It seems like I only ever get to go to Grand Cru by myself, as the last few times I’ve mentioned it to folks as a place to go for a drink, they’ve reacted as if I’ve uttered some unpardonable heresy.

Exterior

It’s perhaps not the world’s smartest place, but during the day it has lovely windows from which to people-watch, and a very decent selection of daytime grub. I like it as an early evening drinking spot, too.

At lunchtime, their lunch deal offers soup and a panini, with a side of fries or salad, for £4.95. I was hooked by that, so popped in and sat myself down, in their upper level seating area.

Soup

I quickly made my selection, once the waitress had told me that the soup of the day was tomato and red pepper. I opted for the goat’s cheese, sun-dried tomato and pepper panini, with fries, to accompany the soup.

Service wasn’t the quickest I’ve seen, particularly given that the place wasn’t particularly busy, and the dishes ordered weren’t of the most complicated variety, but a large plate containing all the ordered items was soon before me.

Soup, panini, fries

It looked like a lot of food for the money, so the initial impression was favourable. I stuck one of the skinny fries in the soup, and was pleased to get a strong note of pepper. The panini looked well-populated with filling, too.

The soup had plenty of body, but proved to be just a little on the sweet side, with the tomato winning out in the battle with the red pepper for supremacy. The fries were hot and crisp, and one of the better efforts at fries that I’ve tasted, recently.

The panini, too, was pretty decent. The sun-dried tomatoes were curiously bereft of flavour, but the cheese was suitably tangy and the pepper provided good textural variance, so I was pleased with it.

So overall, as a quick lunchtime stop, I was really happy with what was on offer at Grand Cru. It was a filling lunch for a very reasonable price, with the quality of the soup and the panini more than acceptable. If you’re looking for a hearty lunchtime snack, I’d be happy to suggest you pop in and try this light-on-the-wallet option.

Scores

Blythe scores Grand Cru
3.5/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 13.5/20

Today’s quester was: Blythe

I ate: tomato and red pepper soup; goat’s cheese, sun-dried tomato and pepper panini with fries

I drank: sparkly water

I wore: blue suit

Total bill: £6.95