Arizona Restaurant, Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria (2012)…

This restaurant is apparently owned by the same person who owns the bar next door, so we weren’t sure where to sit when we went in, but the British waiter was friendly and quickly showed us to a table even though he worked in the bar, not the restaurant.

The tables had proper table cloths and were nicely laid out.

Bread rolls with a pot of herb butter were brought over, which we didn’t ask for but it didn’t matter as they were very nice.

For the main meal I had the vegetable pizza, which was lovely and thin with a delicious topping, while my partner had the mixed grill which hung from a skewer (with chips and a side salad). We had drinks (beer and mineral water) but didn’t have dessert.

After we’d eaten the waiter gave us some shots and cherry-flavoured lollipops (that’s a first!)

At around 25 euros we thought that it was good value and tasty, the restaurant was nice and clean, the staff were polite and we would happily recommend the Arizona to anyone else.

Bengal Spice, Wivenhoe, Essex (2012)...

My partner and I have been to The Bengal Spice a few times before, so chose this restaurant to celebrate his birthday.

There was no need to book as this was a quiet Tuesday evening (they open at 6pm).

The staff were friendly and attentive and we immediately ordered drinks; my partner had a beer while I had a coffee (proper coffee, not instant).

We started off with popadoms & chutneys. The popadoms were warm and crunchy and there were 4 chutneys to choose from.

Once we demolished those our starters arrived. I had garlic mushrooms while my other half had chicken pakora. Both were very tasty. My coffee was topped up and my partner had a lager shandy.

For main course I had vegetable balti with naan bread while my other half had chicken balti with naan bread. I’d also ordered sag aloo and he’d ordered pilau rice. All arrived hot and plentiful; in fact we were too full for any deserts!

On asking for the bill we were given the obligatory hot flannels, and then a little wrapped chocolate each. The bill was just under £45 which wasn’t too bad I thought.

Aquarius Restaurant, Sidari (2012)…

Spiros, Peri, Nikos, Kelly and George make this restaurant and bar the most welcoming place in Sidari.

There is a fabulous menu to choose from, with very reasonable prices, available from 8.30am – 11pm. (The bar opens from 8.30pm til late). The fresh Greek salad is phenomenal and for veggies (like me) there’s also a nice selection of home-made pizza, stuffed peppers/tomatoes, mushrooms in cream and much more…

Don’t worry if you’re a meat-eater as there’s more than enough on the menu to cater for your needs too!

You’ll find evening entertainment several nights per week; Saturdays Poolside BBQ, Sundays Quiz Night, Tuesdays Greek Night with dancers and plate-smashing, Wednesdays Live Music Night – rock and blues with Corfu’s very own Rock God, Nikos Sellas and his band. (Band name roughly translates as ‘3 and a cuckoo’).

Above the taverna is a playroom with pool table, darts, internet, games, library and widescreen tv.

You can order takeaway for your apartment, beach or excursions.

Unlike several other restaurants in Sidari, The Aquarius does accept credit cards which is very useful.

The views of the Mediterranean and Albania are spectacular and, in my opinion, this restaurant is by far the best in Sidari.

Madison Bar, Sidari (2012)…

We decided to give The Madison Bar & Restaurant a chance to redeem itself after our previous experience there, but unfortunately we definitely won’t be returning.

The beach-side views are stunning, but even on a relatively quiet Sunday evening the service was incredibly slow. I asked for a sparkling mineral water with a slice of lemon. It came minus the lemon. My Greek salad was plentiful, quite well presented and reasonably tasty although the lettuce could’ve been crispier. I dined alone for the first hour and I asked for the bill before my partner arrived. My meal came to 7 euros 90 cents and I put 8 euros into the plastic wallet for the waiter to take to the till. I didn’t indicate he could keep the 10 cents change but he didn’t bring it to me in any case. If he’d bothered to bring me my change I’d have tipped him (his loss).

My partner arrived and was largely ignored for 15 minutes until I eventually made contact with one of the waiters. He ordered a beer and a meat dish (3 meats with coleslaw and chips). He was less than impressed with the cold chips, which could easily have been someone else’s leftovers (no way of knowing).

I asked for another sparkling mineral water with lemon and again it arrived minus the lemon.

He asked for the bill and wanted to pay by credit card but was told the machine was broken so he’d have to pay by cash (just as well he had enough cash on him).

Yes, I could’ve made a fuss about the missing lemon, the missing change and the cold chips but to be honest I simply didn’t think it was worth the hassle. We WON’T be going back!

The Madison Bar, Sidari (2010)…

Two very different experiences, same restaurant!

We chose this restaurant on the Sunday evening of our holiday as the views of the beach were stunning and it looked very clean inside. We enjoyed a fabulous meal out on the deck while watching the sunset in a calm and peaceful environment.

The starters were delicious, I had the garlic mushrooms while my partner enjoyed a prawn cocktail, and the only minor irritation was with the main meal. I was more than happy with my Greek salad, however, my partner specifically asked that his pepper sauce be served separate from his steak; however it arrived on his meat. No big deal though, as the staff were very friendly and the atmosphere was very relaxing…..so we chose Madison’s for our evening meal on the Monday evening.

What a difference 24 hours makes! As the weather was cold, wet and windy the next night the doors to the deck overlooking the beach at Madison’s were closed, so we had to sit inside the main part of the restaurant. A DJ was playing music but it was tolerable. We soon began to smell cigarette smoke due to the closed doors, which as non-smokers was an unwelcome accompaniment to our meal, and within minutes of ordering our food the music was turned up much louder.

Our food arrived fairly quickly but was definitely not of the same standard as the previous night. The chips were greasy and under-cooked and there just seemed to be less attention to detail in general, probably due to the fact that there were more customers in there. The staff were pleasant enough, however, the DJ got hold of the mic and began shouting out to customers, encouraging them to play ‘guess the tv theme tune’ in order to win shots. He was trying to hype the audience up into a frenzy in readiness for the Neil Diamond Tribute act due on stage very shortly.

By this point, the racket was unbearable, and we rushed to finish our food and get out of there. It’s such a shame because we really did enjoy our meal in there the previous night.