Frankie & Benny's Fort Kinnaird

When John was wee, we ate out a lot. Be it lunches 'just because' or coffee shops to pass the time, nearly every other day you'd find us out & about wining & dining. Then David came along. Bless him, it's not his fault he'll never truly know the pleasure in abandoning the house work and letting someone else do the dishes (partly because we don't really eat out any more but mostly because y'know, he's a baby...) but eating out with two wee ones is a whole different kettle of fish than eating out with just the one.

So when we were asked if we'd like to go along to try out the new Frankie & Bennys at Fort Kinnaird, I was a little apprehensive. Despite it making me all nostalgic of the old Frankie & Bennys that we used to visit at the Fort back when I was a child, I still had flash back of the times I had tried to eat out with two wee ones and those memories are not particularly happy ones that I care to repeat any time soon! That being said, I figured that they're both a bit bigger now and it might not be as bad as my permanently scarred mind recalls. Plus I've been desperate to try out some of the restaurants at the newly updated Fort Kinnaird so this was the perfect excuse!

Upon arriving at Frankie & Benny's we were met by a lovely guy who sorted us out with a table. We were sat right up the back by the kitchen, which John absolutely loved and it gave us plenty room to keep the buggy out the way. We did have a wobbly table but I think this is a curse of mine as it seems to happen everywhere I go! Our waitress was a lovely young girl who was very attentive throughout our visit, making sure the boys got their activity packs & that we were quickly sorted out with drinks.

The boys obviously chose their meals from the Kids Menu but in the interest of time, I chose from the Pronto Menu. I believe the Pronto Menu is for those in a hurry with the option of having your food & bill all within 40 minutes; perfect for those eating during lunch breaks or trying to make it to the cinema on time. But I liked it because it meant we weren't sat around waiting for food with two kids becoming increasingly impatient. You also get free refills on drinks, which despite being Diet Pepsi & not Diet Coke (I know, I know... I'm a Diet Coke snob!) is still pretty awesome!

I opted for the Bacon Cheeseburger (£7.95) from the Pronto Menu which comes with a good portion of chips and a delicious pot of tomato-chilli chutney. The burger itself was beautiful; so meaty & so juicy! And the salad inside it was lovely & fresh. The chips were also lovely, crispy and very fresh, which I was quite pleased about as I'm not a fan of soggy chips. My favourite part though was the tomato-chilli chutney! I love making my own chutney but this one is just exceptional - so tasty that I was even tempted to lick the pot clean.

John decided on the Sausages & Mash Potatoes (£4.25) which there was no way on this earth he'd ever have been able to finish. I kid you not, the sausages were the length of his arms; and there was two of them! The sausages themselves were lovely and didn't taste cheap & nasty which some sausages - especially those aimed at kids - can be. And to my surprised John did manage to eat a whole one, although after that he could only manage a few mouthfuls of mash potatoes, which was also lovely & very creamy, and his vegetables before saying he had a full tummy.

For David I chose the Kids Penne Pasta (£4.25) with a creamy cheese sauce. Again, the portion was massive but to be honest I wasn't quite as impressed. The sauce itself was quite bland; more of a white sauce with a very, very mild cheese maybe thrown in. Even a sprinkling of cheese on top would have helped perk it up a bit. That being said, David devoured it! In fact, I'm quite sure he would have finished the plate but I had to cut him off after a while as I had visions of him eating himself sick.

Despite feeling stuffed, we decided to go ahead and order dessert too. In the interest of giving a fair review, obviously! Not just because I'm a pie. We started with a brilliant Banana Milk Shake (£3.95) which the 3 of us practically fought over! It was so creamy & lovely - I'd go back to Frankie & Bennys again just to have milkshakes, really.

For myself I opted for the Cinnamon Waffle Crunch (£2.50) from the Pronto Menu. I'm a big fan of waffles & these did not disappoint. The ice cream lovely too, really creamy & beautifully topped with toffee crunch & toffee sauce. Best of all though, was the price!

And for the boys we went for the Ice Cream Candy Shop (additional £1.95), which I'd been eyeing up from the minute we first looked at the menus. It's two scoops of ice cream, 3 little bottles of sweeties, as well as marshmallows & popping candy, as well as some chocolate sauce for good measure! Basically any sweet-toothed child (or adult for that matter) dream! When the tray of goodies was placed down on our table, suddenly John's tummy wasn't full any more and two hands were grabbing at it, making getting a photo near impossible - which did make the staff & other patrons giggle.

Overall we were very impressed with our visit to Frankie & Benny's at Fort Kinnaird. The staff were lovely & very attentive and the food was fantastic, especially given the price. We will definitely be back again since we're just down the road from Fort Kinnaird and that it's the perfect location for a day out shopping or going to the cinema, with a stop at Frankie & Bennys for dinner or tea.

Disclaimer: We were provided a voucher for our meal for the purpose of this review.

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