LOCATION wise, Bailey Bridge, which is part of the Table Table chain, might not be your first choice for a family meal, as it’s situated in a retail park off the busy Barrack Road in Christchurch.

But as soon as you step inside, you can forget where you are, because there’s a such a lovely relaxed atmosphere and the staff are so cheery.

You are certainly spoilt for choice for food too. The menu is a big read and there is an array of special offers and deals.

For starters my husband, daughter and I thought we would try one of the sharing platters, which included garlic and herb breaded mushrooms, battered chicken goujons, nachos, calamari, onion rings and garlic bread.

We also ordered spicy buffalo chicken wings for an extra £1.50, which were so eye-wateringly hot that only my husband could eat them.

Everything else was crisp, not too greasy and nicely presented on a white platter with a selection of barbecue sauce and mayonnaise.

For main my daughter had a grilled chicken and bacon salad, which came with a choice of lemon and herb or ranch dressing. Again it was a good portion size and included fresh mixed leaves, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and was topped with crunchy croutons.

She said it was one of the best salads she’d ever had.

For my main course, I plumped for the woodland mushroom risotto, which was flagged up as a new dish on the menu.

It was a good portion of creamy rice topped with rocket and cheese, and served with garlic bread.

But it lacked a little flavour so I was glad I had opted to have grilled chicken breast for £1.50 extra.

My husband’s burger was nice and meaty and served with a good portion of fries.

If you have a sweet tooth you will love the puddings.

My daughter made short work of her banoffee sundae, which included vanilla ice cream, fresh bananas, demerara crumble, whipped cream and was drizzled with toffee sauce and topped with a wafer. I couldn’t face a whole dessert, so I shared my husband’s caramel apple crumble, which was served with vanilla ice cream (you could also have custard or cream).

It was scorching hot when it arrived but once it had cooled down it was delicious and very filling.

Service was friendly, albeit it a little slow, as it was a particularly busy evening.

All in all it was an enjoyable, reasonably priced family meal.

The Bill
2x J2O: £4.70
1 Carling: £3.20
Sharing platter: £10.49
Woodland risotto: £9.49
Chicken and bacon salad plus banoffee sundae – two courses for £9.99
Cheesburger plus caramel crumble – two courses for £9.99
Total: £47.86