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We tried out TGI Fridays Christmas menu -and why its worth going to
We were asked along to try the new TGI Fridays Christmas menu, which adds a sprinkle of holiday magic to some of the popular eatery’s best loved dishes.
Whether you fancy a Canem-bird burger, a buttermilk chicken burger stacked high with melted Camembert and cranberry-chilli salsa, topped with hot honey mustard pigs in blankets, or a more traditional Yuletide Roast Chicken Dinner, with all the trimmings, the festive offer comes in at a very reasonable £24.95 per person for a starter, a main course and one of their ultimate cocktails.
Next year will be the 40th anniversary of the very first TGI’s, opened in Birmingham, and it was great to see the restaurant packed to the brim for our visit.
I opted for the Cheese Fest starter – Mozzarella planks, cheese doughnuts and camembert planks served on parsnip crisps with a cranberry-chili salsa.
Everything was well cooked, crispy as you’d expect, but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more punch to the sauce.
My wife stuck with her traditional TGI route of sesame chicken strips and the Louisiana glaze, which is one of her all-time favourites.
For the main course, I decided at the last minute not to go for the Jingle Bell Stacked Burger with beef, chicken, melted Camembert, stuffing and glaze, instead plumping for the rack of ribs that I’d seen ordered on the table next to us.
It was an extra fiver to go a full rack but I’m glad I did. The meat was perfectly done and the addition of some fresh chilli gave it the kick I needed.
My better half had the blackened salmon with chips, rather than mash. In both cases the fries were a bit too salty. Not sure what happened there.
To quench the thirst – and double up for desert – we both went for one of the Christmas cocktails, sharing a Candy Cane Sunday Shake and a Syrup Slay.
And, yes, they are exactly as sweet as they suggest. The sundae is packed with whipped cream, Oreos, marshmallows and maple syrup, and more of a spoon-job than a straw.
The Syrup Slay was more your classic Martini glass and had a bit of rum and Baileys in there, so I was sold.
For the price, and the knowledge that you are going to get a party atmosphere no matter what day or time of the week you visit, TGI’s is well worth a go if you’re on a night out over the next couple of weeks.
