Lunch at Giraffe, Chelmsford.

I hadn’t been to a Giraffe in years, I’d experienced some bad service in there and not bothered to return. I’m pretty damn stubborn when it comes to service, but then I was offered a chance to go and check out their Chelmsford branch. I thought, why not give it another go as I’m sure I shouldn’t be tarring every branch with the same brush.

I was right; the service at Giraffe was second to none. Every member of staff that served us was super polite, up for some banter and more than happy to discuss the menu. I always like to watch the staff dealing with other tables to ensure everyone gets the same service, and they did.

Giraffe offers World Food as they state, and I agree with, that there’s a whole world of food out there just waiting to be explored so why not take the best bits from each and offer them to your clients. So, onto the menu…

As I’m off alcohol, Mike has cut down too in support as he’s such a good egg, so we opted for soft drinks. Mike had the fresh lemonade with mint and I went for the Sunshine Coast Iced Tea which was ice cold chamomile & green tea with mango, lime & I left out the fresh mint. My Iced Tea tasted like summer in cup which suited the sunny weather we were finally experiencing outside.

We decided to order two starters and share them as we were recommended them. I always do my best to try the foods that the staff recommend as they know the menu so well. We went with the Prawn Saganaki; king prawns cooked in tasty garlic, chili, white wine & tomato sauce with crumbled feta, served with toasted flatbread. This was amazing and I totally think it should be part of a pasta dish, it’d work so well. Our other started was the Salt & Pepper Squid with sweet chili jam and fresh lime. The squid, which I’m mega fussy with, was so good.

The mains we went for had a slight Oriental theme, but we did really struggle to make a decision as there was so much we wanted to try on the menu. Mike went for the Chicken Katsu; breaded chicken and noodles in a mild peanut & coconut sauce, with bok choy, tenderstem broccoli and wok-fried vegetables.

I had the Thai Duck Stir Fry; Shredded duck and noodles with chilli jam, bok choy, crispy onions and wok-fried vegetables in teriyaki sauce. I’m a total sucker for a stir fry but it makes such a difference to have duck as opposed to chicken.

 We couldn’t not have a dessert so we shared one, which seems to be becoming a bit o a thing we do at the moment, and this time we went in for the Whoopie Cookie. That’s Speculoos ice cream sandwiched between chocolate cookies with chocolate sauce, caramel popcorn and pretzels. Dreamy as it gets.

I did also notice that the menu had so many veggie options which I really liked and they have really great value set menus available of an evening.

We had a great time at Giraffe, and I certainly won’t be overlooking them as a place to grab some good grub in the future!