I always like trying new restaurants, and Ego is a chain that I am relatively new to. There is one relatively close to us in Lichfield that I have been to twice, and enjoyed the food both times, so when we were invited to dine at the Kenilworth venue we thought it was a good excuse for a day out and a trip to look at the Castle too. And while the castle tour was cut short through vile weather, Ego provided a warm welcoming hideout for the rain.
When we arrived the large spacious restaurant was quite empty, but it really filled up over the couple of hours and it was obvious that many were regulars from the sound of their conversations with the staff, which is always a good sign for a place.
We’d skipped out on breakfast on the day of our visit so were pretty ravenous, thus ordering some Pitta bread with Hummus, Tzatziki and Salsa to nibble on whist looking through the menus.
Difficult to judge something like this, as you can never really tell whether the dips are homemade, or at least made by a central kitchen for Ego, but they tasted good nevertheless, and Imogen enjoyed a first taste of tzatziki too. Ego menus are meditteranean in origin, with a range of options from mezes & mussels to tagines and tiramisu.
We ordered a couple of drinks, I tried one of Ego’s signature cocktails, a Flirtini, made with Absolut vodka, triple sec, pineapple and prosecco. I thought it would be a bit sweet, but the triple sec and prosecco balanced the sweet pineapple really well.
I decided on the Calamari Fritti to start. The batter was quite dark, I thought it would be very overdone because of this but I think it was from the paprika as the calamari itself was lovely and tender. Lee chose the Soup Du Jour which was vegetable which he said was well seasoned.
For the mains I went for the Mixed Piri-Piri Chicken, Chorizo, Moroccan Lamb & Chipotle Steak Kebab, served with wraps, red onion, courgette and mixed peppers and dips. I really loved this kebab – the meat was all juicy and tender and the piri piri sauce delicious and tangy. It was a huge portion and I had to leave the wraps that came with it but this isn’t a bad thing!
Lee chose the Iberian Belly Pork – Slow roast & honey glazed with spinach, chorizo & black pudding, thyme red wine jus & parmentier potatoes. He really enjoyed the dish, the pork was really well cooked and the black pudding and chorizo gave it lots of flavour, along with the rich glossy jus.
With all that meat inside us we could have been forgiven for not having a pudding. But I’m afraid the words Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Tart lept off the menu and into my stomach. It didn’t disappoint either – silky smooth and sweet with that hint of salt it was delicious. Lee had the Apple & Passionfruit Crumble. We’ve never seen passionfruit in a crumble before and Lee thought if would probably be overpowered by the apple, but actually was pleased that he could taste it really well.
Child Friendly? Yes – spacious interior room for prams if needed, plenty of highchairs and large changing area.
All in all very much a success of a lunch, with nothing really to pick fault with, I would definitely recommend Ego to someone looking for a tasty family friendly lunch.
Disclosure: We were invited to review the food at Ego free of charge. NO further compensation was received and we were not required to write a positive review.
