busb's Qype profile

I had braised pork belly with black pudding & my girlfriend had roast sea trout. The trout was great (served with mash). Braising pork belly didn’t work – the rind was soft & needs to be crisp!! I’m not a fan of black pudding but it was amazing.
I followed with a chocolate tart, my partner: fig & almond pudding. The service was fine as was the decor & atmosphere. So why only three stars? I woke up the next morning with stomach cramps & suffered for the rest of our holiday!

NO LONGER CALLED THE PENINSULA BUT OTHERWISE STILL GOOD BUT DROPS A STAR. They no longer appear to do chicken or prawns with cashews in yellow bean source.

Three of us went there, having looked it up on Qype for a day out in Oxford. We started off with the old favourite of Crispy Duck as a starter which only came with 3 pancakes – until a further 3 appeared. One could argue that crispy duck is crispy duck but this was noticeably better than average.
Our main course comprised of a vegetable & chicken noodle dishes, sweet & sour chicken (a rather bright orange colour!) sizzling beef, King Prawns & cashews with special fried rice – just about enough! With drinks – £68. The price was a little steeper than average but not by much.
The sizzling beef was slightly sweet & wonderful, both noodle dishes were also delicious! King prawns & cashews was also rather fine. All in all, a great meal – all three of use thoroughly enjoyed the food! The service was good but don’t expect to see fine views over Oxford as it’s in a basement!
worth a visit.

Nice building & atmosphere but the beer tasted suspiciously like it was gas-driven keg!

We went on my girlfriend’s birthday, having read glowing reviews. We were lead to a tiny table downstairs. Business was brisk & the service slow.
Starters were OK but my red Thai curry was very average. My girlfriend enjoyed her king prawn course.
I’ve had far better Thai meals than this! Pretty disappointing all round.

We stayed for one night early July – most hotels were booked up. Calling this estabilisment a hotel is really stretching the term – more like a guesthouse down a residential street.
The staff were welcoming, helpful & polite. The place was clean enough & very modern in feel. The room was OK, well furnished, air-conditioned with a nice bathroom, LCD TV with Sky but just two BIG problems:
NO parking – it’s a fairly small end-terrace property with no dedicated parking.
No cooked breakfast! You make it yourself in your room – there is a fridge & microwave. Small boxes of cereals, two muffins & ceareal bars welcome you. Tea & coffee has to be made in the microwave. There was a pint of milk & two cartons of juice in the fridge.
They are having a laugh for £185 a night! The room has a combination lock as did the main entrance – it’s unstaffed after early evening.
Having to make your own breakfast is not uncommon but with no toast or even a kettle for the inflated price – no thanks!
AVOID!!! Not exactly close to the town centre either.

Our 1st night was the Thursday before That Wedding & cost us £79 for a double room with breakfast thrown in. The Friday cost £99!
The Falstaff has a nice atmosphere with a courtyard towards the rear. We turned up around 14:30 & had a drink in the bar while we waited a short while for our room to be readied. Room access is by key, not card.
Nearly every floorboard in both corridors & our room creaked which amused rather than annoyed us. Our room (28, IIRC) was quite nice, not large but homely. The bathroom was adequate rather than great.
An iron, hairdryer, 14" CRT TV & tea/coffee making facilities were available. Our room was on the 1st floor on the street side but noise wasn't a problem - even on a busy Friday night. The windows had secondary glazing with wooden Venetian blinds. We got a good two night's sleep & the bed didn't creak!
We watched a bit of the wedding but the picture was noisy. Breakfast was better on the 1st morning - the Friday was self-service. I do like conveyor-belt style toasters that you can help yourself to though!
4 stars for the 1st night & 3 for the Friday! The staff were great.

Stayed here the Saturday after That Wedding - a std double cost £120 via Booking.com. Breakfast was extra at around £8.50 each with the 40% off voucher we were handed on arrival.
Room 102 was large with the bathroom off to our right which was a wetroom that would please Japanese guests without fear of flooding the diningroom below!
The carpet was so spongy, I thought I was going to fall over! Two large single beds were slung together & had VySpring mattreses that were too soft for my taste. The room was air-conditioned, very modern with photos of the cathedral etc. An iron, board, hairdrier, writing paper, chargeable tuckbox, tea/coffee making LCD TV, DVD player & a small safe complete the inventory. The free WiFi required registration but worked fine
The (bathless) bathroom was very nicely adorned With a fold-down seat in the shower corner - gets my vote!
We got a good night's sleep, possibly helped by running up a £37 bar bill after a great curry we had down Palace St.
You can occupy from 14:00 & vacate up to midday, the staff were friendly & helpful. We had a full English breakfast that was OK rather than memorable - I prefer crispy bacon!

The Needles covers a large area that includes the Amusement Park, Alum Bay beach, the battery & rocket test site. The buses stop outside the amusement centre that also has chairlift access to Alum Bay beach & summer season boat trip around the Needles. If you don't mind he climb back up, you can walk down the many wooden steps.
How amusing you find the park probably depends if you have children in tow or not! There are a few small rides, iced cream booths, hot dog stands, places to buy sticks of rock & a shop where you can fill glass items with coloured sand or buy them already filled. I seem to remember a fairly large restaurant.
The Needles & the Old Battery (Victorian Fort built 1842) are a twenty walk that can be accessed on the Southern Vectis tour bus. The small road is closed to cars, if I recall correctly. The Needles Old Battery is National Trust & is entered through a gated & short tunnel that's part of chalky ramparts where you pay to enter & look around the various windowless rooms that have artefacts & cover the history of the site that was built to repulse invaders. This tunnel opens onto a very large courtyard with the cannon placements to the right & straight ahead that overlook the western approach to The Solent. There is a building that resembles an airfield control tower that's a museum with a cafe at the top with fine views of the Needles, lighthouse & sea. Back out in the courtyard are steps down to the tunnel that about 50m long leading to the large search light placement that overlooks the Needles & lighthouse.
Back towards the park on the right is the rocket testing site where the Black Arrow & Black Knight rocket engines were tested in the 1950s (Highdown Test ite). Most of the buildings were demolished but some of the bunkers survive & worth looking around

I really liked Osborne House - hence 5 stars. If you like Victoriana, architecture, large gardens & /or history, this grand house should not disappoint. I would allow at least 4 hours to look around the house & the extensive grounds & gardens if the weather allows. I seem to remember transport being available but we walked down to the summer house & vegetable garden.
One aspect of Queen Victoria's life that became obvious was how important children & family life were to her. Although I took lots of photos outside & inside through the windows, photography inside was banned. There is a bus stop directly outside the main gate.

Went here with my girlfriend Sat 05/03/2010. It was extremely busy early evening. The service was slow, very poor & unfriendly! The restaurant was also too cold - I like to feel comfotable without my coat on! I really get pissed off when the plates turn up 15 mins before the food! The same thing with out main course but they were stone-cold! Drops two stas!

Have been twice fairly recently - the place has been refurbished & looks better off for it! The menu is fairly extensive, there always seems to be a number of Chinese eating there which is a good sign.
The noodle dish we ordered was huge! I would suggest going as a group rather than just two - you can then share more dishes between you because you will feel well fed! Not bad but I can remeber an epic company Christmas trough-out in 2000 when it was called the Imperial - the food just kept on coming back then!
Worth a visit.