The Gladstone Arms, 34 Gladstone Road, Chippenham.

01249 660535

As the chef in my house (aka my partner) was away with work, my friend Kate and I headed off to The Gladstone Arms for a catch-up.

I haven’t been there before and the rather drab exterior belies the modern and nicely decorated interior of this town centre pub.

Receiving a pleasant welcome, we were shown to our table and given menus. The dishes were a mix of pub classics such as scampi and chips and steak and ale pie, with some interesting twists on traditional dishes and several vegetarian options.

To start I chose the tempura mixed vegetables with a sweet chilli dip (£4.95), while Kate picked the creamy garlic mushrooms on toasted ciabatta (£5.95), which she said was tasty. I enjoyed my starter, as the pieces of vegetable were covered in a batter that made it light and tasty.

For the main course I was torn between the roasted squash, leek and goat’s cheese lasagne (£9.95) or the mushroom, leek and cheddar cheese tart with chips and salad (£8.95). I decided to go for the tart, which was a good-sized slice with crispy chips and a nice fresh salad.

Kate spent a while choosing her main and in the end went for the roasted chicken supreme (£10.95) as she was intrigued by the combination of chicken, mash potato, chorizo sausage and baby onion sauce.

When the dish arrived and appeared to have a tomato type sauce, she was even more intrigued, as this wasn’t what she expected in a supreme dish. She said it was tasty, although had a little too much mash for her liking.

With a little room left for dessert, we both tried the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate (£3.95 each). It was a lovely if slightly sickly way to end the meal.

While Kate felt the meal didn’t quite live up to the reviews she heard from friends, we both agreed the food was nice, the surroundings pleasant and the staff friendly.

The bill, including several soft drinks, came to £35.98 as several dishes qualified for the weeknight evening special of 25 per cent off if ordered between 6pm and 7pm Monday to Friday.

Week night/lunchtime discounts available, plus Thai evening on a Monday

Separate lunch and evening menus

Large beer garden

Recommend booking on Friday nights

Disabled access

Our Eating Out is an independent review carried out by the Times without prior knowledge of the owners.