The Great Northern hotel in Peterborough – often the first sight visitors disembarking from the train see when they come through the station.  Now it seems the owners are struggling to get punters through the doors, suggesting that Peterborough residents should be using the hotel and it’s facilities more.

I’ve commented on an article in today’s Peterborough ET but their website loses all the formatting so I thought I would regurgitate it as a post on here.

You can read the original ET article here, below is my original comment…

As Candidus has said, the hotel aspect of the Great Northern is unlikely to be used by those living in Peterborough, leaving just the bar and restaurant of which neither cross my mind as a venue when planning a night out.

Perhaps the Great Northern should embark on better (if any already exists) marketing to make locals and travellers alike aware of the facilities.  There is a lot of choice for people looking to spend their money so the Great Northern is doing something wrong if people aren’t choosing to spend it there.

Again as Candidus mentioned, Prezzo’s is busy most nights which I would imagine is partially due to the 2-for-1 deals regularly available.  This is also true for other chains like PizzaExpress and ASK.

To me, Jim’s Bistro was a breath of fresh air when it opened, finally giving diners something a bit more interesting on the menu.  With the Beehive currently being refurbished by the team behind Jim’s Bistro, the Great Northern is going to have some competition.
The Windmill in Orton Waterville is the same – a destination restaurant serving good food with great surroundings.

I have long thought that Peterborough is lacking a respectable independent steak house.  Maybe the restaurant could make that a speciality without all the pomp?

So come on Great Northern – market yourselves, tell us WHY we should come to you?  Having the railway station on the doorstep isn’t much of a draw for locals and when it comes to the crunch, most probably couldn’t care less if it was demolished (it would make the Station Quarter plans a bit more interesting for a start).

I eat out in Peterborough at few times every month and enjoy trying new restaurants but the Great Northern honestly never enters my mind.  I’ve since looked at the menu of their Carriages Restaurant and it certainly looks good (if not a little on the pricey side) so it would make an ideal place to have an anniversary dinner or to celebrate a birthday, but would I book for dinner on a normal Saturday night?

What are your experiences of the Great Northern?  Let me know by leaving a comment below. (Please note, I’ll be moderating any Helen Clark comments)

(Photo copyright of Alex Drennan)

I walked past what was the Verve bar on Church Street and noticed that there’s now a “Chimichanga – We’re hiring” sign in the window, so I’m guessing it’s only a matter of weeks before Peterborough’s newest Mexican restaurant is open.  I reported on Chimichanga coming to Peterborough back in October so have been keeping an eye out for any new developments.

So Chimichanga is a chain restaurant and I can understand why many people loathe chains with a passion, but I think this is probably a good thing for Peterborough and if you’ll bear with me I’ll give you 5 reasons why…

1. I think chain restaurants, like Chimichanga and Prezzo help to raise the profile of other restaurants also in the area by encouraging people to eat out.  It’s almost a Lemming-like effect, where people see others dining there and feel they’re missing out if they don’t visit themselves.  A well known brand gives reassurance to the diner that they’re not going to get any unwanted surprises.
2. Chain restaurants provide an “easy way in” to a potentially new cuisine. Diners worried about eating at somewhere like CoCo where they’re not sure what the food will be like, will have the same reservations about Chimichanga but might feel it’s more accessible.  Once they’ve become accustomed to eating Mexican food maybe the diners will feel more adventurous and try CoCo, Latinis, Flamas, etc.
3. High profile brands help to encourage other brands into the area. Whether it’s sister companies (as is the case of Prezzo with Chimichanga), rival companies serving the same cuisine or another company with a well known brand (think Nandos, TGI Friday, Wagamamas), the risk is lessened by having an existing chain in place.  This can be seen by the number of coffee outlets in Peterborough!
4. Marketing by chain restaurants often surpasses the independent restaurant.  Think discount vouchers: no-one pays full price for Pizza Express or Ask when there are “Second Meal for £1″ deals being thrown around like they’re going out of fashion.  It all helps to raise awareness.
   Websites run by the chain restaurants are typically better designed, developed and promoted than an independent which is a shame because independents can take more risks with their web strategy and can get better local results. (For web development in Peterborough, get in touch with me at gattonero.co.uk!)
5. Consistency across chain restaurants is usually pretty high on the agenda, especially when it comes to the food.  Ok so the interior is all probably supplied from a warehouse full of sombrero’s, empty bottles of Mezcal and fake cactii (no offence to Zeki Interiors – I’m sure Peterborough will look great!) but that’s what makes the brand a brand.  Anyone that has visited a Chimichanga in Cardiff will know what to expect from the restaurant in Peterborough.

Have you eaten at a Chimichanga?  Are you looking forward to visiting the Peterborough restaurant when it’s open?  Or do you prefer to sit at home with an Old El Paso dinner kit and a kilo of grated cheddar? Whack a comment into the box below as I’d like to see what others think.

This story begins on the A1139 where the Paston Parkway meets the Frank Perkins Parkway. The roundabout serves virtually all of the traffic from the A47 that is heading to the South of Peterborough or beyond to the Southbound A1 or A605 / A14.  Being fairly wide and as visibility is usually quite good, traffic can be at a rapid pace if you’re caught unawares and are a bit slow on the old gear change. Generally speaking, it worked and I don’t think there were any more accidents there than were to be expected.

This was fine for years until some bright spark decided it would be a great idea to slap a petrol station on this notoriously busy roundabout, adding an extra entrance/exit between two of the busiest approaches.  Not only that, the petrol station became some kind of bastardised Somerfield with a KFC restaurant nestled in behind.  It’s probably worth mentioning that the backdrop for this setting is a glorious landfill site which has a fine whiff to it if the air is in the right direction.  Mmm fried chicken.

Before you read on, this story is covered much more accurately at the Paston Parkway J8 (Eye roundabout) website so you may find it beneficial to visit that site once you’ve finished digesting my spiel…

Obviously an attraction like this is hard to resist with motorists flocking to their site in their thousands  on a daily basis (probably).  But the town planners had failed to anticipate one thing: the desire for residents in the Welland and Dogsthorpe areas to consume Zinger tower burgers and nip to the Somerfield for some groceries – a desire that would see them risking their lives crossing four lanes of fast moving traffic.

Fast forward to today and a campaign is in full force to have a footbridge installed to allow residents their fried chicken fix without risk of walking in front of a moving vehicle.
Whilst it does seem a little OTT just to allow pedestrians to a site that was never intended to serve the pedestrian population, it would be the most practical solution to the problem.  Peterborough City Council however laugh in the face of practicality and prefer to make life a bit of an adventure!

You really couldn’t make up the solution the council have decided to opt for: a signal-controlled pedestrian crossing, across the lanes of a dual carriageway (both directions) leading up to and exiting one of the busiest roundabouts in the city’s road network.  Just imagine the frustration of motorists as they leave the roundabout at the (I believe) legally permitted 60mph only to find a set of red lights and scores of people crossing with bags of shopping.

Oh, I forgot to add – the site has more recently been redeveloped as some kind of garden centre extravaganza named “Peterborough Garden Park” with Van Hage as the flagship retailer.  With space for over 400 cars the developers are hoping for some serious footfall to the site, so why haven’t the council forced the developers to provide the footbridge as part of the deal?

Fun times.

Further reading – Paston Parkway J8 (Eye roundabout)

I’ve been meaning to make a quick blog post about this for a while now, but it slipped my mind.

For whatever reason, Edoya (Peterborough’s damn fine Japanese sushi and noodle bar) has been renamed to “Misaki”.  The staff are the same, the menu’s the same (i.e. bloody fantastic) and well, it’s the same.  Just a different name.

So if you’re struggling to find Edoya, or wonder if Misaki is the same place, then now you know!

Considering tomorrow’s date, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was all some April Fool’s practical joke but in reality I don’t think you could make it up.

Today’s Evening Telegraph has reported that Rinaldo Fasulo, the owner of the now closed Broadway Theatre has put the building up for sale to the tune of nearly £4 million. This is the same Rinaldo that has just put his company (03 Leisure Ltd) that was running the Broadway, into administration leaving over half a million pounds in outstanding debts.

an absolute kick in the teeth for every single creditor

Thankfully for Rinaldo though, he had the foresight to ensure that a separate company (Prima Investments) owned the building itself allowing him to sell it on after an arson attack.

This is an absolute kick in the teeth for every single creditor and will surely put a dark cloud over his restaurant Sessions House on Thorpe Road (which I believe is run by another one of his companies, Prima Restaurants Ltd). For me, it’s a shame that Rinaldo hasn’t made any public statement with a view to repaying back some of his customers who support his businesses.

The article in the ET originally allowed comments to be posted but they have since been removed so I can only guess that public outrage got a bit heated.

A friend gave me a tip off that a new restaurant had opened in Peterborough going by the name of Jim’s Bistro, apparently serving up (as the name would suggest) modern British bistro cuisine.

Situated at 52 Broadway in what used to be Avellinos (just down from the recently closed Broadway Theatre), Jim’s Bistro is the sister restaurant to Stamford’s Jim’s Yard.  I’ve yet to sample either restaurant, but with Jim’s Yard being awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand award I’m hoping for great things from the Peterborough restaurant.
To qualify for a “Bib”, a restaurant must offer “good food at moderate prices” which is typically three courses at under £28.

Hopefully I’ll get along to Jim’s Bistro on Broadway soon and be able to give a full review!

Contact details:
Jims Bistro, 52 Broadway, Peterborough PE1 1SB
Open Tuesday to Saturday 11.30am to 2.30pm and 6.00pm to 9.30pm.  Telephone 01733 34 11 22
www.jimsyard.biz