Walking into the Hickory's Smokehouse restaurant in Gloucester with my family, I thought it would be fairly quiet at midday, even though it was a Bank Holiday Monday. However I was pleasantly surprised to see so many families sitting around tables enjoying their food.
The restaurant opens at 10am and serves food right through the day and night and closes at 11pm. It was clear people have been keen to eat at Hickory's Smokehouse from the moment the place opened and I can understand why.
On arrival, you are met by a member of the team who checks you in as arrived, then you are shown to your table, and shortly after the waitress for our stay arrived. Already at this point, we felt taken care of, and to be fair, I was not expecting the level of service we had been getting, and quietly impressed.
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Menus were already on the table and the children did not waste any time picking them up to decide what they would like for their lunch. I popped to the toilet and by the time I returned, they had placed their food and drinks order.
I had one concern when there, as you are advised when booking that each table is allocated 90 minutes for the stay and our food had taken around 40 minutes to arrive to the table. We only had mains, however I was left thinking some people may not have enough time to enjoy a three course meal there, especially when it is busy.
We were not worried about the time the food took to arrive as it worth it, as all freshly cooked meals are and especially as I was not having to cook a big dinner this day. While there was a little bit of a wait, our waitress invited the children to visit the in house cinema where they were delighted to pass the time watching Toy Story before lunch arrived.
When the food arrived there was certainly a bit of a wow factor in the presentation. I felt the pricing of the meals was fair and portions were ample, and certainly none of us had any room left for pudding.
My eldest daughter opted for the Chicken Fried Waffle, which is described on the menu as :'A freshly made waffle topped with Southern fried chicken and maple candied streaky bacon. Then just pour over some maple flavoured goodness. An all time Hickory's classic' which costs £14.99.
She said: "The waffle was fluffy, huge with hints of smokiness. The bacon was delicious and cooked to the point it was crunchy sweet.
"The chicken strips were the highlight of the meal and they were crispy and tender, and tasted perfect with the spices. It was all brought together with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup."
My eldest daughter also opted for the Cajun Onion Rings with ranch dressing which cost £5.50 and Hickory's Cloudy Lemonade which costs £4.30 a glass.
Shge said: "The onion rings were huge, like the size of doughnuts. They tasted like a classic onion ring but massive and they paired well with the sauce. The cloudy lemonade was like cloudy lemonade but with a much sweeter syrup with a hint of lemon zest but not overpowering and a nice refreshing drink with a lemon slice for decoration."
My son ordered the Cowboy Steak which costs £25.50. The Hickory's Smokehouse menu describes the meal as: 'Straight from grass-fed cattle & aged for 30 days, this 12oz rump is big in flavour. Served with skin-on fries, Hickory's pepper sauce, fire-kissed chilli & magic-dusted field mushroom.'
My son is autistic and has global delay. He has no trouble finishing off a steak, however he is a little limited in his review of the meal however a clean plate speaks volumes and he was relieved no salad was on his plate when the dinner arrived
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He said: "The steak was yummy, delicious and tasty. I give it a 10/10. The mushrooms were soft, and I had salt and pepper on them.
"The fries were good and like wedges. I was full up after but I did not eat the chilli on the plate as they are hot."
The boy likes to have his steak cooked medium and I have to say it was spot on.
He also opted for a Tip-Top Triple Choc milkshake which costs £5.95. It is described on the menu as being: 'Chocolate, chocolate, Oreos & more chocolate. Did we mention chocolate..?'
My son's professional milkshake tasting opinion was: "I give it a nine out of 10. It needed more chocolate chips. I liked the cinema, it had seats like a real cinema and we watched Disney movies and had some popcorn, it was good."
My youngest opted for the 3am Mac ‘n’ Cheese which costs £17.99. It is described on the Hickory's Smokehouse menu as being: 'Topped with buttermilk marinated Southern fried chicken, bacon crumb and a maple drizzle. All served with house salad, South Carolina dressing and house slaw.'
My 12-year-old said: "This mac 'n' cheese is like no other. if you’re a fan of cheese I would recommend this because it tasted phenomenal. The sauce was stringy and you could see it was really cheesy.
"It was super filling and I gave my chicken to my sister. It even came with chips that tasted great it had just enough salt so I didn’t have to sprinkle any more on them."
My youngest was given the option to make her own milkshake which she had lots of fun doing.
She said: "I was lucky enough to be asked if I wold like to make my own milk shake which was a bunch of fun. You get to pick what milkshake you want to create.
"I added some choc sauce around the sundae glass and then added ice cream, a cookie and cream into the blender. You can add whipped cream if you like and the best part was adding the toppings.
"At the end I got to taste it was fantastic and so much fun.
"Being able to go to the cinema was great entertainment while you were waiting for food. You can take your popcorn which you are given when you sit at your table and sit back and enjoy watching a film like a real cinema.
"I would’ve never expected that in a restaurant would you? there were Disney films showing so it is friendly for all kids, it was amazing fun with great films lined up to be shown."
I am a vegetarian and initially I looked at the menu and thought the choices for me were a bit limited. However to be fair I would not have expected a vast selection of vegetarian dishes from a restaurant with a smokehouse under the same roof as it is a restaurant for those who like meat with their meal.
I opted for a Hickory's Cobb Salad which costs £12.99. The menu describes the dish as: 'Crispy lollo biondi and iceberg lettuce, Kansas caviar (black beans, sweet corn, red & yellow peppers, spring onions), blue cheese dressing with soft boiled egg, avocado, Cheddar cheese & crispy shallots.'
As far as salads go, I enjoy them and this was really nice. The egg was perfectly cooked and the blue cheese dressing is not something I would usually order, and it was nice to try something different. It was also rather filling and I could not finish it all.
I did try to persuade the children to have a pudding however they were too full and the milkshakes were like a dessert in themselves.
You can see the staff really work hard, seem to enjoy their work and clearly earn their money. I feel with the type of menu, the restaurant is always to going to be busy and you may expect a bit of a wait, however the children and I reckon you would not be disappointed and the wait be well worth it.
