We’re finally ready to call it: the wet, grey and cold winter is over and warm weather is here. We didn’t want to declare it too quickly but the first Bank Holiday weekend of the Summer is about to hit us and the weather forecasts are very promising. Having said that, you really never can tell what’s going to happen with the weather in this country. Even now it’s just as likely there’ll be a storm this weekend as it is to be sunny. We can only live in hope.
We’re not going to get carried away, but it felt like a good time to start thinking about places to go for a drink or a meal outside in the sun. Relaxing in the sunshine over a long lunch sounds like the perfect way to enjoy the extended weekend and we all deserve the break! So here are our top accessible alfresco suggestions:
Babylon at the Roof Gardens And Boundary Rooftop Bar & Grill,
We wanted to pick a rooftop bar in London for our list. But there are two that we’ve been to that we just couldn’t choose between. So we’ve included both of them! Oh well, it’s going to be a long summer (hopefully), we can go to both.
Babylon is the restaurant at the centre of the Roof Gardens which are now owned by Virgin. The gardens are a quite extraordinary 1.5 acres of space sitting 100 feet above Kensington High Street. Going from the busy street onto this rooftop is a startling experience, like entering another world. There are three themed gardens up there, with over 70 full size trees, a flowing stream stocked with fish and four resident Flamingos! Then there’s also the restaurant itself, which has great views of the city and good food and drink. All in the middle of Kensington!
The other rooftop bar we had to include in our list is the bar and grill on the rooftop of The Boundary hotel. It’s less flashy and a little more understated than the Roof Gardens. That might be unnecessary to say – it’s hard to be more ostentatious than somewhere with resident Flamingos! Again there are spectacular views of the skyline on offer here and you can either eat or just laze around with a drink and watch the sun go down.
Both have been given 3 BBS Ticks which means that they have excellent disabled access and facilities. A special mention goes to Babylon for their helpful online floor plan which you can take a look at before you visit.
The terrace at this cafe/restaurant in St James’s Park must be one of the most idyllic locations in Central London. Overlooking the pond and (hopefully) basking in sunshine, it’s a brilliant location to wile away the hours. It’s a perfect place to relax over the long weekend with the idea of their ‘Lazy Brunch’ menu looking particularly attractive. The menu includes dishes such as courgette and basil bake or soft boiled duck eggs with smoked ham and cheese soldiers.
The access there is of a high standard too. It’s all on one level, so there are no steps in the building and they have a disabled toilet too. Nothing too lazy about there attitude towards access for the less able! We gave them a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Hix Oyster & Fish House, Lyme Regis
The Hix Oyster & Fish house serves local fish and seafood with outstanding views of the Dorset coastline. Mark Hix won the main course round of The Great British Menu in 2007, so his restaurants come highly recommended. This particular venue is very popular amongst locals and Jay Rayner once included it in his list of the best summer restaurants.
Hix Oyster & Fish House has a small ramp to get into the building and a disabled toilet inside.
When we reviewed it, as part of the Hix chain of restaurants, we gave it 2.5 BBS Ticks.
The Terrace Restaurant at Montagu Arms, Beulieu
The Terrace restaurant is an accessible, Michelin starred restaurant in the otherwise pretty inaccessible Montagu Arms hotel. It’s situated in Beulieu, a beautiful village in the heart of the New Forest, so it’s an ideal place if you’re in that area or are after some country air.
The Terrace was featured in the Telegraph’s Top 50 Summer Restaurants in Britain by Jasper Gerard a few years ago. The restaurant’s website says “Head Chef and Roux Scholar Matthew Tomkinson has devised this menu to take full advantage of the abundance of quality local produce found within and around the New Forest.”
As we said, it has good disabled access, including a disabled toilet. The food sounds amazing and there’s even a 10% off voucher for lunch available online.
We gave the Montagu Arms 2 BBS Ticks although that rating reflected the overall hotel somewhat which has worse access than the Terrace.
This is another one of the inimitable Jay Rayner’s suggestions. It’s a basic but charming pub in coastal Porthgain, Pembrokeshire. It’s somewhere nice to stop for lunch if you’re in the area taking in the countryside. The menu focuses on deliciously fresh fish in pleasant surroundings.
They do have a disabled toilet inside but getting in may be quite tricky. There are eight steps to get in which are quite rocky and difficult to get up. However, there are no steps once you do get inside. Also, if it’s a sunny day, you might be able to avoid the main steps altogether although there are still smaller flights of stairs up to the various sections of the garden. We gave the Sloop Inn a provisional 2 BBS Ticks.
When Aiden Byrne, who runs the Church Green, was 22 he became the youngest chef to win a Michelin star. Since then he’s worked at a number of Michelin starred restaurants, appeared on Masterchef and even released his own book. His food is always “high quality British, locally-sourced, seasonal fare.” The only way to review the Church Green is to review Aiden Byrne himself, as it’s quite clear, just from looking at his website, that his restaurants are very much all about him. Fortunately, that means it should be excellent.
The Church Green appears to be outstandingly accessible. When we spoke to them on the phone they told us there is a ramp to get into the building and a disabled toilet inside. There are not steps in the building, lots of space to get around and a disabled parking space near the ramped entrance. Worthy of a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.
The Punch Bowl has just been awarded the Cumbria Life Dining Pub of the Year and their Head Chef, Scott Fairweather, has been awarded Young Chef of the Year 2013. It’s positioned in the heart of the Lyth Valley, with spectacular views of the countryside from its terrace garden.
The inn element of the venue is pretty much out of bounds for the less able. They told us that because it’s an old building there is just no space to fit a lift into it so there are no disabled hotel rooms.
The restaurant is a bit more accessible. They have a disabled toilet in the bar area and there are two tables in that section of the building which could be used for a party with a wheelchair user (or users). Alternatively, it is possible to get into the main restaurant area through the back door so you could do that. But then, to go to the toilet you have to go back outside and round to the front door again. The same goes for getting from the terrace to the toilet. Should be OK, if a little bit of an effort, on a sunny day.
They were also very helpful when we spoke to them about disabled access which we find is always a good sign! We gave them a provisional 2 BBS Ticks for the restaurant but not for the hotel.
Those are our picks of the best places for accessible alfresco. Do you have any personal favourites? Enjoy the Bank Holiday – a well earned lazy weekend.