The Junction Windsor

This was a gifted meal.

I do like a day out in Windsor. It’s such a compact city with Windsor Castle sitting right in the middle, beautiful parks and meadows for walking in and Eton perched on the end. We timed it just right on our last visit to see the changing of the guards; it was about as British as it gets and it was lovely to see. Lunch was planned at The Junction which opened earlier this year; I’d checked out the menu before we arrived and was looking forward to eating a bit of autumn.

I really liked the décor here; simplistic with bold colour, interesting lighting and different levels and places to sit. I started with a wild tea and elderflower martini (£7.50) while the OH had a pint of Sharp’s Atlantic. There were all sorts of other cocktails available, as you can see below, and plenty of other beers too.

I was torn between the beetroot and goat’s cheese starter or the mushroom cappuccino (£4.95). I opted for the latter as I was interested to see what it would be like. The mushroom soup was packed full of flavour and the truffle oil mixed in really well with the foam on top. It was quite peppery which really added to the warmth of the soup. I tried a bit of the OH’s chicken and duck terrine (£6.25); the chutney that they served it with had a little five spice in which complemented the terrine really well.

For my main I had the duo of pork (belly and tenderloin) with macedoine potatoes and pork jus (£13.95). The OH had the Asian burger with sriracha mayonnaise (£11.25). The Asian burger had plenty of flavour; it was a whole marinated chicken breast with Asian herbs and spices and the sriracha mayo was excellent to dip chips in! My pork was about as autumnal as a meal could get. The belly and tenderloin were cooked excellently and the carrots, kale and potatoes were all prepared to perfection. There was also plenty of jus to allow a liberal swirl around the plate with every mouthful and the thyme brought everything together so well. If only I could make a jus like that!

After a little break we had a couple of coffees and some desserts. I had the crème brûlée (£5.50) which was just the right size and sweetness. It came with some sliced brownie on the side which I thought could have done with being warmed up slightly as it was straight out of the fridge cold. The OH had the baked cheesecake with fruit salsa (£5.75). The amount of fruit salsa was pretty generous so you could get a nice scoop of fruit with every mouthful of cheesecake.

Overall I liked the restaurant, the drinks and the food. I think the desserts could do with a few tiny tweaks to make them even better but as a place to sit down with friends and have some good food at good prices I think The Junction Windsor is worth a visit. There were a few things on their tapas menu that caught my eye and they offer a deals on Monday and Thursday for burgers and steaks too.

This meal was paid for by The Junction. Thank you to them. All opinions expressed and words are my own.