Restaurant Review: The Hammersley Restaurant in Stoke-on-Trent College*

[Ad-gifted] Here at Yeah Lifestyle, we love supporting and promoting local business and restaurants to our readers so today we are showcasing The Hammersley Restaurant, another hidden gem located in Stoke-on-Trent College’s Cauldon Campus.

The restaurant exists as a platform for aspiring chefs and hospitality enthusiasts to showcase their skills and passion. Managed and operated by students with the assistance of college staff this gives the students the chance to showcase their talents and work in a working restaurant.

The restaurant is currently only open on a Thursday for lunch and dinner where a weekly two/three/five course restaurant quality menu is created using locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients for very reasonable price.

Keep on reading to find out what we ate and what we thought of The Hammersley Restaurant and if it worth a visit.

The above was our menu and we decided to pick a 3-course meal for our lunch. Visitors can opt for a 2-course meal for a cheaper deal or add extra light bites if they feel pecky. They dinner menu is more extensive and refined and it goes up to 5-courses.

The Hammersley Restaurant has recently been awarded the Silver AA College Rosette Award for 2024/2025.  The Rosette is an award rather than a classification and this is awarded annually. This means that The Hammersley Restaurant prepares food with care, understanding and skill, using good quality ingredients and that the restaurant will be achieving standards that stands out in their local area and within the currently benchmarked colleges.

What did we think of the food at Hammersley?

Lex and I headed over for lunch and arrived there for 12noon, parking is free at the college by the way. We walked over to the reception area where we met up with Paul their PR & Marketing Officer who took us over to the restaurant which is located in their Lifestyle building.

The restaurant was beautifully set up and the front of house students were welcoming. Charlie was serving us and made sure our meals arrived on time.

The students, both at the front of house and kitchen are guided and taught by Stephen Heaton who is the Section Leader for Hospitality & Catering as well as David O’Sullivan, the Lecturer in Hospitality.

Both of Stephen and David also help plan the weekly menu for The Hammersley Restaurant.

We sat down to order our drinks and then our food. For our first course, we ordered the Chicken, crispy bacon and Stilton filo parcel, honey and orange which was rightly portioned and the flavours were beautifully paired. Somehow the honey and orange worked really well with the Stilton filo parcel and the chicken tasted delicate.

For our second starter, we ordered the Roasted vegetables, sage and onion polenta cake. Both Lex and I love polenta and I could eat it everyday. The polenta on its own was bland but was delicious when eaten with the vegetables and dressing. The sweetness from the roasted vegetables and the sharpness from the salad worked well.

For our mains, we ordered Plaice fillets, puy lentil and griddled chorizo with charred courgette. Both Lex and I love fish and we often tend to order fish or seafood dishes.  We had the opportunity to go into the kitchen to watch the talented student chefs cook our meals and we could tell that the fish was handled beautifully and the plaice cooked to perfection. The chorizo added texture while the puy and grilled vegetables completed the dish.

Chef David oversaw the cooking process and kept an eye on the young chefs to make sure each dish prepared was done to perfection.  For our second mains, we ordered the roasted portabella mushrooms, roasted onion and pomegranate tabbouleh, garlic and thyme dressing. I love mushrooms and we both enjoyed the dish especially the salad but felt that the mushroom could have been seasoned a bit more.

I also felt that the portion size for this dish was not as substantial compared to the chicken mains (which we did not order) but saw it being served to guests who seated next to us.

Now for our favourite part of the meal, desserts!

For our first dessert, we ordered Tea-A-Misu which is basically tiramisu with tea. This was the first time both of us tried this dessert and what a refreshing dessert it was.

I usually get a strong after-taste of coffee after eating tiramisu and did not get that with this dish. Such a light and refreshing finish to our meal.

For our second dessert, we choose the Chocolate Brownie, roasted banana with vanilla ice-cream.  The brownie was gorgeous especially served with the ice-cream. A definite win from us!  We did not see any roasted bananas on the plate, so wondered if this was missed out or if the bananas were part of the brownie recipe. If it was, we did not get the taste of the bananas.

What a lovely experience! We both had a delicious meal which was definitely restaurant quality.

We can’t believe that this is located just at our doorstep and the whole 3-course meal would have only cost us just £10 each (without drinks). A bargain price compared to what we would have paid at the local pub for a meal of similar quality.

It was also wonderful to know that The Hammersley Restaurant was giving these upcoming chefs a chance to showcase their talents by giving them a real-world environment to hone their talents, refine their techniques and develop their leadership skills.  It also gave us a sense that we were part of their growing process hence fostering a sense of community spirit.  We both had a fabulous time and personally, I can’t wait to go back again to the Restaurant.

Where is Hammersley Restaurant?

Cauldon Campus
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 2DG
England
+441782 208208
hospitality@stokecoll.ac.uk

How Much Does it Cost to Dine at The Hammersley?

3-Course Lunch meal is priced at £10 while a 5-course Dinner meal is priced at £20 per person.

What are their opening hours?

The restaurant is currently only open on a Thursday for lunch and dinner with a possibility of expanding to more days later. Please book in advance to ensure you have a table. 

12noon to 1pm Lunch
6:30pm to 10pm Dinner

About The Hammersley Restaurant

The Hammersley Restaurant is a fully licenced top-class training restaurant located in Stoke-on-Trent College’s Lifestyle building. Here customers will have a wonderful dining experience with a varied and exciting menu serving up to three courses at lunch time and four courses at dinner time, at a very affordable price.

The restaurant is staffed by supervised full-time students as part of their catering course and operates full table service. The Hammersley welcomes everyone and can cater to large party bookings and private functions. The restaurant is named after the famous dragon fountain situated directly opposite Cauldon Campus in Cauldon Park.

You may also want to read this:

Food Review: Sapporo Japanese Teppanyaki in Manchester

Restaurant Review: German Doner Kebab in Manchester

Restaurant Review: Christmas Feast at Comptoir Libanais in Manchester

*We were invited to review the food, all opinions are our own.