New Buddies menu

Towards the end of the last century I arrived in Northampton as a wide-eyed bumpkin from leafy Bedford and I asked fellow old hacks on the old Chron daily what this dirty old town had to offer.

The enormous desk of sports reporters immediately held forth on the array of first class teams on the patch, the crime reporter proudly pointed out our Crown Court, the chief reporter announced we had one of the ten most deprived boroughs in Europe but the legendary Graham Tebbutt (the editor’s right hand man) said simply… ‘Buddies’.

A far-off expression came into his eye, perhaps even a tear of happiness: “They give you too much,” he said.

Since then, as my family and my waistline expanded, we have been back to Buddies many, many, times.

It’s ribs, burgers and chicken style fare is good solid food and Buddies has always won out because it was the one place the whole family could agree on. When we were presented with the new easy-to-hold menus at the Sixfields Buddies – all that burger choice has been crunched down into a list of toppings which does make sense, but is Buddies really about making sense?

I ordered the Honey and Mustard Chicken Sandwich while number three son Billy ordered the BBQ Chicken Stack. I had my fries ‘wet’ (smothered with runny cheese and embedded bacon bits).

So much for salads. It is relevant to note that only an hour earlier I had been complaining about the middle-aged nature of my silhouette in my cycling gear and

made promises to myself about a healthy start. But Buddies still has the power to flip over that kind of thinking as fast as the waiting staff can take your order. I couldn’t see any tuna steaks on the menu (I used to enjoy a Caesar Salad with a tuna steak on it) and our neighbour on the next table said his old favourite the CBC (a chicken/bacon/ cheese combo) had also gone. But neighbour guy said he thought his burger was higher quality than before. The portions were still big enough to make you feel like you had treated yourself.

In the interests of research we got stuck into the puddings too. The banana cheesecake was enough without being too much and Bill reported that the giant fudge sundae delivered to him was fine.

The bill came to around £40 with drinks, and arrived with jelly beans instead of the usual humbugs and lollies. I like jelly beans more, to be fair. The service was really prompt and friendly which has always been a hallmark of Buddies.

So there have been changes but the familiar Buddies feel is retained. My feeling is that if Buddies was a cheeky little treat for you back in the day, it will continue to be so., even if you do find a slimmer menu rather than waistline.

The retro NYC decor is still the same and I’m sure the train will still run around the rafters. But Buddies is not Northampton trying to be America, it is Northampton showing America what it could have been: a guilty pleasure we can all agree on.

NQ Steve Scoles