James and I visited Circus for dinner tonight thanks to an offer from Keynoir (yes, my life is run by offers and discounts these days! Ha! Austerity measures!) I hadn’t realised until I checked back but its been nearly a year since my first visit to Circus … seems like only a few months ago!

I was really disappointed to find that the food seemed of a lower quality than last time – the mains were okay but our starters and desserts were quite disappointing. For example, my starter of chicken satay skewers (£9) were more like steamed pieces of chicken breast with slight grill lines rather than charred BBQ flavoured delicacies they should have been. At least the chicken was tender I guess. James’ Beef and Black Bean Empanadas (£8were nothing to write home about.

Ginger Pork Belly (£24) was pretty to look at and I was happy to get three good chunks of pork belly. Shame it wasn’t as tender as it could have been and had a slight burnt flavour. I ordered it with some very fluffily battered onion rings. James reported positively on his Star Anise Duck Confit (£26) which was nearly a meal on its own.

James was also happy with his Crème Brulee (£8) but my Ginger and Date Pudding tasted like it had come from a boxed dessert at a place like Iceland straight from the microwave. Good butterscotch ice cream.

On the positive, Circus are always constantly re-inventing their menu so food could be on the way up again the next time I come!

From an entertainment perspective we saw three different acts with the first on at 7.30. Which was a bit different from my last dining experience where they didn’t come on until quite a bit later than that.

I think James enjoyed himself tonight. Its different from anything he has been to before I’m sure!