Toby Carvery

We ventured in here for Sunday lunch last weekend. We arrived at 12.30 and already it was absolutely heaving. We were given a buzzer and told that the wait for a table would be about 15 minutes. It was actually more like 5 minutes, so we grabbed the drinks we had bought in the bar and followed the host through to the dining room.
It was absolutely packed, but luckily we got a table up in a small alcove away from the main throng — the queue for the carvery winds right by a lot of tables and it is not pleasant to eat next to a lot of hungry people eyeing up your plate!
It took a while to get to the cavery, when we did get there the chap carving the meat was a bit disinterested in us. I asked for beef without any fat or skin — I just got the next two slices! As it is self service, it is possible to load the plate up to ridiculous proportions, but I was in the mood for dessert, so displayed considerable restraint. Some plates I saw being taken back to tables were outrageous — more food piled up than any human being could possibly consume. The wastage from that system must be immense.
The food was actually delicious, I loved the fact that they put out three different types of roast potatoes — from pale to burnt to a cinder. The only disappointing element was the very gummy, insipid horseradish sauce. I would take my own next time.
As soon as our plates were clear, they were taken away by a waitress and we looked at the dessert menu. We chose to share the apple crumble and custard. It wasn’t the best to be honest — it tasted like tinned stewed apple with slightly soggy, much too sweet crumble on top. Even the custard wasn’t really very moorish, and I’m a huge fan of any type of custard.
So, to sum up… get there early, take your own horse radish sauce, don’t bother with dessert and make sure that you are seated away from the queue.

I’m relatively new to the carvery experience, when I was told I could eat a big fat roast with as much veggies, yorkshire and stuffing until I could hardly walk (with a cheeky ice cream sundae thrown in and a £2 cocktail), I knew I’d have a new favourite place to dine.
Aside from the price, the best thing about the carvery itself must be the fact you can have exactly what you want, and how much/​little of it. Surely we’ve all had the standard £10 pubby roast, which is always pleasant enough, but you always wish they’d swapped those 30 carrots on your plate for another cheeky roast potato or some cauliflower cheese, or you wish the fluffy yorkshire was as big as the plate itself, or you want the luxury of roasties AND lashings of mash.
Well you’re in charge at the carvery, with a selection of over half a dozen vegetables to dig into, and a choice of three meats (and yes, you are welcome to have all three, much to the delight of my carnivorous boyfriend).
The Beckenham branch was nice enough, right over the road from the train station, and it’s worth the journey. But don’t be fooled by the picket-​fenced, well-​lit front of the carvery, as the entrance is actually round the side, and I’m sure many have had to trudge all the way around it which can be an annoying start to the evening. You can often be served straight away, even on a saturday night, although I’d guess sundays are pretty packed. But there’s a huge bar to relax in if you do have to wait.
Staff were pleasant, and there were plenty of them (unlike at a visit to the Borehamwood branch of the carvery, but also a nice place to eat), just a shame none of them were in charge of sorting out the loos, both the ladies’ in the bar and the restaurant were in desperate need of a clean-​up.
By the looks of it the carvery’s great for families too — plenty of happy, full-​bellied children and parents around — although I don’t believe there’s a kid’s menu, but hey, at £7 for two courses you can’t complain much about that, and it was nice to see children not tucking into burger, chips and beans at a restaurant.
You can’t fail the price, but Beckenham is one of few branches that don’t do the über-​cheap £5 carvery menu, I know it’s only a couple of quid more, but after going for seconds at a trouser-​bursting buffet, I’d rather have the £2 than another course (which you can only choose from a couple of starters or puds from the special menu). But for the price and the awesome quantity & quality of food, I’m not complaining, and will definitely be visiting again soon. Mmmmmm!