THE GEORGE AND DRAGON, BRENTWOOD

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a restaurant and been impressed from beginning to end, and that’s exactly what The George and Dragon did recently.

Firstly, this is one for those of you who live in or the surrounding areas of Essex. The George and Dragon is based in Mountnessing, Brentwood, and has recently had an interior refurbishment and menu update. I was kindly asked along to review and having been in the diary 6 weeks in advance, the Sunday afternoon finally arrived that we had a reservation for.

This 1700s townhouse is a place I had never heard of until recently and I’m so glad I was, as we cannot wait to return for some more grub soon! 

Upon pulling into the on-site car park, The George and Dragon is a simple looking magnolia coloured town house with gridded window panes and duck egg painted window frames. Very cute. 

 
There is additional parking around the back of the building, which gave us a lovely view and walk through the gardens. Brand new benches and tables are scattered around the garden, with concrete slabs leading up a small pathway to the entrance. Although, a few steps are included, so disabled or less able people will have to walk around to the front to enter. Saying that, the disabled parking bays are at the front of the pub which is a handy addition for a friendly pub-meets-restaurant like this one. 

Upon entering, the staff were aware of my arrival and greeted us straight away. The general manager came over and introduced herself, telling us about the recent refurbishment and a small history about the place. I thought this was really professional and a nice gesture for two new people to the venue for food. 

I am unsure what the pub looked like before the refurb, but it is situated into three separate levels. It looked like throughout the evening that a waitress or two managed each floor, so you could guarantee assistance quickly if you needed anything during your time there. Having the restaurant spread out across a few different levels is something both my boyfriend and I agreed is an excellent idea for such a large and bustling food establishment. 

Places like this can get quite loud (Nandos, I'm looking at you honey), so it was nice to feel like we was away from everyone else and able to enjoy our meal in peace.  Our table was situated on the top floor in the corner and gave us plenty of privacy to enjoy the food and have a chat about everything we was reviewing.

The new decor is cosy and warm and makes you feel like you're dining in the comfort of your own home. They have some pretty cool lights dotted around the place like the one above; making it feel modern and up to date with current home styles and trends. 

We started off by ordering some cocktails, which you just can't go wrong with on a Sunday afternoon. We ordered a minty Mojito and a Raspberry and Rhubarb Spritz for me; made with Circo vodka and Chambord. Bloody delicious and very refreshing! 

Next, it was time to galavant at the menu, which I hadn't had a sneak peak at - unlike Ricky! I knew I was probably always going to go for a Sunday roast as I am one of them people who is automatically in the mood for a Sunday roast every 7th day of the week!

To start, we decided to order the Grazing Platter (£16.95) to share as a beginning 'nibble starter', as everything that it came with was something we both liked. It came with minted lamb and balsamic koftas, sweet chilli chicken skewers, pulled pork croquettes and aioli and chorizo topped flatbread.

Everything was scrumptious! I particularly loved the minted lamb koftas, which went down well with the added sour cream and chive dip to accompany. The chicken was soft and fluffy inside and went really well alongside the garnished side salad. It really got us excited for the rest of the meal. 

I'll tell you now that I have no idea how we fit all of this food into our bellies.. but next, it was time to try the individual starters we ordered. Ricky likes to try calamari everywhere he goes, so he decided on the Salt and Szechuan Pepper Squid (£6.95). The portion was very generous and went down a treat.

For my individual starter, I tucked into the Crispy Karrage Chicken (£6.95), featuring ribbons of fresh cucumber, mouli, kale & cauliflower salad; with a pot of hot katsu curry sauce. The sauce had a slight kick to it which I was hoping for and really added a buzz to the chicken with a nice healthy salad to accompany. Delicious and definitely moreish!

We was so pleased when the mains came out around 20-30 minutes after starters. We felt a little stuffed already, so needed some time to allow the extra room for even more food. 

For main, Ricky ordered the Wagyu Burger (£16.95), which came with smoked Irish Cheddar, crispy onion loaf, tomato relish, fries and aioli. There's even options to add more to your burger. Choose from; bacon, chorizo, grilled halloumi, Cropwell Bishop Stilton, flat mushroom, king prawns and 1/2 lobster. 

As it was a Sunday, I did that extremely British thing and ordered a Chicken Roast (£13.95). They have a huge selection of different meats to choose from: Beef, Pork Loin, Roast Chicken, Lamb Rump, Trio of Meats (£17.95) and there's even a vegetarian Fig & Dolcelatte Nut Roast (£12.95). Such a difference from going to local pub style restaurants and always having a limit as to what meat you can have! My biggest annoyance! 

All the roasts come with smoked beef-dripping potatoes, honey-glazed carrots and parsnips, seasonal greens, a HUGE Yorkshire pudding and bottomless gravy. The vegetables were the perfect not-too-soft-but-not-too-hard texture and there was so much chicken that I ended up leaving a fair bit because I was so full! Everything was cooked to perfection, although it would've been nice to receive a pot of gravy to pour onto my meal myself. I felt there wasn't enough poured over the potatoes!

Feeling very satisfied and shocked at how nice the food was, we was approached with dessert menus and decided to order something because... why the heck not?!

I was tempted by so many of the desserts and found it difficult to choose between the Bramley Apple & Blackberry Shortbread Crumble (£5.95) and this absolute sickly delight.

The Melting Golden Chocolate Orange Bomb (£7.95) really was a bomb in the mouth and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. It arrives as a chocolate ball sitting in the middle of a plate, with a dollop of praline ice cream and a sprinkling of chocolate popping candy. The waitress then pours a pot of hot chocolate sauce (so hot, that you're not allowed to pour it yourself for health and safety reasons... complete BOO for my insta story plan!) all over the ball and it melts infront of your eyes into a puddle of diabetes. So much chocolate, so much popping candy. 

Keeping to the chocolate theme, Ricky ordered his favourite dessert and the only thing he ever seems to order; a Warm Chocolate Brownie (£6.50) with Bourbon vanilla ice-cream! The presentation was really lovely and made it much more appealing to eat. Inside, it was warm, fluffy and full of chocolate chips. Surprise... another chocolate surprise!

I cannot begin to describe how full and overly satisfied we felt after leaving The George and Dragon, but it was honestly one of the best 3-4 course meals we have had in a while. I find it very hard to find a chicken roast that beats my dads', but this one was definitely a close second.

The service we received all afternoon from the staff was outstanding and made us leave with a very positive feeling about the place. We have recommended it to so many people and already cannot wait to return to eat again on a near not-too-distant Sunday!

Disclaimer: A complimentary meal for 2 people was offered in exchange for an honest review on my blog. All words, opinions and photographs are my own.