The Slug and Lettuce, a restaurant mostly known as a place to go for buy one get one free cocktails, have exploited this reputation with the introduction of a new cheap and cheerful menu with a central focus on sharing both cocktails and food.
The aim for the new menu is to bring people together, to share a bite to eat with those you share your lives with. As the great philosopher Plato probably once said, “life is better with good food, good friends and great pornstar martinis”. At the Slug and Lettuce you can now get nine of those vanillary liquid goodnesses for £41.95, which is around £4.60 per drink (not forgetting the prosecco shot chaser). You aren’t saving much on price, as cocktails are already 2 for 1 – but the drinks do come in the formation of a tree, topped with a sparkler. This is great for birthdays and Instagram, isn’t mother nature glorious?
The new menu contains the usual suspects from classic pub dishes to a full English breakfast with options to make it tipsy for a boozy breakfast before a day in the city. The sharing platters range from cheesy topped nachos (with an option to add chilli beef) to the meat board sharer, and crispy duck sharer still at a reasonable price of £15.99; perfect before a night out or for a catch-up with friends.
For a vegetarian, the menu has a reasonable array of options, but that which we tasted left a little to be desired. The sautéed pepper and grilled halloumi flatbread seemed to be somewhat flavourless and the cubed halloumi topping chewy and uninspiring. Vegans have even less to write home about, although the vegan nachos were a welcome respite from the heavily meat-friendly menu. Of course, Slug and Lettuce is not a vegan or vegetarian restaurant and we can’t expect the world from cheaper eats, but I’m sure I am not the only vegetarian pleading with high street chains for a bit more than halloumi and bean burgers. The rest of the menu we didn’t get the chance to try looked promising however, with vegan options for Thai curry, chilli and vegetarian linguine.
For those who prefer to indulge in the sweeter things in life there is the £2.99 dessert menu (dangerous) with the option for the indecisive of three desserts for £7. The shareable desserts keep up with the restaurants desires for crowd-pleasing and feeding, with the majority coming in bite sized pieces. We predict the warm brownie bites and macaringues set to be a firm favourite amongst Slug and Lettuce goers, and ones you’ll regret agreeing to share when they’re on the table.
If inclusion is what the new food menu aims to provide, then the low-alcohol and new mocktail drinks menu ‘Sober Scene’ is a perfect accompaniment. Many don’t drink, be that for religion, dieting, driving, or just not feeling it tonight. When you are swept up in the uni bubble, going out four times a week and groaning in an post-alcohol protest hangover most mornings, you might wonder what relevance low alcohol menus have for people like you.
However, ONS figures last year showed that young people aged 16 to 24 years in Great Britain are less likely to drink than any other age group. With the new Gordon’s ultra-low alcohol gin and tonics offered on the revised drinks menu at Slug and Lettuce, there are options for everyone. Gordon’s standard gin comes in at 37.5% proof, where as the new range is a mere 0.5%. You can have a couple of these and drive safely, knowing you aren’t putting anyone’s lives in danger.
And the best part? It actually tastes like a G&T!
Cocktails and nibbles in relaxed environment that won’t break the bank. As a students on a budget, what more could we ask for?
