Restaurant Review - The Grange, Wallington

Tuna on the hot rock grill

Restaurant name: The Grange

Location: Beddington Park, Wallington, Surrey (near Hackbridge station in London's zone 4)

Description: On the edge of Beddington Park, the restaurant has lovely views and is a popular wedding reception venue. It specialises in Indian cuisine and always offered a British pub-style menu as well, which I had never seen anyone order from (whereas the Indian food is very popular). However on a recent visit I found the non-Indian menu had changed significantly and looked a lot more enticing.

Reason for visit: My parents were visiting and we went out with my boyfriend and his mum as this restaurant is local to all of us, and we've been here before and liked it.

Chicken korma

I ate: As I mentioned, I've only ever had the Indian food here as the other menu didn't look very appealing. But it has changed and looked much more interesting; they've introduced a 'black rock grill', offering a choice of meats and fish cooked on a volcanic rock. The rock is heated to a very high temperature and the idea is that you can place the meat on the rock for as long as you want, so it's cooked to your liking. I ordered the tuna and was told it came with two side orders, so I ordered a side of potato wedges and a side of mixed vegetables. For dessert I had the cheesecake of the day, and I can't quite remember the flavour but I think it may have been toffee with raspberry sauce.

My companion(s) ate: chicken korma and pilau rice, followed by chocolate cake with chocolate sauce; my dad had a steak on the hot rock and my mum and my boyfriend's mum shared a selection of curry dishes.

The restaurant

The food was: The Indian food was of a high standard though a purist might dispute whether a korma is really supposed to be that colour yellow. But in the UK it generally is, and it tasted lovely. My tuna steak was excellent, and the side orders very generous, but my only quibble would be that the tuna steak was brought to the table on the volcanic rock. When I've had this in other restaurants, the meat or fish is served on the side for you to place on the rock as you wish.  This meant that the tuna was already cooked more than I would have liked (I love tuna when it's quite rare) before it was even put in front of me. I immediately took the tuna off the rock and sat it on top of my potato wedges but it was too late. This wouldn't matter at all with steak, or indeed any of the other options served on the hot rock, and in fact my dad got a bit fed up waiting for the middle of his steak to cook while everyone else was tucking in. So if I ordered this again I'd ask the waiter if they could bring the tuna separately, not on the rock; I would rather have had one side order and the space on the other side of the dish empty for my tuna when it had finished cooking. Other than that it was excellent.

The desserts were OK but not outstanding and my boyfriend's mum, who has worked in the catering industry, said she spotted some packaging from Brakes which made her think the desserts were brought in and not made on-site. I don't know if that's the case or not but they did have a slightly mass-produced feel to them. What I did like however was that a dessert trolley was brought to our table when we wanted to order, so we could see the selection- a new touch that wasn't offered the last time I ate here.

Chocolate cake

The atmosphere/service was: I had a feeling the restaurant had been redecorated too. We had a table by the window with a lovely view and the service was good. I've been here in the past when the restaurant was very busy, with a wedding reception upstairs and a huge birthday party in the restaurant, and I've had nothing to complain about other than noise levels. One time I came here there was a magician doing close-up magic at each table; not everyone would appreciate that sort of thing when they go out to dinner but to me it was quite entertaining.

Price range/value for money: Pretty good, in particular the Indian dishes though the cost can mount up a little when you order rice, naan bread etc. The hot rock dishes are £13-£18 which is also not bad for that sort of thing (£18 being for an 8oz ribeye steak) and the side dishes are included in the price.

Would I recommend it? Definitely, even if you're not local it's worth coming here. I think the new British/continental menu is a definite improvement and the Indian food is great. This is a really nice restaurant and a favourite of my parents when they come to visit.

Mystery cheesecake

Second visit: I returned to the Grange last week when my boyfriend had family visiting. I tried the steak on the hot rock, thinking that this time the meat wouldn't be overcooked by the time it got to the table, as steak takes a lot longer to cook than the tuna I had last time. It was a good steak, and the sides of jacket potato and seasonal vegetables were very tasty; I also ordered a blue cheese sauce which was a generous amount served in a jug on the side. However, I still find it difficult that there is nowhere on the hot stone to put your meat when it has finished cooking, and it's too difficult to cut steak when it's resting on top of the vegetables in the side dish. So I had to put the steak back on the hot stone every time I wanted to cut it, and it ended up very overcooked. It's a real shame as I like the concept, but I think I might go back to Indian food next time I eat here.

We also asked about the dessert trolley, and were told that they didn't have it any more, and they only had a few desserts which were specifically listed on the menu- though the dessert trolley itself was still listed on the menu, which our waitress said needed to be changed. She said the trolley hadn't done so well so they didn't have it any more!

Rump steak on hot stone