Restaurant review: Elliot's

Published on Friday 8 May 2009 14:54

There are two ways to make a small fortune. One is to give Fred the Shred a big fortune and a free hand. The other is to come up with a successful business formula and hammer it for all it's worth. The owners of Elliot's in Prestwick have decided to take the second path to an early retirement and are reaping the reward with their bar and restaurant in this small Ayrshire town packed to the gunwales virtually every night of the week.

Elliot's is one of a trio of bar-cum-restaurants – along with Scott's at Troon Harbour and the Lido on Troon high street, with Regatta at Largs Marina due to be unveiled soon – which have all been absurdly successful. There is no great secret to that success: they all embrace the concept that being cheap inevitably leads to cheerful punters who come back time after time.

Actually, that is a little simplistic. While there's no doubt that Elliot's can be gloriously cheap – how else can you describe a restaurant which sells its main courses at 5.95 between 5pm and 6.30? – the environment is also strikingly contemporary, with a commendable accent on comfort. It's also got a huge bar attached which expands into a nightclub later in the evening, so that the evening begins with families out for an affordable meal, moves through the arrival of older customers, and ends with the packed nightclub blasting out music at top volume.

It is a one-stop shop of hedonism that's clearly hugely popular to judge by our visit on a Wednesday night when the place was heaving (in fact we only got in because there was a cancellation). Not only was it bouncing, noisy and vibrant, but it was full of people from miles around, all converging on Prestwick – or, more accurately, Elliot's – for a midweek blast. Nor were the customers all young party-goers: the main restaurant was mainly full of thirtysomethings, but the conservatory-style dining area was annexed by diners who were generally a generation older.

Such is the obvious turnover of the place that it was no surprise to be confronted with a truly gargantuan menu that included more than 20 starters and 30 main courses. It was a surprise, however, to find that the prices were more like those for pub grub, with virtually all of the comfort food main courses under a tenner and many of the starters under a fiver. Even the steaks started from 15.

As we were on the coast, Bea started off with the pan-fried king prawns while I went for the baked mushrooms with smoked bacon and leeks. The prawns were exactly as you'd want them to be: big, succulent and plentiful. Bea could find no fault, a rare moment indeed. I, on the other hand, wasn't quite as enamoured with my mushrooms, which were soaked in a super-rich creamy bacon and leek sauce.

Next came my lobster and crayfish gratin, a huge bowl of steaming, fishy comfort food which would have been enough for a meal on its own. It was, however, impossible to judge it objectively. Despite containing a lot of fish, it also came in pretty much an identical sauce to the one that I'd just eaten with my starter. Being a good(ish) boy I always try to finish what's in front of me but by the time I gave up on this one, I was feeling impossibly bloated and ever so slightly queasy at the thought of even one more spoonful of that creamy sauce.

If Bea had enjoyed her starter, she was slightly less keen on her beef bourguignon, which contained huge chunks of beef alongside button mushrooms, baby onions and smoked bacon, plus a helping of mashed potato – which was irredeemably bland. By no means bad, just nothing to write home about.

Although I could barely bring myself to eat any more I ordered a bowl of Eton mess for pudding, while Bea opted for the lemon tart. Once again there was a divergence of opinions, with Bea's bitingly tart lemon cake the highlight of her meal, while my preposterously large helping of Eton mess had so much cream smothered over the top that I had to shovel like fury to find out what was underneath it, only to discover that the answer was an almost complete absence of the meringue that's supposed to be one of the dish's main ingredients.

On the whole, you get tremendous value at Elliot's in really comfortable and relaxed surroundings, but it's also worth bearing in mind that if you pitch up to eat at quarter to nine, then the last portion of your meal will be accompanied by thumping music from the bar-cum-club next door, which seems to swing into full cranium-cracking mode at about 10.30. You have been warned!

Vital statistics

Elliot's

132 Main Street, Prestwick

(01292 677677, www.elliots-prestwick.com)

Out of pocket

Starters 3.65-6.95 Mains 8.95-19.95 Puddings 4.25-4.95 Cheese 6.95 Children's meals Starters 1.25-1.50 Mains 2.95 Puddings 1.50-1.75

Rating 6.5/10