Frankie and Benny’s Castleford Review

 It’s always nice to have some much needed quality Family time together and that is exactly what we had when we visited Frankie and Benny’s at Castleford Xscape for lunch. On arrival we were greeted and seated straight away into a cosy seating area and taken to another place and era with all the pictures and memorabilia hung on the walls with an American Italian 1950’s feel.

The music was exactly to my taste and matched the theme of Frankie and Benny’s and I could have sat for hours enjoying the music and soaking up the atmosphere.

Whilst we were looking through the menus we ordered our drinks and were asked if we would like to order a portion of Dough Balls to nibble on whilst we browsed the menus.

The Dough balls came and disappeared very quickly mostly by my two boys.

These were perfect for all tastes as the garlic butter came in a separate little pot so for some who do not like garlic like my youngest son he was not left out.

We ordered both from the main menu and also from the lunch time menu which is incredibly good value for money. With over 25 main courses to choose from for just £5.95! Top up to 2 courses for £8.25 or 3 courses for £9.25 all available 11am-5pm, Mon-Fri even in the school holidays.

For starters after plenty of deliberation we settled on the ‘Big Sample Platter’A giant feast of house favourites; chicken strips, BBQ chicken wings, fully loaded potato skins, spicy onion rings, bread sticks and garlic ciabatta bread. Served with a selection of delicious dips and crunchy celery sticks.  And ideal for us as there was four of everything! Priced at only £13.99 this worked out cheaper than buying individually at only £3.50 each.

When it arrived we had a few wows from the boys and I am sure a few envious looks from other dinners.

For our mains I chose a vegetarian burger as part of a two course option from the day time menu and my eldest son did the same yet only with the cheeseburger option.

My husband a man with a larger appetite chose the ‘Manhattan 12oz double stack burger’ priced at £12.95 and my youngest son chose the margarita pizza from the junior menu at just £3.95 for a main course, a dessert and refillable soft drinks. All of their children’s’ meals come with an optional side of vegetables, side salad or Heinz baked beans – free of charge every child gets a fun activity pack with games and puzzles and even a Free apple from the desk for children! What more could you ask for I don’t think I have ever seen so much for such a little price.

The activity packs are pretty good too and kept us all amused in between courses The main courses arrived and were cooked to perfection and all the plates were returned very bare. The children’s pizza was humongous it filled a whole plate and looked like an Adult size so my son was very happy as sometimes the children’s meals arrive and they can be so tiny in some restaurants but not here.

We really didn’t need a desert but it would have been rude not to try a little indulgence, my son and I opted for the Chocolate Brownies whilst my husband and son chose sundaes the ‘Banoffee sundae for my husband and for my eldest son the ‘East Coast Sundaes’. Not only was I told how scrumptious these tasted but they also looked pretty impressive too.We left the restaurant that afternoon extremely full but very satisfied.

I would recommend Frankie and Benny’s at Xscape to anyone wanting a great value lunch but still with all the trimmings, Birthday Parties, or just a family day/night out whilst enjoying all the activities that Xscape have to offer.

I would like to say a big thank you to the staff who made us feel at ease and able to have a very special afternoon as a family.

(We were sent to test the Frankie and Benny’s Castleford for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are of my own)