We were kindly invited down to Bill’s Spinningfields Restaurant to check out their pancake day menu.
This isn’t your usual Bill’s menu! In fact, it isn’t your usual Pancake Day menu either. From indulgent delights to savoury choices and including the good old classic, what more could you want? Oh, and did we mention that they have cocktails too?
Savoury: Sweetcorn Pancakes, Poached Eggs, Feta and Avocado (v) £9.95
Bill’s Spinningfields savoury: sweetcorn pancakes, poached eggs, feta and avocado were definitely our favourite! Made with baby spinach, red pepper dressing, coriander and chilli. There was definitely a lot going on, but it was the good kind! The sweetcorn-base used for the pancakes was what pleasantly surprised us most about this dish. We never expected to like savoury pancakes this much! Truthfully, it didn’t taste like you were eating pancakes, but that’s what made them so great for a pancake day menu.
The dish was very similar to your classic avocado on toast. The eggs were cooked perfectly, they ran onto the plate which added extra flavour. Aesthetically, there’s so much colour going on that it looks amazing to eat too. Finally, we are chilli fanatics, so we loved the added heat, but because it wasn’t added into the sauce it was a great option to have the chilli removed if you’re not so keen on added spice.
Savoury: Roast Tomato and Black Olive (vg) £8.95
Wow, another dish that blindsided us! We had some reservations about the bill’s spinningfields vegan-based pancakes. We worries that the dough wouldn’t be up to standard and that they may be tasteless. How naive we were! This dish is perfect on pancake day for vegans, vegetarians, meat-eaters or whoever you may be!
As a savoury dish, it was super refreshing and tasteful. The purple basil pesto added a great colour to the dish and the olives really packed a punch in flavour. The only negative, the menu states that the tomatoes are roasted, and they were ordinary tomatoes. We think the dish would benefit from the sweetness of the roasted tomato but nonetheless it was great.
Indulgent: Frozen Berries and White Chocolate Sauce (v) £5.95
Sometimes we feel underwhelmed with the pancakes made for us at restaurants; too bland, too flat, too salty. One thing we must say is how fluffy and doughy the pancakes are, Bill’s do a great job at flippin’ em for sure! We enjoyed these pancakes, the classic berry & pancake combo always goes down a treat for customers. We did, however, agree that the white chocolate sauce was a bit thin and watery. It certainly added taste to the dish and stopped it from being so dry, but not hugely. The sauce let the pancakes down unfortunately, not something you want on Pancake day.
Indulgent: Caramelised Banana and Salted Caramel Ice Cream (v n) £5.95
It was agreed amongst the group that these were the second favourite pancakes. Some did not like the chocolate sauce used; however, we couldn’t comment further on that as we aren’t huge chocolate sauce connoisseurs! The banana could have been caramelised a little more, we expected it to not be so tough, but it definitely added great flavour. Our favourite part of the dish was the salted caramel ice cream, it really made the dish come together nicely! This dish would be perfect for one or two people, it’s a big portion! At £5.95 it’s also great value for money.
Classic: Lemon and Sugar (vg) £5.95 -Vegetarian Option Available)
We aren’t huge ‘lemon and sugar pancakes’ kind of people but as far as they go, Bill’s version were great! We prefer pancakes to have something else going on but this classic plate went down really well with everyone. In particular, Bill’s gave us the vegan option to try (as seen above) and we were very impressed.
Hedgerow Fizz £6.75
We aren’t entirely sure what went into the ‘Hedgerow Fizz’, but it went down a treat with the pancakes! It was a sweet thirst-quencher topped with a raspberry and served in a champagne flute. Well, who wouldn’t want cocktails and pancakes as a combo?
We loved the ambience in Bill’s, it made us feel at home with all of the cool statues, greenery and wall hangings. What we liked more was the reasonably priced menu they have to offer for Pancake Day, it’s a great place for all to come and indulge in something entirely different. The added touch to the menu was the offer of cocktails too, what a great way to bring everyone together. We’ll be back!
Ratings:
Service – 7.5/10
Price – 9/10
Food – 8/10
