Brunch at Bill's

This morning I headed to Bill's in Richmond to meet some girl friends for brunch - how Sex and the City of me! I've been to various Bill's restaurants many times before, but only for dinner - never for brunch. I love their halloumi & hummus burger, as well as the warm mini doughnuts with strawberries and chocolate sauce for dessert. Just the thought of those are making me hungry! In all, my experience at Bill's has always been pleasurable, and I was excited when they opened a new restaurant in my hometown of Richmond last year. 

Unfortunately though, I had a mixed experience when I headed in for brunch this morning. I ordered the eggs florentine and it really was tasty, but my order didn't arrive as described on the menu - they had forgotten to add the pumpkin seeds. Not the end of the world I guess, but unfortunately the service was pretty shocking too. We ordered some hot drinks, which didn't arrive for at least 20 minutes. Then I discovered they had weirdly given me a jug of soya milk (which I hadn't ordered) to go with my tea - maybe they were out of normal milk?! To top it all off our waitress came across as pretty grumpy and was rude when we (quite rightly) questioned an incorrect amount on the bill. 

Enough of the negatives though, I don't like to moan too much! I really enjoyed my food. Here was my eggs florentine, which they described as free ranged poached eggs on toasted English muffins with spinach, hollandaise and pumpkin seeds (which mine sadly lacked). Sorry the photo quality isn't that marvellous.

Reasonable for £7.35 in my opinion - it was really tasty and the perfect portion size for me. In total I paid £12 which included my eggs, a generous pot of tea, a cloudy apple juice and my share of the tip. Not bad for brunch in a pretty expensive town like Richmond!

I do really love the food at Bill's, and I have always had good service there in the past (I especially love the Islington restaurant - the staff were so friendly and attentive when I was last there one busy Friday evening in May). My slightly unfortunate experience won't put me off from going back there again because I do think Bill's is a great chain, I was just a little disappointed today.

If you've never eaten there before I would urge you to try it. They seem to be expanding all the time which is a sign of how popular they are - I've just noticed they've opened a new restaurant in Putney. No doubt I'll be trying that one out next!

Lisa x