Birthday at Porada

I'm currently sitting in a lovely spa hotel in Chester called The Craxton Wood Hotel as a part of my birthday present from my beloved, and I thought what a beautiful setting to review and also to tell you about the other places I've visited this week. The hotel will come along in the next post.

Birthday Meal

Last night was my birthday meal with my basketball friends and my work friends, at Porada, one of my favourite little restaurants in Whitefield, Bury. It was really nice to have the two groups together and also gave me an opportunity to be able to review a place based on a 'group wheelchair booking', which some places can seemingly want to run a mile from. 

When I phoned to book the table there was 12 of us and 5 were in wheelchairs. There was a little confusion from the man on the phone originally who didn't seem to know whether they would be able to accommodate that group size at my requested time of 7.30. I heard him shout someone else who came to the phone and informed me it would need to be earlier. The pessimist in me wondered whether this was due to the party size or the amount of wheelchairs in the group as it could have been more difficult to position us in the peak time of 7.30. When I spoke to a friend she did remind me that there are a lot of booths in the dining area though so I could see why they might have been worried, in terms of logistics of seating so many. 

When we arrived, I was greeted at the door by a gentleman and addressed as Princess... which immediately gave them full marks in my eyes! The waiting area is quite small with an area big enough for a couple of wheelchairs around the reception desk, some space in front of the bar if it wasn't too busy, but the main 'please take a seat while you wait for your table' area was tall chairs and tables which were not really suitable for wheelchair users. Having said this, when I explained the party I was with, the quickly sorted our table, ordered our drinks from the bar and carried them straight to the table for us so there were no problems with blocking the waiting area. It all went very smoothly with no waiting around and the staff were absolutely superb; they were attentive and friendly and made you feel at ease from the second you arrived.

The table itself was actually a booth, which would have seated around 7-8 people but they added two extra tables to make it a longer table rather than round, which ensured there was plenty of space to move around and to position ourselves around the table. Another well thought out aspect was that we were positioned very close to the accessible toilet, which was in plain sight and removed the awkward 'it's this way, follow me' and having someone open the door and wait until you've locked it moment which you so often find in places when it's located at the back of a bar! The only thing, so I was told about the toilet, was that the light didn't work, which could be an issue if not addressed but I would hope that would be easily fixed. 

The whole night was a warm and friendly experience and I can honestly say I had no anxieties whatsoever about access while I was there. The food was absolutely gorgeous too.. Definitely check it out if you can.

I didn't take any photos on the night I'm afraid, the only ones that were taken were of our group but I'll show you a couple as you can see how spacious it is!

All the waiters came around to sing happy birthday!

T'other half.

Meet my crazy friends...!