American Bar & Grill, The

America comes to Hale! Read all about it! Well, forgive the exclamations but for some of the inhabitants of Hale of more advanced years doesn't this invasion come as something of a surprise? Don't you believe it, they're down there getting stuck in with the rest.

Stuck into what? How does New England clam chowder, or The American garden salad sound to you? Or a Cobb salad? You didn't know it existed - wait until you hear this - Romaine lettuce, tomato, Monterey jack, smoked turkey, bacon, avocado and egg, all tossed in a tangy Russian dressing.

Americans like their steaks, it therefore follows that steaks are now big in Hale, and do I mean big? The Angus T-bone weighs in at 28 ozs, and that's before you get to the accompaniments. But the one that really caught my attention is The Guiltless Grill, with a 6 oz New York striploin, lamb cutlet, sausage, Canadian crispy bacon, egg, tomato, onion rings and thin fries. Some sort of legal connotation here?

Thanks to chains that shall remain shameless, the word burger has acquired a bad name in these parts, and many others too. No more! Try the The New Texas State size, two 8 oz burgers stacked to create a full 1 lb burger, char-grilled to order, on a sesame seed bun with tomato and pickle.

And what about brunch? Americans seem to be big on brunch, must be part of that "get up and go" buoyant approach to life, so go for the American with, paradoxically enough, Canadian bacon, eggs, hash browns and Dutch fried tomatoes. Then there's the classic eggs Benedict, made with an English muffin, Virginia ham and poached egg with Hollandaise. No decent breakfast table owing allegiance to America is complete without its maple pancake stack, a warm pile of fresh pancakes "drenched" in maple syrup, and in Hale meets America they do it just right.

All these - any many other - delights are served in a buzzy atmosphere with wooden floors that match the smart modern booth seating, amidst subtle lighting that somehow manages to create a relaxed atmosphere.