Back in my university days Revolution was a place I associated with sticky floors, mountains of sickly sweet shots and lots of very late blurry nights. As it turns out, Revs is actually a surprisingly normal place in the day time. The branch in St Peter's Square (just behind FACT) is really sleek, airy and colourful (absolutely not how I remember it) and they've got a pretty sweet lunch offering too.
With my cocktail-loving mother in tow, we started with a 'Rey-kaprioska' a take on the Brazilian classic and a 'Rose Garden' G&T, chosen with great difficulty from the absolutely mammoth cocktail list. On said list is a selection of sweet shop favourites, drinks topped with rainbow drops and flying saucers, a drink served in a fish shaped jug, cocktail umbrellas, mini ice-lollies and frozen boozy slushies. I reckon you could have a lot of fun working your way through them all- any takers?
Since we were drinking in the middle of the afternoon it was only right that we try out a couple of plates from the Bar Snacks menu. The Calamari with Aioli & Lemon (£4.25) was really good, light and crispy and everything you'd expect.
The hero of the meal for me though was the Popcorn Halloumi with Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa (£4.95). I happily could have munched away on these gooey, salty little bites for the entire evening.
For mains, having stoked my appetite for cheese, I went for the biggest, cheesiest burger I could find. In Revs this comes in the form of the special 'Big Nacho Cheese Dipper' (£12.50) . A double patty cheeseburger, brioche bun, crispy onions and a big bowl of delicious, melty, plastic-y cheese sauce to dunk it all in to. I usually like my burgers a bit more pink than they come in Revs but it was a decent burger nevertheless. My cocktail-sipping dinner date went for the Brooklyn Chicken Burger (£9.95). A slightly more understated option with buttermilk fried chicken, smoked cheddar, streaky bacon and chipotle BBQ sauce.
Like the cocktails, the food at Revs is all stuff you know and love but with a bit of a cheeky twist. I was completely surprised by how good it actually was and I'll definitely be popping back to try out the Bourbon Bad Boy (think bourbon biscuit x cocktail collab) and maybe a few more cones of popcorn halloumi too...
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