Mulligans' Restaurant and Bar

Mulligans Restaurant in Datchet, Berkshire is a fish restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere and friendly staff. The restaurant was originally the "Sportsman" pub, before closing down and re-establishing itself as Mulligans.

***** Reason for Visit *****
Being a bit of a fish lover myself, I have often passed the restaurant on my way to and from Staines and have always wanted to try it. However, I never seem to have ...
...be able to indulge myself! This all changed at the start of Feb when my friend decided to have her birthday meal at Mulligans. Great at last an opportunity to taste their wares. So off a I went with kids and hubby in tow for an enjoyable evening with friends.

***** What's it like? *****
The restaurant has a large free car park for its customers, which is very beneficial considering it's location, although it's only a short taxi ... more

Mulligans Restaurant in Datchet, Berkshire is a fish restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere and friendly staff. The restaurant was originally the "Sportsman" pub, before closing down and re-establishing itself as Mulligans.

***** Reason for Visit *****
Being a bit of a fish lover myself, I have often passed the restaurant on my way to and from Staines and have always wanted to try it. However, I never seem to have enough hours in the day or a free evening to be able to indulge myself! This all changed at the start of Feb when my friend decided to have her birthday meal at Mulligans. Great at last an opportunity to taste their wares. So off a I went with kids and hubby in tow for an enjoyable evening with friends.

***** What's it like? *****
The restaurant has a large free car park for its customers, which is very beneficial considering it's location, although it's only a short taxi journey from Windsor or Slough. We entered and were warmly greeted by a member of staff. This lovely lady noted our children and made them feel very welcomed. Then she noted I had bought my youngest child's booster seat, "Thank goodness" she said, "We don't actually have any highchairs or booster seats, although children are always very welcome". We were shown to our table, where the guest of honour and other friends had already gathered.

The restaurant is very spacious allowing Mulligans to be able to cater for parties with large numbers. There were blackboards hung on the walls declaring all the specials for the day, and where there were no blackboards, there were plenty of pictures of fish! The overall ambience was very warm and welcoming but I have to say it did look like a converted pub! The whole interior could have done with a lick of paint just to make it look a bit fresher, and to be honest I could have done without looking at a rusty radiator all evening.

***** Ordering *****.
Well let's just say you're spoilt for choice, not only is there a very extensive menu (http://www.placetoeat.co.uk/mulligans.htm) but there is also quite a comprehensive specials board. The staff were very knowledgeable about the fish and were always willing to discuss the choices with you. If you were a novice at fish eating their help would be invaluable. As there was a large number of us, the waitress repeated our order back to us just to confirm we weren't missing anything.

All the food is cooked on site in an open plan kitchen which you can into. My boys enjoyed watching the food being cooked while waiting for ours to appear. We didn't have to wait long for the food to arrive, and before the staff vanished after serving they doubled checked nothing was missing and that everyone was alright for drinks.

I started with the oriental chicken wings. Yes, I know it's a fish restaurant fish and I should have been ordering a fish starter, but I was planning on sharing it with my 2 year old. The oriental chicken wings were lovely, and from speaking to the other guests the rest of the starters were just as enjoyable.

Main course I had Mussels, which we're several with either chips, jacket potato, or boiled potatoes. The chips were chunky and freshly cooked, definitely not the oven cooked variety, the boiled potatoes weren't very good, you could eat them if you had to, and the jacket potato was quite bland and came without butter. Pudding was a superb Lemon Cheesecake.

***** Drinks *****.
The drinks menu was extensive, however they only had one draught bitter which did not go down terribly well with my hubby. As designated driver I was on plain old coke, but those on the wine said the list was comprehensive and very reasonably priced. The children all had orange juice, and I think the staff must have been having a competition on who could make the longest straw!

***** Audience *****
So who would like Mulligans? Well definitely anyone who likes well prepared, cooked fish. The restaurant is family friendly although if you have very small children I recommend that you take your own highchair or booster seat with you. Groups of friends wanting to enjoy a good meal together, anyone planning a celebratory party, and it would also be ideal for a "date" meal. I have also been told that on Monday evenings entertainment is provided.

***** Facilities *****
There's plenty of free car parking for customers.
Lovely well kept toilet facilities.
Well stocked bar as long as you don't want a large range of draught bitter.
Open kitchen so you can watch the food being prepared.

***** Address *****
Mulligan's Restaurant & Bar
Fish a speciality
134 Horton Road,
Datchet
01753 591173

***** Overall *****
A great time was had by all. The staff were very friendly, helpful and tolerant in the case of one of our party! I would certainly recommend it to my friends and family, in fact I have already done so in a number of cases.
 

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