Keeping the drinkers going

The Warrington is a very handsome place indeed. It started life as a hotel, and is worth a visit just to take in the tiling, the carved wood, the lofty ceilings and the sweeping marble bar. The Victorians certainly knew how to do plush. Downstairs, you'll find busy bars with a handsome array of real ales, and up the broad, sweeping staircase you'll find Ben's Thai.

The dining room is large and impressively busy - smiling Thai waiters and waitresses scud about and the food is trolleyed out of the kitchen at an impressive rate. But it may be that this place is just a little too busy for its own good - the menu is very long and the starters all seem to be on the 'wholesale' side.

Deep-fried bits and pieces are the order of the day, and everything comes with a tiny saucer of thin, sweet, chilli sauce even when the menu blurb specifies 'sweet and sour plum sauce'.

So 'pinky in blanket' is a bland, soft prawn in tough pastry, spring rolls are chewy, not crisp, deep-fried veg in batter is greasy tempura. The best bet is miang gai - dollops of minced chicken with lime and peanuts served on a pleasantly astringent betel leaf.

Main courses are unsubtle but at least this means an agreeable belt of chilli, even if there is a tomatoey, sweet sameness to everything. The noodle dishes are sound - pad Thai is filling - while from the curries the kaeng ped phed yang is a spicy, rich, red dish with plenty of duck involved. The stir-fried broccoli with oyster sauce is good, with crisp and crunchy florets and a salty, tangy dressing.

This place is an unpretentious food factory where they turn the tables briskly and refuel drinkers, sending them back downstairs to try harder. Prices are not steep, but then portions are not huge. All in all, Ben's Thai meets a need.