TQ2boyz's Qype reviews
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The Pavillion, Vaughan Road, Torquay TQ2 5EQ
The Reah Brothers at the Pavilion
From the moment we walked in we were made welcome by the delightful young woman behind the bar,it is a shame that on such a fabulous day there was a limited amount of seating available out on the deck overlooking the Marina,but we found somewhere to sit and drink whilst waiting for the bar food we had ordered.
TQ2boyz
wrote on 6 September 2012
There was what I consider a respectable amount of time before the food arrived on hot plates,and we had found a suitable table by then to sit and eat our food. The food was very competitively priced and my King Prawn and Squid Tagliatelli with sweet chilli cream sauce was exquisite with plenty of full flavoured prawns and squid in it. My companions enjoyed their steaks and baguettes equally so with no complaints about anything,except that the previous occupants wine glasses and empty bottle was left on our table until after we had finished and left.
When you consider that I am a retired restaurant manager of some 35 years experience,finding only one such complaint is going some!!!
I would strongly recommend that the management invest in more outdoor seating since they have the area and if they have brought it in due to the time of year then they should be aware that Torquay regularly has excellant weather in September and early October. -
3 Croft Road, Torre, Torquay TQ2 5UF
TQ2boyz
wrote on 30 July 2010
As an hotel manager in the Bay, I enjoy and also find it challenging taking business acquaintences out for dinner somewhere that I don't run!
I had already heard good things about The Ocean Brasserie and knew it was a short walk thus negating the problem with parking near the restaurant.
The ambience is continental and personal with a small bar in the front room of this building and a basic and comfortable restaurant on the other side stretching back.
The menu is limited, but so much better to do a small menu very well than a large menu poorly and that is exactly what they do hjere. The joint owner served us - without knowing who I was,so this is usual - she was very attentive without intruding on our evening. The wine was superb and not over priced and the food was superb and again not expensive. Portions are acceptable, leaving one feeling comfortably satisfied not bulging but do not book in expecting a quick meal, everything is produced from fresh - it shows in taste as well - and so a comfortable conversation break can be expected after ordering and between courses..
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Meadfoot Sea Road, Torquay TQ1 2LQ
TQ2boyz
wrote on 18 June 2009
Since the sad demise of the Ocean House Hotel a few years back, there hasn’t been a really stylish gay hotel/resort in the Bay… until now!
On the recommendation of some friends, us cubs decided to pop in for a drink, a sauna… and, of course, a damn good snoop!! And, oh, how we LOVED it. We both have a thing for the fine Victorian Villas of Torquay, especially when they are stripped out, beautifully and stylishly decorated and brought kicking back to life with thought, consideration and STYLE. Key West is a huge and imposing building on the edge of Meadfoot Beach (an easy amble if you want one… )and has a beautifully appointed bar area (widescreen TV, huge comfy armchairs and sofas, fresh decor and, loth as I am to mention “happy hours”; a BUCKET of good Chardonnay for £2!)opening out onto a garden area and swimming pool with views out over Daddyhole Plain (alright, scoff if you must, that’s what it’s called…) The rooms vary from singles to executive doubles, and the sauna is nicely constructed from an ample cellar, and will be extended as time goes on. We left with a smile and a feeling of relaxed refreshment. We tip our hats seriously to the new owners who have quietly got on with the good works without a furious blast of trumpets. For our community, give it a whirl, and for visitors, it is well worth one!!
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54 Union Street, Torquay TQ2 5PS
TQ2boyz
wrote on 18 November 2008
Is it possible to truthfully write a review of a single unit of a corporate entity? In our case, this is an easy job, because the store itself is merely gift wrapping, it is what it CONTAINS that is important… and that is a group of highly motivated, committed, intelligent, informative staff who work amazingly well together as a team and, with typical South-Western style, are more than happy to go the extra MARATHON on your behalf. We have been using our local Thomas Cook’s now for nearly a decade, and they have never EVER let us down in any way. They are hardworking, informative, and utterly committed to their customers. Not so much staff, as friends!! We have even watched gleefully as one of the girls was EVICTED from her seat while serving us as she would rather help than have her lunch break! You don’t get THAT in many places! The store is always spotlessly clean and very well-presented. Tour magazines are racked in highly-organised groups on the walls. The latest offers are highlighted for attention. The desks are all polished and the place even SMELLS spotless! For us, our holiday begins in Thomas Cook’s, and the girls (and guys) seem to get us much of a kick out of our bookings as we do. If that gets them a bonus, I care not one whit. Exellence in service is a WONDERFUL thing!!
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19a Walnut Road, Torquay TQ2 6HP
TQ2boyz
wrote on 5 October 2008
It suddenly occurred to us that we had said where NOT to go for a chinese meal in the town,but hadn’t offered anyone an alternative!
Well,this may be a take away and tucked away in our “village” suburb of the town,but it is a fine example of great food at an excellant price.
Always friendly and reasonably quick this little shop will fill you up,even if you have gargantuan appetites like us so we usually have food left over from a menu for 2 and never order a menu for 4 when we have guests. The food is always hot and full of individual tastes and crunch and does not leave you swallowing gallons of water for the next few hours due to an overdose of msg either. -
Torre Abbey Meadows, Torquay TQ2 5DG
TQ2boyz
wrote on 25 September 2008
(updated on 27 September 2008)
Oooooohhh!! Controversy!! You would not BELIEVE how contrary some of our locals are here in Torquay… when someone mooted the idea of having a tethered balloon on Torre Abbey Meadows so that folks could have a 200m+ overview of the Bay and town the whining could be heard from London. However, like the surreal juxtaposition of Wind Farms in the desolate hills around Palm Springs, the balloon somehow has a strange beauty in its surroundings. I am reminded (in my increasing age…. ) of the world famous “Golf Balls” of the Early Warning System plonked like aliens on the moors outside Whitby, or, perhaps more appositely, “Rover” the big bubble who used to chase Patrick McGoohan round Portmeirion! It is large, it is white, and the view you get from the gondola at around 500ft is pretty spectacular. Torquay looks like a huge Albino Victorian Starfish sprawling up the famous Seven Hills, and the view over towards Dartmouth and across the Bay is pretty cool too!! I’m sure it WILL catch on as a permanent addition to our scene, and it will also combine with Torre Abbey itself as a combined attraction when THAT re-opens shortly. With the onrush of the stay-cation, Torquay could do with more family attractions. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, I always say!!
Steaders I’ve tried the one they had in Bristol for a while, and the one at Disneyland Paris - awesome views! And I don’t really like heights!
28 September 2008
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St. Marychurch Road, Torquay TQ12 4SE
TQ2boyz
wrote on 12 September 2008
Some garden centres are HUGE, some garden centres are… well… shops. Plant World, however, is kind of like a Floral Marwell… a place where rare and exotic plants are hothoused, reared, and then sold on to folks like us with an eye for the rare and fascinating. The gardens around the well-appointed and comfortable cafe have been divided up into a comfortable little amble “around the world” with indigenous plants from all corners of the globe. The view down across the Teign Estuary also makes this little piece of heaven well worth a visit. The plants are reasonably priced and are picked with an eye for serious gardeners who plant for effect as well as just botany… Plant World also does a neat line in Echiums… my favourite plant of the moment; a mad cross between a Christmas tree and a lupin with a big pillow of leaves at its base. Hmmm… it ALMOST looks phallic, could that possibly be why?? Surely not…..
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41 Shiphay Lane, Torquay TQ2 7DU
Shiphay Dental & Torbay Implant Centre - Shiphay
TQ2boyz
wrote on 10 September 2008
Now for me to recommend a dentist it takes something..I am of that age group where there is NOTHING worse than a dentist this side of the spanish inquisition!!
From the moment I joined this practice they have been totally professional and extremely personable and friendly,the facilities are clean and welcoming and whilst there is a whiff of that dentists smell as you enter the building it is not too strong and in the comfortable waiting rooms you soon do not notice it as you sink in to the radio 2 and selection of quality recent magazines. The hygeinist and dentistry teams are not patronising or dominating they are consultative and responsive,of course this is a private practice - hens teeth are easire to find than an NHS pracice in Devon - but I am a denplan customner having taken that out when I was 30 (Method being if I have paid for it I will use it regularly..the meaness over comes the terror you see!)
I no longer break out in a cold sweet when I go to the dentist or find myself gripping the side of the chair like a man possessed LOL -
Belgrave Road, Torquay TQ2 5HE
TQ2boyz
wrote on 28 August 2008
Since this has just opened we went there to check it out,and also to have a quickish business lunch..BAD MOVE!!
We arrived at 2.20pm and were shown fairly quickly to a table and given menus…at 2.40 someone finally arrived to ask if we wanted a drink…at 2.50 he came back to take our order,still no sign of the drinks but we had,by then had time to notice that all the glasses on the table were caked in lipstick and managed to make him understand that we wanted them removed and that the mature lady who was having the diet coke did not wish to drink it out of the bottle with a twirly straw!!
The starters arrived at 3.10 and were pleasant,the main courses then arrived at 3.30 and were a mixture of pleasant and over cooked,by now we were running out of time before we had to attend to other matters and so declined a sweet and asked for the bill…this finally arrived at 3.55.
In short;poor service in a dirty restaurant which was far from busy I should add so no obvious reason for the delays especially since everything is pre-portioned and prepared in this business.
If you want a decent steak,cooked the way you want it then pay a bit more and go to Mima’s Restaurant just up the road at The Grosvenor Hotel. -
34-36 Torwood Street, Torquay TQ1 1EB
TQ2boyz
wrote on 10 August 2008
You may have read our review of “Amigos” the other smaller tex-mex in town,well fair is fair…time for a review of the big boy near the harbourside.
Having made the effort to book,knowing how very busy this restaurant is we were seated fairly quickly in this bussling,noisey restaurant,we then had plenty of time to read and decide on our menu choices since our small tucked away table was obviously off the main radar of the waiting staff.(2 men in their forties are obviously not deemed to be probably good tippers,unlike the screaching hen and stag parties and company night out types!)
Having finally managed to get an order taken and drinks brought to us when the food arrived it was so poorly presented that I could best describe my plate of Chimichanga as being more reminiscent of “Jimmy Chunda” to utillise an australianism.
Quite apart from looking unappetising the food was also surprisingly bland and the drab selection of bought in sweets did not inspire me to indulge my chocolate fixation at all,in fact I was happy to escape this restaurant and vowed never to recommend it again.
