Eat My Words: We review Rancho Grill in Boston
Have you ever been handed a meal so juicy that it had to be served with complimentary gloves?
I hadn’t until very recently. But, anyway, more of that in a moment.
When taking the family out for a meal I always thought you couldn’t beat those traditional meat dishes.
But it turns out that Rancho Grill does beat those traditional meat dishes we love. Carelessly into submission.
There’s really nothing mind-blowingly different on the menu - steaks, ribs, pizzas, burgers et al - but the food the four of us tucked into was far superior in taste to any rivals we’ve ever had the pleasure of.
I grew up knowing the Rancho Grill as The Witham Tavern, a pub tucked away under Sluice Bridge and overlooking Boston Marina.
Although, no matter the year, always appearing a little dated inside, its popularity surged in the summer months as boat trippers and ramblers met to begin and end their journeys.
To say the transformation inside was jaw-dropping would be an understatement.
The main dining area - with its leather benches, multi-coloured chairs, bare brick walls - has an upmarket feel, while the conservatory leans a little more to the pop-arty vibe of a New York diner.
Across the bar is a drinkers’ area where youngsters played pool and watched footy while outside is a delightfully cosy area where benches and sofas were populated by pals kickstarting their Friday nights, diners enjoying the final dregs of the summer sun and parents watching their kids going mad on the climbing frame.
There was plenty to choose from on the menu but I had been told the Village Beef Burger - complete with BBQ sauce, lettuce, bacon, cheddar, red onion and gherkins - oh my, everything comes with gherkins - was a good bet.
Laura, my wife, went with the sour cream chicken breast shish while daughter Caitlin fancied the baby pork ribs with homemade BBQ glaze. Both, of course, with a couple of gherkins on the side.
As the nipper of the family, Connor asked for the chicken breast skewer off the kids’ menu (complete with Fruit Shoot).
After we’d each deliberated on our choice of chips, fries or sweet potato fries and sauces, the waitress headed off leaving us unaware of what we were letting ourselves into.
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Most notably me with my main course/fashion accessory double.
Yep, on a separate plate came a pair of very tight, black - what I can only describe as surgical - gloves.
Not sure whether I was meant to eat my burger or attempt to perform open heart surgery on it, the waitress took pity on this very lost-looking man and pointed out it was to avoid any juice flowing from the patty and down my wrists.
Gamely, I pulled on my mitts and - trying hard not to pretend I was about to pop up in the back seat of a Lincoln Continental and garrote a rival mobster with some piano wire - tucked in.
I’m not sure I have the words to stress just how good the meals were, with the meat cooked to absolute perfection and the sides almost as good.
But I can happily tell you that the portions were enough to defeat the rest of the clan, allowing me to try a bit of each meal and polish off the gherkins - all in the name of research, obviously.
The ribs were, without doubt, the best ribs I’ve ever had. And over the years I’ve had a Fred Flintstone amount of ribs.
The chicken was as fine as fowl can get and the burger…. well, the burger…. was very good. Even if I did sit there cursing the fact I didn’t go for the ribs.
With the kids fed and eyeing the climbing frame we decided to grab an extra drink each and take them out back to let the children burn off the calories while we warmed ourselves by the huge outdoor gas heaters.
With an impressive eight in mind for the grub, I asked the rest of the family to give me their marks out of 10. Faster than you can say ‘another gherkin?’ I was firmly given three resounding 10s. Not a bad score for Strictly, pretty fantastic for a grill bar.
We weren’t even out of the door before the kids got the ‘can we come again?’ conversation underway. I don’t think many parents would argue there’s a better endorsement than that.
Out of five:
Food: Absolutely delicious traditional meaty favourites. It may not win any Michelin stars but it won my family over. *****
Drink: I can highly recommend a pint of Ekstra, a lovely Lithuanian pilsner. I’m told the raspberry lemonade is nice too. ****
Decor: A lovely, lively mix that pleases young and old. The play area is a marvellous touch. ****
Staff: Really friendly, helpful and polite. Cracking. ***
Price: The whole meal came to £85.05, which included ribs (£19), shish (£16.50), burger (£16.95), kids’ skewer (£7.20 plus drink), with a pint of Ekstra (£4.40), two pints of Cruzcampo (£4.60 each), a pint of Coke (£3.50), a half a pint of Coke (£2.50) and two raspberry lemonades (£2.90 each). At £21 per head I didn’t think it was too bad, you pay a little extra for a lot more and we didn’t have to have a second round of drinks. ****
Have you had a great meal? Share your own Eat My Words reviews or tell us where to try by emailing: news@lincsonline.co.uk