PROMISING the 'coldest beers in town' was quite an enticement on a rare hot day.
But, with the air conditioning on full, the prospect of a locally-brewed real ale called UBU was even more exciting.
Especially as a chap at the bar said he'd just had THREE pints after watching a matinee of Henry IV Part I, before a coffee would apparently see him return to the RSC fully awake ready for Part II!
Meanwhile, the Bee couldn't fulfil the menu's pledge to offer all children 'FREE' bags of fruit as there were none left.
"Any chance of a discount, then?" I asked, more in hope than expectation. "'Fraid not," said my very friendly server, who might have thought of an alternative idea...
Our food arrived within 15 minutes. Collette's tasty fish with ten slimmish chips, and my excellent lasagne with crispy salad, were part of a two-meals for £7.99 deal.
From a choice of six dishes, our three children all had peas with either cheesy pasta, chicken nuggets and chips and sausages with chips.
For just £2.99 all in per head, they also got a glass of milk and two Fruit Shoots.
A large glass of Chardonnay and a pint of bitter brought the initial bill to a miserly £21.45. Marvellous.
I then bought two regular (ie impressively large) LavAzza lattes for just £1.98 the pair. Another bargain - they were twice as good as Starbucks for half the price.
They also came with two mini biscuits which nearly caused a riot. Back to the bar... Since we'd had no fruit, couldn't our server, Katherine, offer three little coffee biscuits for our nippers instead?
She did even better. I returned to our table with four quality pre-packed Bronte biscuits.
Smiles all round!
THE BILL: Fish and chips + lasagne meal deal £7.99, Three children's meals £8.97, 1 250ml Chardonnay £2.50, 1pt UBU guest ale £1.99, 2 regular LavAzza lattes £1.98. Total: £23.43.
