The Cow, 4 Chestnut Plaza, Westfield Stratford City, E20

Every once in a while, usually at someone's birthday and Christmas, there is a catch up / re-union of my College friends. I have known this particular motley crew since I was 18 which now feels like a very long time ago indeed, probably because it is, but its always nice to catch up. It's not always easy wrangling so many people together in the same place at the same time, and it used to be a lot easier when I used to celebrate my birthday with a party, but since my social life has dwindled over the last couple of years so too has sightings of these guys. However, on Sunday 29th April I have managed to scoop up the majority of the group for a Sunday lunch together. Hoorah!

I'm really looking forward to it but now I have to find somewhere for 13-15 x adults, 3 x children and 1 x wide load (me) to go. Since the 29th is only a couple of weeks ago, I was starting to get a bit sweaty about where to suggest. I don't actually know where half of the people live anymore and have no clue about where is good to take an under 10 year old for lunch, but last week good old google threw me a bone. After a slightly desperate search for 'pubs with good sunday lunches in london for all ages with an atmosphere but not really loud music please' the name Geronimo Inns popped up. I've never heard of this particular company before (they claim not to be a chain so I'm not quite sure how that works) but they have recently opened up shitloads of pubs, all over the damn place!

http://www.geronimo-inns.co.uk/

Their ethos on the website is:


We like bloody good pubs

A mix of delicious fresh food, carefully selected drinks and good people in a place where you can be comfy, relaxed, enthused, inspired and well looked after

A seal of approval

We are neither branded nor a chain, but a seal of approval

The food sets the scene

The quality, presentation and service of food sets a scene that reassures both drinkers and diners

A sense of community

The pubs reflect their neighbourhood through the design, the offer and the people. When we are considered as a core part of the village, the pub really works

We invest in our sites

Ensuring everything is fresh and clean with clear attention to detail is a thanks to those who keep the pubs busy

This gave me a small glimmer of hope that maybe we might be able to go somewhere nice and not end up in in Toby Carvery.  However, I did feel a bit nervous about dragging everyone to a pub I'd never heard of let alone stuck my snout into. But on Sunday, a miracle happened. The Wig wanted to go for lunch, so we were able to kill two birds with one stone. Feed The Wig up AND do a Geronimo Inn recce as they have one of their pubs, 10 minutes from home in Westfield Straford.

The Cow

Lovely old lavender on the tables, restaurant on the top floor.

Bar food at ground level.

Big Cow wall tiles in stairway.

Bar in restaurant.

Delicious hot chocolate with a complimentary piece of fudge. Yumsters!

View of the Olympic site from the restaurant window.

Humour.

Most delicious fish and chips. Seriously, very crunchy batter, delicious tartar and a huge portion I couldn't finish which is almost unheard of for me.

My dream tiles on the floor. They also have these on the floor in Liberty's and when I win the lottery I'm going to have every inch floor covered in these. But maybe not these colours.

So all in all a VERY worthwhile trip out. The food was delicious, the staff were really, really friendly and it wasn't too expensive. All in a I would rate The Cow a high 8 udders out of 10 and I'm definitely going to try and book one of the other locations for our college lunch. I juts hope the one in Highbury isn't crap.