The Theatre Royal Plymouth Restaurant in Plymouth

Excellent service. Staff always pleasent and polite. Superb lunch best ever fish meal. Very reasonable priced. A must to visit.

Visited and had dinner before 'The Mousetrap'. Service was good and there were no issues with timings in any respect.Drinks were good and a good wine selection.Unfortunately menu felt dated, 'safe' and not very inspiring? Starters and mains were OK but didn't wow or excite and again only tasted OK. My desert - White chocolate parfait was lovely but the lemon tart was like a shop bought 1980's lemon meringue pie?At these prices this restaurant is competing with the best Plymouth has to offer and does not match unfortunately? Menu needs to be brought up to date, much more inspiring/contemporary and packed with flavour.Eating at the theatre was a nice bonus though.

Patchy food, lousy service. We had tickets for the theatre, turned up two hours before the show and still didn’t have time for three courses! We’d been there for over ninety minutes and complained twice before our main courses turned up. To be fair, my own food (pork rillette then beef shin) was delicious, but my companion had the world’s smallest Dover sole and only got a bare tablespoonful of meat off it. Very disappointing.

Mi esposo y mis suegros fueron reservados para la cena y el teatro la víspera de Año Nuevo. Precioso lugar en el centro de Plymouth con una vista frontal de la estatua de Messenger (o más bien la parte trasera). El servicio fue amable, aunque encontré que nuestras comidas eran un poco caras para lo que recibiste (el pan y las aceitunas para la mesa a las 3 eran bastante simples). Los platos principales eran más agradables: un menú variable de temporada. Comida agradable con buena compañía, justo antes de nuestro show.

Como amigo de TRP, como en el restaurante cuando asisto a espectáculos. En esta ocasión vine a ver a Cenicienta con mi familia. Como es tradición, comimos en el restaurante. Los entrantes estaban bien. Particularmente la mousse de queso de cabra (aunque mínima) y el paté. Pedí boulibaisse. Debes estar bromeando con un charco de salsa espesa sobre salada en el fondo de un tazón con unas hojuelas de pescado blanco que no hace boulibaisse. Nada más que no sea un langostino u otros mariscos a la vista. Mi hijo y mi marido tenían pescado y patatas fritas. Todo lo que mi hijo dijo fue "los guisantes son buenos". Pescado pequeño y patatas fritas recién cocinadas. Mi hija tenía el pato. Diminuto sazonado sobre una cama de lentejas comestibles sobre saladas. Postres, queso y vino bien. El personal es educado y atento, pero solo unas pocas mesas ocupadas. Más silencioso que he visto. No sorpresa.¿Por qué no me quejé? Bueno, es la primera vez que hemos estado juntos por un tiempo cuando su hijo vive en Tokio y su hija Londres. Celebramos el comienzo de la Navidad y en esta ocasión la preparación fue más importante que la comida. Afortunadamente, la comida podía olvidarse ya que el panto era divertido. Comerá fuera del teatro en el futuro a menos que las cosas mejoren.

Fuera de langostinos por 5. 00 pm, de verdad! !Fish & Chips fue el peor que he tenido, el servicio fue muy lento y no parecía haber nadie manejando el restaurante.

We attended the the theatre recently for the wonderful BRB performance of Giselle.We enjoyed the most delicious supper in the restaurant before the performance. The food was absolutely delicious and the staff and service faultless. We'll be back again soon!

He comido aquí en varias ocasiones y me encantó, pero en esta ocasión nos quedamos muy decepcionados. La comida era muy buena pero el servicio era deficiente. Tuvimos que esperar 25 minutos entre nuestros entrantes y el plato principal. Nos dieron la factura equivocada al final. No es un buen comienzo para la noche.

The Apron Restaurant is the perfect way to start your evening. The menu is well presented and the food is delicious. Our young male waiter was very attentive, helpful and polite..

Lovely lunch with very pleasant staff in nice surroundings before seeing The Motown musical. Both the restaurant and the show are well worth a visit.

Visited on sat evening. Service was excellent, especially from our waitress Josie and the gentleman who seemed to be in charge. Very friendly and helpful. Food was delicious and not too over priced.

I was in the Theatre Royal to see Calendar Girls. As it was an evening show I thought I would book and have dinner in the Apron Restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised with everything. The ambiance, friendliness of the staff and the food was great. The special starter was a Prawn and lobster cocktail, very 70's. It was a big portion and really tasty. The next course I chose Lamb with a fresh pea salad, it was huge and filled the plate. The Pea salad was a mixture of lettuce and fresh crunchy peas and a warm balsamic tasting dressing with lamb cut in pieces it was absolutely

The menu was disappointing. For main courses there were two pork dishes which unfortunately we can’t eat, no chicken dishes and they had run out of the lamb (at 5.30pm!) and the only fish main course was in batter. The service was slow and the food was not good. Our starters took 40 minutes to arrive. The Tempura mushrooms were like shoe leather surrounded by extremely oily, undercooked batter. The mussels as a main course were served in milky water which had no seasoning & no flavour. We had to leave half the mussels as they tasted undercooked & had no flavour. Again the batter under the fish was not fully cooked. We reported we were unhappy about the food but this was not reported to the manager. We will not be eating here again.

We have always booked the restaurant before a performance because it is comfortable and accessable,rather than trying to get a seat elsewhere..The meal today was very disappointing . We arrived early and were served quickly but due to only having two waitresses working many customers waited a long time to be served .....My husband ordered fish and chips which looked great on arrival ... however the batter although chrispy on the outside was soggy and inedible .the chips on both the meals were greatly over salted .(why when salt and pepper is on the table? )I'm sure this could have been rectified if the girls were not so busy but we watched as four other customers left their batter too.. .....It also worried that rock salmon was on the menu as these dogfish from the shark family are becoming an endangered species....not a good idea to encourage eating these in a city that prides itself as a Sea City .....l would welcome a reply .

This is the first time we have eaten at The Apron, and it was a lovely meal with attentive service. My mother had the chicken Caesar salad, and I had the smoked trout fillet with beurre blanc, both served with a great and varied salad (we had to ask what some ingredients were as we couldn't recognise them, although they tasted great). The only comment I would make was on the intrusive music coming through the sound system, and the lack of cream (particularly as an alternative to the sorbets and ice-cream in the desserts). However, it was an excellent meal, we thoroughly enjoyed it, and will return on our next visit to the theatre.

We eat her quite often prior to seeing a show but the new menu has pushed it into a fine dining experience.

We ate at the Theatre Royal Restaurant last evening as a normal part of our visit to the theatre; we have always been impressed by the quality of the cooking, the choice and the service. We have noticed the last few times we have visited that the food standard is changing but last night was the most disappointing. We ate at 6pm for the 7.30pm show so arrived in good time. However a number of choices (a pie and the special had already run out - this is happening now quite frequently) and the choices left were 2 different pasta dishes, fish and chips, a veg/vegan pithier (pie) and either a pork salad or lamb. The both pasta meals were very heavy and overcooked, I'm afraid. I think it's time for a change so we will try somewhere else to eat next time we visit the theatre.

Ate early evening before the V H musical. Food and service very impressive. We agreed that it would stand alone as a good place for lunch in town. Also plenty of vegan and vegetarian options, and all locally sourced.

My husband and I arrived early for our booked table, and could not have been dealt with more efficiently or appropriately by Emma .....She suggested we should take a seat just outside the restaurant, and she would come go get us, which she.did.

We had tickets to see a show at The Theatre Royal Plymouth and decided to book a table at The Apron for the convenience of eating at the Theatre. This was our first time at this restaurant and we were certainly not disappointed! From the minute we arrived to the time we left, we had nothing but excellent service, Food and wine. Thank you to Ben who greeted us and Lorraine who served us, amazing customer service and nothing was too much trouble. The food was excellent, very tasty and the menu was just right. In addition to this, we had ordered interval drinks and the deal is, when you've booked a table for dinner, you keep that table for the rest of the evening... Amazing!! When the interval came, all we had to do was make our way from the auditorium back to our table in the restaurant where our drinks were waiting for us. That is a nice touch, saves waiting at the bar & finding somewhere to sit. Thank you contributing to such a wonderful evening and we certainly wouldn't hesitate recommending to others..... And we will be back!!

If you like fish a lot of choice but variety not great . What we had food wise was nice but starters expensive for what you got . Once again a little rushed at the interval as drinks not ready and had to wait . Staff are knowledgeable and friendly.

Some friends and I went there before seeing Les Miserables. We were sadly disappointed. Three of us had the chicken & asparagus pie, one had sense to have with chips which was lovely. Two of us had with mash which was luke warm at best but soon went cold. It was sloppy and not nice. The pies were great and the cabbage almost edible! Our other friend had the lamb which apparently was nice.

Just finishing a meal here and will be coming back. Staff were so welcoming and spent time with us, talking about the ingredients, the place and answering all of our questions. We had the bread - so full of flavour- and oil and vinegar- unusual taste, locally sourced balsamic which I would come back for alone. Lamb- cooked to perfection and gratin and vegetables delicious.

Fantastic performance Beauty and the Beast by BRB and fab dinner in restaurant beforehand.

Husband, myself and two friends had lunch here before the opera. I had arranged the outing including the lunch booking, and I was a bit concerned that it would meet the hoped for standard. I needn’t have worried! The lunch- sea bass with new potatoes and courgettes was delicious, and beautifully presented. Three of us had the blood orange desert and that too was excellent. The chocolate dessert was also much enjoyed. The staff were very helpful and we were not rushed - the table was ours from 1230 until the start of the afternoon performance. I can recommend this venue.

On night we went, wide range of dishes of wide range of prices. In Lower price were range of dishes for veggies and vegans. We had subtely flavoured mushroom risotto, delicious. Pie of the day, I had was chicken and asparagus, nicely served. Starters were economy priced whitebait, generous portions, brown bread and butter would hve been nice. When bill came we were very impressed, nicely served soda water with lemon and ice was only 50p! This restaurant has a very clever chef. Expansion of the restaurant is imminent I think. Mid week Opera night all tables were full. Menu changes every 3 weeks?

Esto es para la 'estatua de Bianca' afuera, ¡qué monstruosidad! nada que ver con Plymouth. Pero estoy seguro de que atraerá mucha atención. Solo voy al teatro una vez al mes para tomar un café, contento de no tener que caminar por sus piernas para entrar, como se sugiere.

Muy buena experiencia. Ninguno de los dos había comido aquí por un tiempo. Las opciones de menú perfectas para una cena previa al teatro. Ambos fuimos por 2 entrantes, con un postre en el intervalo.

Utterly hilarious, fast, entertaining and brilliant. Well done everyone on Stage and thank you for a great evening.

Excellent staff, all friendly and efficient. Good value two course lunch for £18 before the performance. Not a huge choice but offered something for everyone - highly recommended.

Really nice food with friendly service in a lovely atmosphere; and you can keep the table for the interval which is great

, excellent place to go take the kids the whole family nice cafe good day out

We booked a meal here before we saw the Pantomime. The meals were pre ordered. The menu hasn’t got a huge choice but had something for everyone. The kids meals were very good as was ours. The staff were all polite and friendly which is always a plus. Would definitely go there again.

Had the two course set menu for a remarkable £17. The service was excellent, friendly informative staff, always checking everything was okay. The food was delicious, and mash potato exactly as it should be, creamy and no lumps. Perfect start to the eve before 7pm theatre show, Shrek. Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Have eaten here on several occasions and have always enjoyed it very much.

This was our second time eating at the theatre before a show and once again we had a great experience. Having visited the theatre many, many times over the years we had not thought to eat there until a few months ago. The fact you can go back to your table for a drink during the interval is a huge benefit also.

When you book a table here you can also reserve it for the interval.

Had the best time in this restaurant. Food was really good & service was outstanding. Nothing was to much for our waitress. So happy & friendly. It’s really a hidden gem in Plymouth. Thanks for a great evening & especially thanks to Lorraine our waitress.

We regularly use this restaurant for a pre-theatre dinner as the quality of the food is excellent, the staff friendly, professional, and focussed on ensuring that the meal is served in a timely fashion. Value for money is also good.

Had a meal pre play. The food was excellent and the service from Bronte was prompt, personable, knowledgeable and faultless. We will repeat the experience.

Having eaten here on numerous occasions, last night was so disappointing. The service was very slow with long waits for each course. This was blamed on a new table layout.

What has happened here to the previous high standards? I endured a lunch of packet sandwiches made with brown sliced bread and what was described as Westcountry ham but actually was thin and slimy. Tiny pieces of tomato. Very salty. The pot of tea was good.

I’ve been to The Theatre Royal many times over the years, but never have I thought to eat in the theatre’s restaurant prior to a performance.

We don't usually eat at the theater (Bad experience many moons ago in London)

......that the Theatre Royal had such a good restaurant?! We booked a table for a pre show dinner and although the decor is fairly minimalistic the hosting was warm and friendly. The staff were informative and relaxed, with plenty of smiles.

We had pre booked a meal for two many months in at the same time as buying our theatre tickets. On arrival offered a small table against the wall with one of us at in the half in the entrance. Refused this and with no quibbles offered another vacant table. A modern open plan seating area, spotlessly clean, simple plastic chairs. The staff are mostly young, enthusiastic, and friendly, in neat modern outfits. The menu choices were alright but lack perhaps something for those with smaller appetites. Not being partial to rich dishes and concerned about time we ordered the beer battered cod and chips. Very will cooked and arrived surprisingly fast.

The meal arrived promptly and was very nice - good value too.We had ordered interval drinks and had been told to return to our original table. Unfortunately, these didn't materialise. After presenting our paperwork, this was rectified, although the drinks had to be decanted into a plastic beaker so we could take them into the theatre to finish off.

I visited the Theatre Royal Restaurant with my family before watching War Horse on Friday evening, and what an amazing evening we had! We were served by Joe who was fantastic for the whole evening, we could see he was very busy but was always happy to chat and nothing was too much trouble. On his recommendation I chose the steak which was cooked to perfection, and all of our other dishes were delicious too. We were given the option by Joe to have desserts during the interval which we all agreed was a fantastic idea, and this worked perfectly when it came to it. Everything went to plan and we were back in our seats with ample amount of time before the performance resumed. Food was reasonably priced. We will definitely be dining here again!

Attended Miss Saigon at the Theatre, the venue is lovely. Large venue with wheelchair access. Lots of parking available. Bar and cafe both small but offer anything you could need. Comfortable seating in Theatre. Have seen other performances and will go again.

Service starts at five thirty, the menu is small but there is enough to suit most tastes and frequently changes. The service is good and friendly. The food is excellent and the wine reasonably priced.

Pre show meal (The show Miss Saigon was great). Helpful and cheery waitress.

Visited on Wednesday evening before show, food was excellent and good value. We were served by Lorraine who was friendly and helpful. Would recommend a visit be for a show.

The Plymouth Theatre Royal is a splendid building that captures many of Londons greatest shows . From Buddy to Blood brothers and Mama Mia the productions keep coming and soon it will host Miss Saignon . The pre theatre meal is also highly recommended, it is lovely food at a good price and will really add to the night.

I have given this rating as the food is ok, not exceptional, and I would not say great value. I would say the pricing would be about what you'd pay in a better quality restaurant. Drinks & coffees are overpriced for the venue. The portion sizes were moderate. It was reasonably busy, but that does not excuse being delivered the wrong starter, especially as the waitress repeated our order back to us. Staff were pleasant enough, but I'm afraid I wouldn't rush back for a meal - I've had better.

This is a really frustrating one to review. The Theatre Royal Restaurant did a lot right, but managed to sour the evening with some bad bits of customer service.

We went to the Restaurant for a pre matinee lunch, The first thing that struck us was how close the tables were to each other. Had we chosen to do so, we could have touched the couple at the next table. Even though it was only 1 pm, one of the main course items was sold out. The prices were high for this type of food. My wife had the vegetarian Aloo Gobi. Some of the potatoes were uncooked. I had the burger. It was dry and chewy. An experience not to be repeated. There are plenty of nearby better places. Whe had to ask twice for the bill. When it came it was wrong.

The experience was very disappointing. This was a Christmas present to my parents, who obviously did not want to complain, but our experience became almost laughable (until I saw the bill!). We asked for bread but was told the restaurant did not have any (fortunately, soup was not on the menu). Our wine took 3 attempts to get right ( to begin with the wrong bottle, but glasses already poured, then 3 glasses of the correct wine but we'd asked for a bottle, so they also went back). We weren't shown the bottle at any stage. Our starters were very average. The portions were tiny and this would have been fine if the quality had been there. My dad's main course of plaice cost £16 and arrived, thin, oily with a smattering of salsa and 3 boiled potatoes, we paid (£4) for a side of seasonal veg. They appeared in the teeniest bowl imaginable, and comprised, undressed, boiled carrots, parsnips and cabbage. His meal was bland, lacking flavour and imagination, more akin to wartime rations (if we ignore the £20 price tag) than contemporary dining. My mum and I chose mushroom risotto, which had a lovely flavour. However, the salad (£4), comprising undressed lettuce, cucumber and tomato and 3 olives, provided another trip down memory lane, this time to the 1980's, We were asked how our meal was before we'd even started eating, we were then asked again, but the waitress walked away mid-sentence. Undeterred we committed to pudding (£6), A delicious lemon tart and a pleasant apple frangipane. However, my tiramisu, aka 'pick me up' in Italian, was basically a large cube of double cream with the minutest layer of coffee and chocolate soil, It's lack of flavour would fail to 'pick' anyone up, more likely encouraging them to hibernate for a few years until people learn to cook with more flair. We were brought another table's starters and later another table's coffees, it was a comedy of errors, amounting to £131 (I did not to pay for the tiramisu, I can buy double cream from the co-op for 50p). Someone in the kitchen can obviously cook (lovely risotto and lemon tart), but mostly the food lacked flair and skill. There was no consistency, it was over-priced, pot-luck. The staff were friendly and attentive (if slightly inept) and I felt terrible that I couldn't bring myself to tip-sorry. But, the Matthew Bourne ballet we saw afterwards, saved the night and picked us all up!!

Generally good food, reasonably priced. Pleasant staff. Recently enjoyed a meal here before going into the theatre .

The best food in Plymouth! The pork belly was amazing! And the staff were really lovely and helpful, excellent service!

We booked to go before panto and looked at the menu before hand on line. It is a short menu with about 6 choices of starter, main and dessert. But still a good variety of choice. Understand why a short menu though as they are...

Had nice meal before going into theatre 100% go again staff was good food was food ok priced but what a nice theatre

Excellent evening at the Theatre Royal Restaurant, amazing starters, mains and deserts, all the food we had was delicious Especially the guinea fowl. (Yummy!) The members of staff were lovely, very friendly and very organised. The whole evening went so smoothly and it is a...

Went to the murder mystery night and the food was not very good at all .The starter was not that...

BLUF: it was great. My expectations were not high - after all, this is so well linked to the Theatre...

We booked a table at the Theatre Royal because we were attending the performance of 'The Barber of Seville' opera....

An afternoon and evening at the Theatre with a friend we were so looking forward to Beautiful. The production was wonderful which is more than we could say for the food which was disappointing.

A friend and I visited the restaurant before enjoying the ballet on Wednesday. We ordered and the food came, delivered by our waiter wearing white gloves. Last time we were warned that the plates were hot, not this time. My friend's plate was very warm, mine was cold and the food rapidly cooled down. The waiter came to check that alll was well. On hearing of my concern the plate was removed and I was told that another meal would be cooked. This was brought out by a senior member of staff. The plate was still cold. When I queried this I was told that the food had been probed and was at the correct temperature. It may have been but it didn't stay that way. We did receive a complimentary glass of wine but we won't return. The table behind had a similar experience, only her fish was not cooked through!

There is a brilliant choice of drinks, starters, main courses and desserts. I eat there regularly before the show and I have never been disappointed. Matt and Nigel lead a fantastic team of chefs

Enjoyed nice food here. Must say the portions are small a 3 course didn't leave me too full and would usually only have at most a 2 course meal. Can't complain about the quality of food though it was very nice would really recommend the goats cheese starter! I did have to tell a waiter not to take our plates when half the table hadnt finished the meal which was a bit of a let down when the rest of the service was quite good. Expensive for what it is.

Friendly atmosphere and service chose main course and dessert. Interesting selection main course fine desserts better.

Booked myself a pre-matinee show (Crazy for you) lunch set menu as a treat, instead of lunching nearby. I'm a fairly frequent theatre-goer to TRP and also a theatre friend. Top service from friendly and efficient waiter Adam, who was attentive to the fact that I was on my own so found the best table position for me. Good but limited menu choice, two courses for £15, mine being the very tasty MMoroccan chicken main plus the meringue pineapple mess, although a bit too sweet. A great boon was the fact of my table being reserved for my sole use for the whole afternoon from noon;.the option was there for lunch-goers to be served dessert during the interval. The restaurant doesn't sell the tubs of ice cream but I sat at at my table again to eat mine during the interval, as well as reading through again the programme which Adam had offered me earlier. All in all it was an excellent experience of a great show and meal which I would recommend to others - made even better by the reduction in my bill by using my theatre friend's voucher.

Booked a table before the evening performance in the Theatre.Table ready on arrival at 6.15pm. Quick, organised service with very quick delivery of the food.menue choice reasonable, portion sizes, good, quality of food acceptable.Clearly this is a slick operation simed at getting people into the theatre on time. This has a slightly negative effect on the sense of atmodphere. Too rushed, no time to relax and enjoy the food or experience. In reality we had plenty of time as the meal was delivered and eaten in about 40 minutes.

As regular theatre goers it was only a month ago we were invited by friends to a pre-show meal in the restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed it. Normally we eat elsewhere before a show...Having booked the final performance of 'Funny Girl' we added a meal to try it out again.Safe to say it appears the quality and service are consistent!We had a different menu (forgot to ask how often they change it) and was spoiled for choice. The service is excellent and timed to perfection to hit the evening performance time of 1930 with a 1730 start time.The servings are of a reasonable size, well presented and delicious. Prices are mid-range but you could pay a lot more elsewhere for exactly the same..A nice touch is that you keep the table for the intermission which means you can leave desserts and coffee until then. There are even take away cups supplied to you for those who want to finish coffee back in your seat.All in all a great experience and means we will be adding it to our ticket in the future...it makes it a much more relaxing experience to be on-site in plenty of time!

The food was very good and the service was excellent. We had the main course and desert, and it was delicious. I would recommend the pineapple version of Eton Mess and the forest fruits with hot white chocolate sauce.

A friend and I enjoyed a matinee lunch during a visit to 'Funny Girl' today. There was plenty of room in the restaurant and we were given a window seat. Our waiter Adam was most attentive,efficient and pleasant. We chose the £15 menu and had a main course before the show then enjoyed our pudding in the interval. Maria had grilled cod, chips and garden peas which she said was delicious while I had duck on pakchoi (?) with sweet potato puree; the duck was a little tough for my likeing. We followed this with a coffee, paid the bill then went in to the show. The same table was reserved for us for the interval and my dark chocolate mousse and Maria's white chocolate something-or-other with fruit were already on the table. Both were delicious. We had a short chat with the lovely Adam, saw the second part of the show and that was the end of an extremely pleasant outing. And the show was great too!

Visited for a pre show dinner. Staff initially very attentive and it was good to see we could have our table during the interval if we wanted it for dessert/coffee. My parmesan mousse starter was very disappointing, a couple of quenelles of something vaguely cheesy but of the consistency of clotted cream, definitely not aerated sufficiently if at all.The main of clam tagliatelle with garlic and ginger lacked the garlic and ginger although the pasta itself was ok. Service dropped off as well and we had to remind them twice of our request for a jug of water. A friend's white wine spritzer was flat and was replaced with wine at no extra cost. Nice location and ambience but food and service let it down.

We attend the Matinee performances at the theatre regularly and always precede it with lunch in the theatre restaurant. Yesterday we attended Sister Act and again enjoyed a delicious lunch in the theatre restaurant. My wife had traditional fish and chips and I had the duck dish. Both were delicious and we both followed up with the "TRP mess", which was exquisite. The service was friendly, efficient and attentive as always. We always comment to ourselves that the restaurant should be marketed at non-theatre goers, as it has so much going for it. I am not even sure if you can use the restaurant if you are not attending the show. We often enjoy the meals more than the shows. Can't wait for the next time!

Extremely efficient service, excellent starter and main. Great to have table for whole evening with drinks waiting at interval even though very short interval so gulpedrather than sipped!Thank you

Only six months since my previous review and, yet again, I struggled to find anything to complain about. Not that I go out with that aim, of course; preferring to venture forth with the proverbial glass of tap water always half full (free bottle of the stuff here, please note).And so it was, dinner before enjoying Morpurgo's 'Running Wild' the other evening. The show was superb, with life-size elephant-puppet and an eleven year-old actress on stage together, throughout. It was difficult to decide which of them took the honours, both giving fantastic performances. On balance, given that one was brilliantly crafted by a team of superbly-talented and experienced professional puppeteers and the other was escaping homework by doing her 'evening job' we have to give the nod to youth. Great delivery, commanding stage presence and evoking genuine emotional responses from the audience....I was left thinking ...'How does she ever improve on this!!?'Anyway, back to the food. Not quite sure why but we were presented with a 'Family Set Menu' at £10/pp menu card which was different to the website's menu for the day...but it didn't really matter to us, nor were we aware until I got home and checked online to confirm a few details before embarking on this review. I did overhear another group entering the restaurant learning from the waiter that the 'crab' wasn't available, and expressing their disappointment. They had obviously had looked on the website before visiting.Now, at last, back to the food!! Choice of about four starters and we both opted for the Thai fishcakes. They were wonderful, three on a rectangular plate with a small alloy jelly-mould-like pot of Teriyaki sauce and another of homemade red-cabbage slaw. Breaking apart the first fishcake and lifting a bite-sized portion with my fork, I steered it toward the sauce thinking...Will this slip off and plunge into the little pot? Tsunami, after-all, was the order of the day!! (Check out the storyline of the show.)I needn't have worried. The fishcake 'mix' had a much better proportion of fish to potato than often witnessed, meaning plenty of flaky fibres binding well and holding-up admirably to the rigours of cutlery. Some restaurant fishcakes have so little fish within that I've thought they must contravene trade-descriptions protocols. But these were great...and you could actually taste the fish, besides 'seeing' it! The sauce was really tasty...just sweet enough and just spicy enough to not overpower the delicate flavours in the fishcake. A consistency to match, sticking well to the fishcake but not gloopy...the ideal dipping sauce. Whether this particular mix had ever seen any mirin or sake in preparation, I don't know. It may have come out of a bottle supplied by a catering company. If so, I still give great credit to the chefs/cooks for choosing it, as their judgement meant my first course went down 'a treat' and I was a happy man.The slaw, too, I loved.But, and I have written this before in reviews, it can be the tiny little things that can make a huge difference. In this case, the ultimate 'piece de resistance' was the little sprinkling of fresh coriander across the plate. Not too much, maybe half a dozen leaves cut up, that just triggered the whole taste experience of this course. Not difficult, either, but a little touch of magic, or genius, or common sense, or plain good practice. Whatever it was, it really worked so well. We both commented, at the same time, smiling.And that was just the starter! I had good 'ole ham, eggs and chips for my main. Looking back I was surprised to see I did last time I wrote a review for here, also. There's a pattern emerging, n'est pas? Continuing on the theme of little touches, the fried eggs were prepared to perfection. As the plate arrived, I just smiled..again..as I regarded how tidily, how comfortably, how scrumptiously they lay atop the slices of ham. They had been placed there with such care and precision, they just seemed to belong there.If someone had set out to fry two eggs to the absolute precision state between 'runny yolk but all the white cooked properly', and 'just overcooked and a tad leathery', for a competition or demonstration, I cannot believe it could have been better than these. Why am I going on so much, you wonder? Because, these eggs were that good, quite simply.Chips, too, were wonderful. Whatever potatoes used, it allowed a par-boiling to create a floury, fluffy surface to the chunkiness that responded really well to the final frying. The surface crisped-up a treat and created the perfect vehicle for dunking into the perfect yolks....purrfect. With ham that melted in the mouth, this course also hit all the right spots. Heaven, on a plate.My wife chose Penne Carbonara and savoured every tasty mouthful. A couple of cappucinos and it was off to our seats. Theatre Royal restaurant...well done, another first class performance that demands an encore!!

The sticky toffee pudding saved the day! Shame that after having the expensive belly pork - tasty but such a small helping of mash,we felt we should have gone to Specsavers - we shared one portion of the delicious and highly priced pudding.The Show Sunny Afternoon was fabulous but adding up what we spent on the food kind of took the shine off the evening just a bit!

Decided to use the restaurant at the Theatre Royal for a treat before watching "Sunny Afternoon"We had eaten here before and enjoyed our food on that occasion. We were not disappointed. The service was quick and friendly, the food was quite enjoyable. We both had fish dishes. My wife had bream while I had cod and chips. The bream was very good and my cod was covered in a very crispy batter, possibly just a little overcooked. The chips and mushy peas were excellent. We both had a dessert which again were very good.I do have some criticism however relating to the presentation of my cod & chips. I ordered and I got a typical British menu favourite. Battered cod, chips and mushy peas. They were served on an oblong plate (why?), the cod was placed on the right hand side, in the middle was a diagonal smear of tartare sauce (Masterchef style) and on the left hand side were 2 pots. The small one at the top containing mushy peas and a taller one at the bottom for my chips. I could have tipped the lot on my plate but I wanted tartare sauce for my fish not under my chips.The whole layout just made it a little awkward to eat. The chip pot got in the way of my left arm when trying to cut the fish, it was the devil of a job trying to get the last of the peas out of the small pot and finally it was nigh on impossible to get any sauce on my fish as it had been smeared so thinly in that very arty style.It didn't put me off my food, it just niggled me. It won't stop me returning although if I have cod and chips again I might just asked for traditional food to be served in a traditional way.

Having read the last review it bears no resemblance to our visit we went to see the same show the food was to die for tasty and good value if you whant pile it high food then ok the restaraunt is not fore you but if you whant a fantastic tasty well presented high class meal this is the place four people starter mains sweet bottle of wine two beers £138 great value

I went to the Theatre Royal with friends last night to see the musical "Sunny Afternoon" & we decided to visit the restaurant beforehand. I'd not been before & my first impression was that it was rather soulless:- more like a works canteen or a department stores cafeteria. I was also surprised that unlike many restaurants nearby, they don't offer a special "Pre Theatre" menu. (considering that most customers are there for a show!) The food was OK. though like many places nowadays offering so called" nouvelle cuisine", portions were small whilst prices were big.(a small portion of pork belly with almost no vegetables:- £13) The show was great, but I wouldn't use the restaurant again, as there are so many places nearby that offer a better deal & serve better food.

Had a lovely evening here on the 4th May. Arrived at 5pm to be quickly seated and shown the menu. There were a range of dishes to suit all people. we both chose to have the crab to start followed by the lamb. Could not fault the food or service at all! We chose to have our desert in the interval of the show which was a fabulous idea and was waiting for us at our table. Overall we had a lovely evening and the I could not fault it at all.

Went there for lunch today before a matinee performance. It didn't start well when the member of staff couldn't find our booking despite the fact I showed him the confirmation email. It was not busy at all so we got a table easily but I really don't know why the only time I could book was 12 noon for a 2.30 performance! My husband's crab was pleasant but the portion of one quenelle seemed rather small for the price. We both had cod and chips which were tasty, but both our beer battered fish were very oily - I've been feeling slightly queasy all afternoon!The meal was ok but we probably won't return - there are a lot of other restaurants in the area and it really wasn't that special.

Booked tickets for Cinderella ages ago and on a whim booked a table in the restaurant as not tried it since the theatre upgrade. Although all the tables rapidly filled with pre theatre diners the staff were attentive and took orders quickly. The uniform the waiting staff were provided with was in keeping with the theatre although the heavy jackets were soon discarded. Food was heavenly and delicious. We came back to our table in the interval for dessert which had been pre ordered and was waiting for us. A really special evening.

My wife and I were on holiday in Brixham and planned a trip to the Theatre so thought we would give the restaurant a go.We were seated promptly and the service was friendly and efficient throughout. Clearly they are geared up to getting the food out in fairly short timescales to ensure people are ready in plenty of time for the performances and this worked very well through to paying the bill.I had the crab to start - it was very tasty although for the price I would have liked a bit more crab than just one quenelle. My wife had the goats cheese parfait (a lump of goats cheese) which was tasty.For mains, I had the catch of the day - salmon with hollandaise sauce, champ mash and tenderstem broccoli. The fish was tasty and well cooked, the sauce of a good consistency and the meal well balanced overall. My wife had the braised beef which was meltingly tender and very flavoursome.For desserts I had the Mille-feuille which was a little disappointing - I would have liked more cream to balance out the flakiness of the pastry and a bit more flavour in the raspberry cream. My wife had the chocolate almond mousse cake - this was a bit like a soft brownie and declared to be scrummy. Food was well presented throughout and the ambience and surroundings were very pleasant. The restaurant is not cheap but not outrageous in the context of a Theatre venue. Portion sizes are not large but the food is of good quality. I would return if re-visiting the theatre.

6 of us age here prior to Mama Mia which was excellent. We ordered across the greek menu and the maximum any of us would give it was 5 out of 10 and some scored it lower, one English classic should have been available. The service was slow and when it came to paying the bill all the staff were busy and I had to chase them and pay at the counter. Poor service.

I had before performance meal with my friends there. It was really enjoyable and food was delicious. We had main meals and deserts and all of us were very happy. I do recommend this place for meal.

Pre theatre meal on Friday 19th February. Specifically asked for cod and chips but no garlic aioli. After the starters which were OK - nothing special, mains arrived - disappointment fish sitting on top of aioli. Had to call waiter over to get meal changed. Meal returned but only been replated- the fish was still covered in aioli underneath so had to call waiter over again. Manager returned with newly cooked fish but now chips were cold. He gave us a discount of one dessert and agreed it was not acceptable. Desserts were OK - again nothing special. Over all a £44 meal for 2 people food only with a £6 reduction for Main meal issue - not convinced this was compensation for a disrupted meal that was otherwise only OK but nothing to rave about. Benefit was restaurant in the theatre ready for show but unlikely to return. Better restaurants near by theatre.

Had a really great dinner, with a greek theme, for the show, staff well organised, and friendly, tasty food, great to have your table in intermission, no waiting for wine or even a desert

We came as a family of 8 for a pre Mamma Mia lunch. Nice layout and service was good. the menu was themed for the show which I admire as an idea but had been a bit overdone so there wasn't much non-Greek option available. My feta pie for I think £11 was very small as were the other portions. Overall value wasn't great and I left feeling we'd paid for the convenience of where we'd eaten rather than what we'd eaten.

Nice evening meal, staff were very friendly and surroundings were nice. Great that the table is reserved as well for the interval for the show! All I would say is the menu needs a bit more variety! Otherwise a decent meal

The selection was neither exciting, nor cheap. There are numerous restaurants surrounding the theatre that offer better value and cater for performance times.

As a birthday treat we went for pre theatre lunch. The menu was Greek themed in line with the performance of Mamma-Mia. The staff were courteous and attentive, food was very tasty. It was also lovely to have drinks at the interval at the same table. A very enjoyable experience.

My husband and I are regular visitors to Plymouth ( my husband was actually born and grew up here) and we regularly come to the theatre. Have not eaten at the restaurant for many years, so thought we would try it. What a disappointment. Food was medeocre and quite bland. We both had fish and chips which was greasy. All seemed a bit pretentious. My husband asked for a liquor coffee which came as a black coffee in a cup with brandy separately and some milk. Waiter said they are not allowed to mix alcohol with the coffee! I asked for cream to replace the milk, which was done.There are many very good restaurants quite close to the theatre, so certainly won't be returning to this one again.

Great restaurant stunning food and impeccable service . A gem of a theatre restaurant. Good value for money and will definitely return again.

Went to collect our pre-ordred Pantomime tickets, there were 3 or 4 people in front of us so we thought that's not too bad as there was 1 young lady serving and plenty of other staff chatting and walking around so we thought someone would help the young lady and get through the queue quickly how wrong we were, they just continued to chat about Christmas etc and let their customers wait, really think this needs to be addressed by Theatre management.

Book early to dine before a show because this place is busy and justifiably so. The cuisine isn't outstanding, but it's good value for money, efficiently served and tasty. The table you are allocated is yours for the duration so a neat trick is to have pudding during the interval of the show, or if you've had that already, return for a coffee. My particular delight on this occasion was the honesty of the staff. I inadvertently left my wallet on the table during the first act. It was there when I returned and had been looked after by the staff, a great relief. Reasonable wine selection and decent coffee make this restaurant a perfect way to start 'a night at the opera' or whatever you are booked to see.

Just over three years ago, my wife and I watched Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at TRP and found it to be just as good as any review we'd read beforehand...over a number of years. At that time the coffee shop on the ground floor had just opened, I believe, and we had ventured in there for a pre-show snack.Well, I wrote a review of that experience then and, suffice to say, we hadn't bothered ourselves with the coffee shop since!! I'm sure the frailties of that evening rapidly vanished - certainly needed to.So, with Bourne's Red Shoes premiering in Plymouth this week, we'd booked our tickets (ages ago it seems now) and also booked ourselves into the theatre restaurant to make a full evening of it. The show itself was absolutely outstanding. A wonderful 'feast' of live entertainment, from the dancers to the set/costumes/lighting to the superb score and orchestration. Spellbinding...everyone should see it.But I'm writing here of the meal we had and I'm delighted to report it matched the stage production, note for note, move for move, delight for tasteful delight. You get the picture!We arrived a little later than planned, just before six and were shown straight to our table with impressive efficiency by the smart, young 'maitre d,' setting the tone for the next hour and a half...just the right balance of welcome and courtesy whilst deftly furnishing us with menus. Smiles go such a long way...why is it that some sectors of the service industry can't see that? Just as he'd informed us, our equally young waiter was soon there taking drinks order, and introducing his even younger female protege, properly and sensibly explaining it was her first evening of training. Aware of the time constraints (show-time!) we were virtually decided on our selections and I smiled with him over his enthusiasm for our choices whilst demonstrating the electronic ordering tablet to his colleague.Drinks arrived very promptly, as did our starters. We were impressed throughout by the thorough professionalism shown by all staff that served us...always efficient, always courteous and always with a smile. And the quality...superb. I couldn't fault a thing. Not that one sets out to, but, quite often, somewhere along the way there's a minor blip. Sometimes, like our experience of three years before, downstairs, several blips! But here, this evening, everything was wonderful.I had grilled mackerel bruchetta for my starter and it was an absolute joy. I love my food and I eat in many varied establishments. I can enthuse over fish and chips, full English, global, modernist, whatever, quite happily. What struck me about this dish was the lovely way every separate ingredient could be savoured, itself, yet combine so well with the others to create such an interesting array of flavours. The fish itself, lightly grilled to perfection, had a softness to the crisp bruschetta. The feta, diced vine tomatoes and pumpkin seeds were held together with a little oil and the tastiest fresh pesto drizzled around. A few salad leaves, small and tidy enabling their safe passage from plate to mouth without any fuss, ensured the whole course was a delight. What's more, there was even a sort of minor 'amuse bouche' tossed in there somewhere, with just a hint of aniseed. I would like to have asked the chef what he'd added. My wife equally enjoyed the crispy wontons, presented beautifully and with no hint of mass-production or conveyor-belt food, all the more remarkable given the time constraints for staff and customers. She followed that with the pork tenderloin and my main was good 'ole ham, egg and chips. I love it...a well-managed, thoughtful, caring restaurant takes a standard English meal and adds value, adds quality, adds even more enjoyment than I would have derived from the same dish elsewhere. I had ham, egg and chips in a pub a couple of weeks ago...it was pretty good...this was even better. Moist, tasty ham, small free-range eggs fried to perfection in fresh (!) oil...and 'twice-cooked' (I reckon) chips that give you that crisp exterior and tender tasty inside. Mmmm! Ambrosial....Amazingly, and due to the efficiency of the staff, we even had time for dessert, sticky toffee pudding for my wife and tiramisu for me. In both cases, we could hardly recall having had better, anywhere...can't say better than that, now, can we!?The same should be said for the whole meal, the whole evening. It was as pleasant and memorable an evening as we have enjoyed for a long time. Thankyou TRP, and our compliments to everyone who contributed...maitre d, newbie, chef, Matthew Bourne....one and all.