Bill’s restaurant first opened their doors in 2001. Since then, there’s over 20 Bill’s restaurants in London and UK. Recently, all of their stores have undergone a revamp and adopted a beautiful, tropical vibe.

I was lucky enough to be invited to attend Bill’s Greenwich for an evening out with the family. We had a fabulous dinner. The food was fantastic and the service was brilliant.

First impressions

We arrived at 5pm for our booked table. We were greeted by our waiter, Kieran then sat by the window. Kieran checked if we needed highchairs for the kids.

The decor is beautiful, I really love how they’ve revamped the place. It looks like a modern, urban-tropical oasis. I really loves all the potted plants surrounding the restaurant. Little man loved the bird ornaments and animal paintings. The plus velvety chairs were super comfy and the leather booths looked really good too.

The restaurant’s vibe was chilled and casual enough to bring a young family without feeling weird and out-of-place. My two monsters can be extremely loud and noisy sometimes so we’d normally only go to places that have a busy vibe (think Nandos)… it was definitely different for us but in a good way.

The restaurant floor had soft mood lighting which I love because it adds so much ambience to the place but Daddy P wasn’t a fan. He prefers a well-lit setting “so he can see what he’s eating”. If you’re like my hubby then heading out here earlier would be a better choice as the natural sunlight floods in during the day.

The food

We had a good amount of time to choose from the menu without feeling rushed. Looking around, I can see all the staff were being very attentive to each of their guests. Our water glasses were refilled regularly and our orders were taken swiftly. Food arrived in good time too.

We took advantage of the Kids Set Menu for our little monsters and ordered the macaroni cheese for the mains and a chocolate mousse and Strawberry Ice Cream for desserts. For myself and Daddy P, I ordered the oak-smoked ribs and he had the seafood and red pepper stew (Thursday special).

From ordering to service, it was about 15-20mins which is really quick but maybe this was because Thursday nights are slightly quieter than other nights.

When the food arrived, we were not disappointed. It looked and smelt amazing! The kids’ food arrived first then ours. I had a little taste of the macaroni and it was nice, cheesy and creamy. I expected the iron dishes they came in to be super hot but they were not too bad, warm enough for little hands to hold and enjoy.

Then my ribs and fries arrived… man,it was full! There were lots of ribs and a generous portion of sweet potato fries. I didn’t enjoy the red cabbage slaw as it was very bitter. I tried to mix it with mayo to make it palatable but it couldn’t be saved.

In the end it didn’t matter because the ribs were cooked to perfection! Melt-in-your-mouth ribs… it was heavenly.

I don’t normally order ribs so I’m glad I took a gamble.

Daddy P was thrilled with his seafood and red pepper stew. It came with a side of saffron aioli toast. I had a little taste of his stew and I must say, it was a good choice.

I was slightly envious of his stew. The prawns were large and cooked well and the stew was divine – so flavoursome. Daddy P is a fussy pescatarian so there’s a lot of dishes he’s not a fan of (including tomato-based stews) but he was so happy with it, he couldn’t stop raving about it!

His only feedback would be that there wasn’t enough toast to go with the stew. It’s a generous stew portion but he had only about 4 or 5 thinly-sliced sticks of toast to dip with. We ended up ordering extra bread because Daddy P said he couldn’t continue enjoying his meal without it.

Kieran, our waiter came to check on us at timely intervals to make sure we were enjoying our meal (which we were!) and topped up with water. We also ended up ordering a side of chips for the kids because they were still a little hungry after the macaroni cheese.

For kids with big appetites, the portion size is very small but for us, it was okay.

I’m sure the burger and chips or fish fingers with chips and peas would be more filling. As the kids set menu is a two course meal, we picked one of each dessert for them. We knew they wouldn’t finish it but ordered it nevertheless.

I decided not to order my own dessert in the end because I was still so full from the ribs. It was a much bigger portion than I anticipated. Daddy P ordered the cinnamon doughnuts for himself but we ended up sharing because he couldn’t finish it either!

There was about 6 doughnuts and after eating two, Daddy P was struggling. I helped out of course and ate three, then he devoured the rest with a little encouragement.

The doughnuts tasted like little balls of fried, sugary, heavenly goodness. They come with two dipping sauces; caramel and chocolate. They tasted like a cross between dinky doughnuts and churros.

I ordered a hot chocolate with cream which was nice and the whipped cream was light and fluffy.

We’ll be back…

We will be returning to Bill’s Greenwich for lunches and dinner and for our 12th year anniversary in December. We loved the atmosphere, the food and the staff. We can now have a good family night out that won’t break the bank, especially being with it so close to Christmas.

There’s an upstairs area which is well-lit and has ‘The Ivy Cafe’ feel about it. I’ve visited the Blackheath branch and I’m sure they have the same green wall paint and mirrored hanging. For Daddy P, I have requested for an upstairs seat due to the lighting but personally, I prefer the mood lighting downstairs. it’s way more romantic.

Why Bill’s Greenwich is the best place for eating out:

• Beautiful decor and a chilled casual vibe
• Friendly, attentive staff
• Generous portions of delicious food
• Very affordable, especially for families
• The perfect place for every occasion – be it a family dinner, social gathering, catch-up with friends, after-work drinks with colleagues or a date night

NB. We were invited to Bill’s Greenwich for a complimentary meal in exchange for a unbiased blog review. All words, photos and content are my own. Any photos that are not mine have been credited respectively.