*This post is sponsored by OpenTable UK*
Recently I was invited to try out the incredibly easy booking service with OpenTable UK to book and enjoy a meal in my local area. If like me you have never used OpenTable before let me tell you a bit about it.
OpenTable is a table reservation site which is completely free to use and is an absolute breeze. I’m sure we have all been in that situation of trying to book a special meal and ringing or emailing a number of restaurants to check availability for a specific time. OpenTable takes all that hassle away. You simply go to their website booking page which you can find here and type in the postcode/location of the area you are looking at, along with the date and number of diners and click search. It then shows you all of the available restaurants / pubs in your area that are available at your chosen time and you can book directly via the site ( completely free ). It literally took me about two minutes and you then get a confirmation text or email or both with your booking confirmation. You get a reminder text on the day which you can use to confirm or cancel your booking, this must be so handy for restaurants in the current climate to be aware of cancellations because let’s be honest sometimes people just forget to cancel for one reason or another.
In my area there are only a handful of places using OpenTable at present but hopefully that will increase soon enough, if we had ventured slightly further afield to say Cardiff or Bristol there are many more options and if you live in a big city like London there is an abundance of choices! You can also set your budget, cuisine choice and amenities such as wheelchair access again saving you a lot of time and stress. Here you can see the Swansea restaurants available.
I chose The Gower Inn in Parkmill, it is a beautiful pub that I have been to once previously in the Summer months and is set in stunning surroundings. When we visited Jack Frost had been to visit and everything had a thin layer of ice covering it which actually made it pretty spectacular to look at.
The pub itself is warm and inviting, a lot bigger than I’d realised from my previous visit and is well set up for winter dog walkers with a special dog station at the entrance.
It serves typical pub grub so nothing especially fancy and is budget friendly with the majority of meals between £10-£15. I opted for the beef and mushroom pie with mash and seasonal veg and a little jug of gravy which cost just £11.49, my sister went for the festive burger ( there are quite a few burger options) which cost £12.49 and was served with fries and a pot of cranberry sauce with a few pigs and blankets on top. The food was simple but tasty. I’ll be completely honest with you as always and say it’s not something I would rave and rave about but it’s perfectly good satisfying pub grub and for the money I’d say great value. The service was friendly but not in your face which is a plus point and you have the option of adding a soft drink for £1 or an alcoholic drink for a little bit more. I chose Appletiser and my sister had a Coca Cola – no midday drinking for us but again good value.
For desserts I really didn’t fancy much as my meal was quite filling so I opted for the cheese board which was £5.40 which I had a little nibble at and then had them wrap for me to take away and have later that night, my sister opted for the Millionaires Puddle Pudding which was £4.79. About average prices for dessert. Cheese selection was lovely served with water crackers and a delicious pot of chutney, only negative was that the grapes had seen better days but it didn’t really spoil my enjoyment of the dish. My sisters dessert was gooey and rich and she seemed to really enjoy it.
All in all a really nice meal and I would visit again. I know I’ll definitely be using OpenTable again as I can’t remember the last time I found booking a meal so easy. Just hoping more local pubs and restaurants join up so that there are more options for us but it’ll also be great for when we have weekends away and need to book meals in bigger cities.
Have you tried OpenTable?