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Before last night, I hadn’t been into a Slug and Lettuce for at least a year. I know this because, according to the friendly barman, it was over a year ago that the chain tried to make its pubs more like wine bars, and the last one I visited certainly wasn’t as ‘upmarket’.

To be honest, I didn’t look at the wine list but there was a reasonable selection of beers available, including Peroni on tap. However, it was a bite to eat we were really after.

We both ordered the same - gammon, egg and chips for around £8. Although we each got a decent sized piece of gammon, mine was slightly overcooked, and one of my eggs sitting on top was missing a yolk; to quote (I believe) Chef Ramsay, “What gives you the right to f*ck with another man’s yolk?!” The accompanying barbeque sauce was also a little artificial - similar to the sort you get in fast food outlets - and the ketchup most certainly wasn’t Heinz, although the bottle tried to suggest otherwise. Having said that, the chips weren’t bad and the salad garnish helped to improve things ‘aesthetically’, if nothing else.

After ordering, we noticed an offer on ‘sharing platters’ available during the week. I’d like to have seen these more obviously promoted, especially as we were looking for a ‘cheap eat’.

Although I was never a huge fan, from what I can remember, I think I preferred the chain how it used to be. And with a move ‘upmarket’, inevitably customer expectations increase. I’m not sure The Slug and Lettuce, Borough lived up to mine.

4.5/10