ú5). These dishes could serve as a side, light snack or starter.

I tried the buffalo toast first, which was made up of buffalo mozzarella, tomato, spinach and pesto. The spinach and tomato was fresh and succulent, as was the flavourful pesto, all on top of the lovely and bubbly mozzarella, creating a fine base.

I then tried my crab cakes, which were just as satisfying with a crunchy outer layer, but a soft and flavoursome inner layer in which I was able to taste both pepper and lime complimenting each other.

Finally, I tried my the handmade meatballs. The meat was satisfactory, as it was very juicy and tender, as was the rich tomato sauce that was brought to life by the basil.

Our main meals (or ‘big plates’) arrived at the same time. We chose the 4 oz. steak sandwich (┬ú8) and BBQ pulled pork sandwich (┬ú8), both served with a side of chips. The chips were lovely and thick and came in decent portions, and both sandwiches were wonderfully stacked full of meat.

The BBQ pulled pork sandwich was rich in flavour from the sweet BBQ sauce, complimented by the savoury taste of the homemade coleslaw. The pork was cooked to tender perfection, fully satisfying any meat lover.

The steak was just as impeccably cooked, with a lovely soft texture. However, I found the taste of the steak slightly overpowered by the amount of mayonnaise used in the sandwich. I would have preferred less mayonnaise as it flooded the sandwich slightly.

After being content with our meals, we finished off our experience by indulging our sweet tooth. From the dessert menu, we ordered a chocolate brownie (£4) and a house crumble (£4), both served with vanilla ice cream.

The chocolate brownie was delectably soft and gooey, heaven for chocolate lovers, whilst the vanilla ice cream was very rich and soft.

The house crumble was raspberry and apple. On top of the crumble was a scoop of the same rich vanilla ice cream, wonderfully complimenting the sharp crumble, as the powerful raspberry flavour set your taste buds tingling. ItÔÇÖs safe to say this dessert fully satisfied my sweet tooth.

The desserts were both served in rather small portions, but as our previous dishes had filled us up, the size of the small desserts didnÔÇÖt bother us.

Overall I fully enjoyed my experience at 29 Park place, and was extremely satisfied by my meals, not needing to snack on anything once I got home! For the decent price of the dinner, the food was up to standard. I would recommend 29 Park Place to anyone!

– Kelsey Rees