Review: Alton Towers launches new Rollercoaster Restaurant
Will the UK's first rollercoaster restaurant
Over its 36-year history, Alton Towers has never rested on its laurels. In order to stay ahead of the pack, it has constantly evolved to bring thrill-seekers some of the greatest and most innovative rides on the planet and has always striven to expand into new realms – from the Scarefest Halloween events to the incredible Waterpark to the smorgasbord of first-rate accommodation and so much more.
It comes as little surprise then that this Friday (13th May) sees Alton Towers launch the UK’s first ever Rollercoaster Restaurant. We were lucky to be invited to the preview event to check out the ground-breaking culinary experience first hand…
Nestled in the futuristic surroundings of the Forbidden Valley right next to Galactica, the moment you step into the Rollercoaster Restaurant you’re confronted with an electric atmosphere and an adrenaline rush of activity. Above your head food and drinks hurtle down a maze of steel tracks, navigating sharp corners, occasionally doing loop-the-loops and dropping down onto the tables. The aptly futuristic décor includes neon lights, shimmering dangling bulbs and images of the roller coasters Alton Towers is famous for.
Once you’ve had time to take this awesome spectacle in, restaurant staff take you to your seat where you order from the extensive menu via an iPad a seat and course at a time. Then the fun begins. Keeping an eye on a mysterious kitchen dispatch hatch in the heavens, there’s great suspense as each dish begins its gravity-defying voyage.
Landing with a crash on the circular tables, the food is enclosed in metal pots with the glass lids held down by elastic holders to avoid any spillages. Drinks too are served in bottles or other containers with each item coming with a flag signifying your seat number. Rotating the table along with your fellow guests (encouraging great camaraderie) until your pot of joy arrives at your seat, you then serve the dish up and tuck in.
Admittedly I was initially slightly cynical that the Rollercoaster Restaurant might be style over substance, however, these fears were allayed as soon as the food arrived. For starters I ate ultra-tasty barbeque ribs, my wife had a mouth-watering lobster dish while my two-year-old daughter (who was grinning from ear-to-ear at the whole experience) happily devoured a bowl of cheesy nachos. It was immediately clear that the Alton Towers team have put a lot of effort into making sure the great food is fitting for the experience.
The mains were even better. Ordering a fillet steak – usually a litmus test for a restaurant’s quality – when it arrived it was cooked to perfection, melt-in-the-mouth tender and delicious from start to finish. Similarly, my wife’s oven-roast cod loin and chorizo dish was a taste sensation, while my daughter nearly polished off her Macaroni cheese. Pleasantly stuffed from our first two courses, and mindful we still had a few rides we wanted to go on(!!), we ended with a palette cleanser of ice cream for desert – avoiding the temptation of ordering the restaurant’s trademark Ultimate Rollercoaster Ice Cream Bowl. Honestly, it looks incredible.
The menu as a whole is extensive and caters for a variety of tastes and every member of the family. The trimmed down lunch menu is served until 4pm and features everything from burgers to Bombay butter chicken curry, while the evening menu we dined from (served from 5pm to 10pm) offers a smorgasbord of delights including salmon, lamb shank and an extensive array of starters.
True, your table’s food and drinks don’t arrive at the same time – it would be impossible to – so a member of the party can be eating while everyone else waits a while (there was a 10 minute gap at one point), however, the suspense and the excitement when your flagged dish eventually arrives all add to the experience. The Rollercoaster Restaurant may be slightly pricier than other eateries on site too (the fillet steak costs around £25, while the cod was £13) but again it’s to be expected when your entire experience is as jaw-dropping as this.
While some technophobes might be slightly worried about placing your entire order via iPad, there are ultra-attentive members of staff on hand at every turn to walk tables through the whole process and help fire your orders off to the kitchen. They were only too happy to switch one of my room temperature beers for a nicely chilled one too.
An unforgettable dining experience, as long as it doesn't have any hitches, I wouldn’t bet against the Rollercoaster Restaurant fast becoming another Alton Towers institution. The big question is what new realms Alton Towers crack into next?!
The Rollercoaster Restaurant opens to the public on Friday 13th May and opens from 10am to 10pm daily. Admission tickets are required to enter the restaurant during park opening hours, but not when it’s closed.
You can book a table or find out more here and check out the sample menu here.
Words: Scott Colothan