The Bedford river festival

Brilliant weather to complement a great two days

The festival is close to the hearts of every Bedfordian, whether newly adopted or born and bred. The 2012 festival was a great success; it brings the whole of Bedford together with surrounding areas for fun, frolics, dancing, racing, drinking, eating and spending money. The latter is the most important with regards to the longevity of the festival. Let’s hope it was a success for all local businesses that decided to get involved this year. If the festival generates money for the local economy it will certainly continue to hold its place in Bedford’s biennial calendar. Reports suggest the festival was visited by approximately 300 000 people over the two days. Such an increase in footfall around our town means a big opportunity for local businesses to make money. It’s also a great way to showcase the town to visitors to hopefully entice them back to Bedford on a quieter weekend. The river festival is something that sets our town apart from others and especially after this year is something that I’m particularly proud of. Yes, there may be an issue with how people were disposing of their rubbish but I do think it’s something that a well-co-ordinated local awareness campaign would be able to improve in the run-up to the next festival. There may also be some people that decide to over-indulge in alcohol and turn a happy occasion into an unhappy one but from what I witnessed the police were in full attendance and private security guards were very responsive. Any visitor to the festival is privy to the great community spirit that washes over Bedford for that short time. If only if it could hang around for another two years!   

The Tavistock Pub



The Tavistock Pub



The Tavistock Pub is situated on … wait for it, Tavistock Street Bedford. So hardly the most appeasing streets in our town but certainly known for its sheer number of restaurants particularly those of the Indian persuasion. The pub offers quite an extensive selection of food from pizzas to deserts but is best known for its buffets and carvery. The Tavistock offers a buffet cooked breakfast with all the trimmings, this is one I have sampled and it doesn’t disappoint. It is reminiscent of a rather good hotel style breakfast, where you inevitably eat more than you usually would in the morning because it’s free. The pub itself is decorated very nicely on the inside and out. It has kept the character of the old building but has a very modern feel to it. It’s open plan and comfortable which is good for eating. I am yet to visit in the evening to see how well it does at being a pub rather than an eatery. It will be interesting to see however I imagine that with a bit of good live music it would be very pleasant indeed. The carvery is available all day from12 – 9.30pm and even as a takeaway option. From what I have seen and tasted of the food it seems to be fresh and well cooked. I doubt they will be winning any Michelin stars but if you like good honest pub food (and lots of it) then you will like The Tavistock.

The Tavistock Pub certainly beats its carvery rival, the Toby’s Carvery (Goldington Road) on the grounds of service, quality of food, atmosphere and it’s just an all-round nicer place to be.

Quality 8

Service 9

Price 8

#Wicbha? Very likely

The not so Hungry Horse

The Hungry Horse - Bedford

If you like good food – then you really don’t want to eat here. Due to a mixture of fatigue and hunger I found myself at the Hungry Horse, Goldington Road. Upon entering we were greeted by a pool table, fruit machines, tv’s, children’s shrieks and the glum faced employees who have long given up on being enthusiastic about their job. So we were in for a real treat. Once seated and handed our gigantic menus which include everything from roast dinners to curries, to Mexican and Spanish food whatever excitement we had about eating here had definitely faded. There was no way the Hungry Horse could adequately cook such a vast menu without an army of highly trained chefs. This led me to believe it would be microwaved mush and although I wasn’t privy to the kitchen it certainly didn’t taste fresh. There was one part of the menu which helped me sum it up quite nicely the Quesadillas had a phonetic key to help patrons pronounce it, “key-sah-deh-yah”.

Quality 3

Service 2

Price 3

#Wicbha? I hope not

Andaluz

Andaluz - Castle Road Bedford

Andaluz is a great little café on Castle Road, one of the liveliest roads in Bedford. It’s a Spanish style café and shop where you can sit inside or out and have a meal, then buy the ingredients that made it and re-create it at home. The staff and particularly the owner are very pleasant and helpful, if you’re stuck for inspiration they will recommend dishes for you. The one drawback is that for a relatively expensive meal, you do get great food but the environment in which you eat it in is hardly encouraging. The furniture looks as though it will be better-suited to a beer garden than the interior of a café.  

The goats cheese and caramelised onion quiche is by far the best quiche I have ever tasted and that alone is enough to tempt me back.  

Quality 7

Service 8

Price 6

#Wicbha? More than likely - especially when I get that craving for good, fresh Spanish food

Rajkot

Rajkot - Indian tapas restaurant

Rajkot is a restaurant which we frequent quite often, its well situated if you are (brave enough to be) on night out in Bedford. Very much like the idea of tapas in an Indian restaurant as it is all too easy to sit down in an Indian restaurant and choose your favourite dish. This means that the thirty or forty other dishes on the menu don’t get a look into your Indian food lexicon. The tapas element to the restaurant undoubtedly offers the choice to try something new! This is a great way of experimenting and trying dishes without ruining your evening if you don’t like your dish. 

On a Friday or Saturday night the atmosphere can be quite boisterous and you may find yourself shouting to the person sitting opposite you in a struggle to be heard. The music can be very loud, the last time we were there dance music bellowed out from the speakers, hardly in keeping with the usual Indian restaurant atmosphere. 

We have also been unlucky enough to be there when someone ordered the nuclear chicken wings. This is an extremely spicy chicken wing dish that if you are able to eat you get your name on a board on the wall of the restaurant. The ‘nuclear’ spices that were in the air made everyone in the restaurant apart from the staff cough uncontrollably. The manager then had to put a high-powered fan on and open the door to get some fresh air into the room. Not very pleasant. 

On the whole the food is cooked to a good standard. The restaurant is very small, probably twenty covers which does give it an intimate feeling, but if you don’t like sharing your conversation with the people on the table next to you then it’s maybe not for you. The staff are usually very attentive but when the restaurant is busy they seem to fall apart all too quickly under the increased pressure. 

Quality 6

Service 6

Price 7

#Wicbha? Probably

Corner 5

Corner 5 - Box End

Had being to box end park on several occasions previous to eating there I was very much looking forward to sampling the much talked about food. The restaurant situated on the edge of the man-made lake in an impressive Norwegian style timber framed building is the ideal setting for that special meal. 

As we were among only ten diners one weekday evening we received impeccable service from both the restaurant manager and waitress. However, the only nit-picking I can do is that when I booked I mentioned it was a birthday meal, and they said they would be able to do something special for our dessert. So I was a little disappointed when the dessert came out just as a standard dish. However, this didn’t dampen a truly wonderful meal. The quality of the food was expectedly exceptional. Before eating here I had received numerous recommendations so I was expecting a high level of quality but all expectations were surpassed. A starter of duck cobb salad and mussels set the bar high with a great white wine complementing both dishes we were already enamoured. The guinea fowl main was exquisite complemented with a mashed potato combined with black pudding which admittedly doesn’t sound terribly appetising but was a combination that worked very well. Indeed, it worked so well I am intent on re-creating it at home. The dessert was of ice cream was good but as mentioned earlier a little under-whelming in light of my telephoned request. 

On the whole it was a great evening, the service and food was very good and was only accentuated by overlooking the lake as the sun was setting. One small complaint would be there was at times quite a bit of noise from the bar area but this was only noticeable because the restaurant was very quiet. I’m sure this wouldn’t be a problem at the weekend when the restaurant is a little busier.  I am certainly sure to return on a Saturday night when the atmosphere is likely to be better. 

Quality 10

Service 9

Price 8

#Wicbha? Certianly 

http://www.boxendpark.com/corner5-restaurant/corner5-restaurant.php