Tea in the Park, Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield
THE weathermen say it's going to be a long, hot summer with warm days and balmy evenings all the way through from June to August.
So guess whose booked his holidays in September?
Never mind, if the Met Office is right we've got three months of alfresco eating – so have the Pudding Ladies timed it right with their new venture Tea in the Park?
Clare Batterby and Dianne Wilkinson run it every Thursday and Friday at their Millhouses Park cafe on Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield.
Not to be confused with the normal menu during the day – or their bistro nights (now switched to Saturdays) – it offers you one, two or three- course meals inside or outside the cafe, overlooking the boating lake.
With all mains under a tenner and children eating free for every adult eating at least two courses, it's very family friendly. Which is what it's meant to be.
It sounds idyllic just reading about it but how will it be on the day?
The evening is slightly overcast as we arrive just after 5pm (orders are taken until 7pm) but most of the evening's 30 diners seem to have opted to eat inside.
They're nesh and we're eating outside.
Just then I see blankets draped over the back of our chairs. Clare and Dianne are not getting too carried away by the weather forecast. Those blankets are there just in case.
And one is actually being used, wrapped around some bloke at one of the far tables.
"Just think, only an hour ago I was at work," says my wife, wrapping herself around a glass of chilled white wine. It's our own. Tea in the Park is BYO and in a very friendly way doesn't charge corkage.
On the boating like two men are sailing a remote controlled yacht.
The paddle boats are huddled up for the night in the middle but the Pudding Ladies were hoping the operators might keep it open during Tea in the Park nights for the kids.
You don't want complicated food for tea and it isn't. There's a tomato soup, a plate of mezze to share, penne with peas, pesto and parmesan and, what we have, home made fish cakes and classic prawn cocktail, both 6.
My fishcake is singular – why do they write menus to suggest you get more than one? – but is big enough and fishy enough not to matter. There's tartare sauce and a pleasant grain mustard dressing on the salad.
The prawn cocktail doesn't come in a wine glass but a dish, with rather a lot of mayonnaisey prawns in a 'cup' of cos leaves and two big shell-on prawns for garnish. It comes with brown bread and butter, naturally.
You don't book. In fact a middle-aged couple have just walked by, seen the menu, rung their daughter and reserved a table. They're OK for wine – just bought some wine from Tesco up the road.
"We put the wine in the fast chiller for them. It's nice when things are spontaneous," says Dianne.
The next table has three adults and four, er, lively children. "Those people don't want to hear you," says the man.
Relax, we're chilled out.
June's main menu offers fish and chips, a steak, "seafood tortilla pizza" and the "lamb naanwhich," as well as two veggie dishes and a sort of crab club sandwich.
The new chef here is Hayley Glover, previously at Thyme cafe, and she cooks a first class fish and chips (8), the batter thick and crispy, the chips like blocks from a kid's construction set. They taste far better though!
My lamb naanwhich (9) is a take on the Indian dish. Thick slices of spiced, marinated lamb are sandwiched between even thicker ovals of herby bread. It's not a naan as I know it but very acceptable.
With a few deft alterations this could almost pass for a Sunday roast.
There are spiced up roast potatoes and a chick pea salsa, chick peas mixed with salad. And it's far too much for me to finish.
Particularly when we have to tackle the puds, a fiver each. The sticky toffee pudding is well up to Pudding Lady standards, the vanilla creme brulee a little too runny to be enjoyed at its best.
Tea in the Park is a great idea. Not everyone will want to tackle three courses like us (but then we were 'working').
And if you've got kids, it's a boon. We spent just under 40 on food.
As one of the Pudding Ladies said: "People will spend their last 20 to take their kids out."
TEA IN THE PARK
Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield, S7 2QQ.
Telephone: 0114 262 0313.
Tea in the Park Thursday and Friday, 5-7pm. BYO (no corkage). Credit cards. Street parking.
My star ratings (out of five):
Food HHHH
Atmosphere HHHH
Service HHHHH
Value HHHH
Cafe category. Do not compare ratings between places of different style or price.
What do you think? Add your comment below.
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Weather for Sheffield
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Fog
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
