Grosvenor Casino Southend

After moving from Hockley last year to live in Chelmsford, I made a fleeting visit to Southend-on-Sea. With the weather being delightfully summery, it almost felt like I was on holiday.

The Grosvenor Casino branch in Southend-on-Sea overlooks the seafront including the theme park, Adventure Island. Unfortunately, the restaurant is understandably closed during the day because of the lack of footfall but at least the bar is open which is where we had lunch.

The menu comprises all the favourite dishes of around the world and had jumped on the tapas-style sharing bandwagon. There are some great deals to be had with 3 dishes for £10. From the Sharing Menu we picked Chicken Satay, Sweet Potato Fries and Cream Cheese & Jalapeno Crunchies. From the Tapas Menu we picked Salt & Pepper Dusted Calamari, Patatas Bravas and Garlic King Prawns.

The eagle-eyed may have spotted the Spicy Tomato & Cheese Garlic Bread that was erroneously brought to our table. This was quickly rectified with the swift arrival of the garlic prawns which was drenched in a delicious buttery sauce but left us with wanting more because the portion was so small. Also noteworthy were the sweet potato that hit the spot, the calamari that was pretty good as far as deep fried seafood goes and jalapeño crunchies. The satay sauce had a rather strange tang to it.

Not to be missed is the cocktails. Although it lacked the fizz of the lemonade my Strawberry Collins was fruity and sweet. I would have ordered more if I didn't have to drive!

There is a short but sweet menu available as well and the coffee and mini-dessert combo is fantastic value at £3.25. The Salted Caramel Chocolate Roulade came with vanilla ice cream and proved great for sharing.