Compared to its neighbours, Redhill town centre is seriously lacking decent food. Fast food joints aside, you pretty much have a choice of Prezzo or Frankie and Benny’s unless you’re a ‘Spoons fan. We’ve never eaten at The Sun, but it has twice been described to me as “the worst Wetherspoons I’ve ever been to” by two people who don’t know each other, so it’s pretty unlikely we ever will.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say the centre of Redhill, while looking tidier these days, is still pretty uninspiring and Waitrose and the new cinema complex are still a very long way off. A relief then surely, to be able to say that there is in fact some seriously good food on offer and every single one of you should give it a try. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The Junction, at the junction (clever huh?) of the High Street/London Road and Station Road, has been in the hands of the current team for a while now. We tried it on a Friday night when it was very quiet. So too though, was the town centre so don’t be put off if you’re from “the other place” by the idea of going into Redhill of an evening, the food will be worth it and there’s also some really good wines available at only £15 a bottle. The whites are properly chilled as well which is a bonus!
Keen to have a good try of the menu (which I’m sure will be available in full on the website soon) we opted for the admittedly super-unhealthy mixed appetisers. Yes, I know, but it was a Friday night and a little bit of what you fancy every now and again won’t do you any harm right?
So impressed was I with the sesame prawn toast that I asked whether it was “homemade” as it was such a very far cry from the usual offering. I was reassured that it, like everything else, was made and fully prepared on site. I confess prawn toast is a bit of a weakness of mine, but, I’m usually horribly disappointed. I wasn’t at The Junction. It was filled with prawn flavour (as opposed to tasting predominantly of a minced pork filler), was cooked to the point of perfect goldenness and wasn’t even remotely greasy. It was fabulous, as was the rest of the appetiser apart, perhaps, from the salt and pepper squid which was lacking the eponymous flavours. Oh and by the way, you won’t leave hungry, the portions are substantial to say the least:
We followed our appetisers with stir-fried garlic chicken and perfectly cooked rice;
and roast duck and noodles:
They look pretty good don’t they? Well, both meals were truly delicious. We were lucky enough to spend some time in Singapore and Hong Kong a couple of years ago, both culinary melting pots of Oriental cuisine and I tell you what, we haven’t eaten anything that came close to the lip-smacking flavours we enjoyed over there until we tried this. This meal was a million miles away from your average Chinese takeaway (Thai curries and other dishes, including “English” dishes are on the menu as well as these Cantonese style dishes by the way) and indubitably better than what’s on offer in Chinese restaurants in Dorking and the one left in Reigate.
If you’re more fussed about your surroundings than the food you’re eating then I know you won’t give this a try. You should, but I know you won’t. If though, for example, you eat at The Venture Inn on Lesbourne Road in Reigate because of how tasty the Thai food there is, regardless of it “just” being a pub, then I urge you to try The Junction. It’s a prime example of people working really hard to offer something different and I really hope they succeed. For that to happen you need to support them though. And ultimately, food should be about taste. There truly is nothing worse than a beautifully presented plate of wonderful ingredients which has no flavour at all.
They’re thinking of turning upstairs into a restaurant area which seems like a great idea, the food is certainly good enough and we got great service with a welcoming smile. Definitely Cool for Cats.
NB if the title and last line of this post leave you befuddled, then simply Squeeze…..
Stay chilled x
Surrey Hills Chills 