Exterior
This was a first for me, as while I’d taken advantage of the cheap drinks in various Wetherspoon’s establishments, over the years, I’d never eaten there.
Panini and chips
The place was certainly busy enough, when I wandered in with today’s guest quester, Deborah, so I suspected there was much daytime cheapness on offer. On first looking at their extensive menu, this wasn’t immediately apparent.
What leapt out was that the calorific values of all the dishes were listed, and there was a fairly large selection of “under 500 calorie” options. It’s good for mass-appeal places like this to be providing that type of advice, I suppose, so well done them.
Interior
Deborah was pressed for time, so opted for the ham and cheese panini, which came accompanied with chips. I’d aimed to try their sausage and mash, but when Deborah went to place the orders they didn’t have any sausages, so a panini it was for me, too. It turned out that a panini plus a soft drink was £4.29, during weekday lunchtimes, which was a good chunk cheaper than the full price for the item.
As we sat in the window of the buzzing pub, my freshly prepared toastie soon arrived. Little imagination or care had been taken with the presentation, but it was far from the worst panini I’ve eaten, with decent ham and nicely melted cheese. The chips were pretty fair, too.
So overall, for a no-frills feed, the Alexander Graham Bell did substantially better than I’d expected. George Street can be a little pricey, so I can see how this place has carved a niche for itself. It’s a busy place, but service is prompt, so it met our requirements for a fast bite, rather well.
Scores
Blythe scores the Alexander Graham Bell
3/5 for food
2/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
3/5 for service
giving an overall 11/20
Today’s questers were: Deborah, Blythe
We ate: Wiltshire ham and cheese panini (2)
We drank: mineral water
We wore: pinstripes; smart black and grey combo
Total bill: £8.58
