Three Christmas dinners out!

I feel so lucky that over the last month I have been able to have three Christmas dinners. Turkey with all the trimmings is one of my favourite meals of the year so I always get excited when pubs and restaurants start offering it. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

1. Wetherspoons!

I had my first Christmas dinner from Wetherspoon's and I was looking forward to it as last year I really enjoyed it.

Four slices of turkey breast with pork, apricot & cranberry stuffing, roasted Chantenay carrots and parsnips, Maris Piper mash, two pigs in blankets, peas, cranberry sauce and gravy.

I did not enjoy it, which was a real shame and a disappointment! Looking at it, it looks amazing but the mash was so dry and powdery, the parsnips were rock solid and the carrots not much better and the stuffing was really spicy. The turkey that was under the mash was nice, there was plenty of gravy and cranberry sauce. You don't expect much from Wetherspoons as it's fast food in a pub setting but this was not great. I did complain but they probably don't care. I was just one of thousands of their customers that day. This cost I think about £11.99.

2. Hungry Horse!

A few weeks later I went to chain pub Hungry Horse with friends for a 3 course Christmas meal and was so excited for this one! When we arrived the table was decorated and the staff were so welcoming and treat us like VIPS. We had to pre-order so we knew what we were getting.

I had the Party starter prawn cocktail for starters - A classic! Baby gem cups filled with prawns and a seafood sauce served with malted bread & butter. A traditional Christmas dinner - Turkey breast served with sage & onion stuffing, pigs in blanket, Yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes, seasonal winter veg, cranberry sauce and rich gravy and for dessert Chocoholic’s Irish cream torte which was a rich coffee and chocolate brownie base with boozy Irish cream ganache, sprinkled with chocolate and honeycomb pieces, drizzled with more chocolate and served with chocolate flavour ice cream. 

I loved this meal from start to finish! I am a sucker for a prawn cocktail and this was a good one, the prawns were huge and there was a good amount of sauce. The main course was just about perfect apart from the roast potatoes. The one's which weren't rock solid were dry but the rest of it was perfection. We ordered extra pigs in blankets and ended up with 5 each so some came home with me. The dessert was so nice but it didn't really taste much like Irish Cream but it didn't matter. We also enjoyed a couple of Christmas cocktails. I had a Jingle bell bubbly which was Prosecco mixed with a spiced red berry syrup! If Christmas had a taste this would be it! I am not on the hunt for the berry syrup to make my own at home. This meal cost us about £25 each.

3. Our local pub! 

Last but not least was a Christmas meal at our local pub! When they got new owners at the start of the year and started serving food Becky and I said we needed to have a Christmas dinner here as the food throughout the year was so good. I would love to share which pub it is but it's a bit too close to home for that.

I had a prawn cocktail salad again this time with melon, turkey and all the trimmings and Christmas pudding for dessert! 

This was my favourite Christmas meal of the 3. Presentation really is everything! The added melon to the prawn cocktail was so 80's but I loved it. The turkey tasted amazing and there was so much of it. I need the recipe for the mashed potato as there must be more than just potatoes, butter and milk! There were plenty of parsnips, my favourite and the sprouts were perfect! Becky wasn't liking the idea of Christmas pudding for dessert but the Christmas pudding is something we will be dreaming about. It was so good!! She is hoping that when she goes for her works Christmas dinner she can change her choice of gingerbread cheesecake to the Christmas pudding. hehehe We also got a mince pie each which I took home and enjoyed with a cuppa later on. Everything is home made at the pub on the day, hence the reason we had to pre-order and you could really tell! On the afternoon that we went we were the only one's having a Christmas dinner and we felt so bad that people who were in there before us were waiting for their food while we were tucking into our starter. This meal cost us just under £30 each and it was well worth it. If we could we would have booked in for next year.

Have you had any Christmas dinners already this year? Where did you have yours?