This is not a place for a gourmet lunch, but rather a convenient one. It was extremely quiet in the dining room, and it was hard to find any staff (Nobody seemed to be around). I found myself walking around aimlessly in the lobby area to see if I could spot anybody. (I probably looked like a right lemon.) I did not stay at the hotel, so my review is based on going in especially to eat sporadically. The wording on their website is overplayed- refined cuisine does not stick in my mind, and culinary excellence is nowhere to be seen. (This isn’t gastronomy) There is always a sinking feeling in my stomach when I see a place write so highly about themselves. (if you are a great chef or a cook, there is no need to highlight it) Let your food do all the talking! I am more likely to be suspicious, but to be fair I checked this out after I had eaten and not before, because I was interested.
For a lunch, the menu was what you would expect to see on an extremely basic level- Sandwiches, salads, sharing boards. Doesn’t look like there Is an awful lot of cooking going on here… Except for the mains comprising of a beer battered fish fillet and a cauliflower steak. The building itself is grand and the dining room bringing an inviting cosiness. It would be the perfect setting to bring a gastronomic restaurant in here. It is just a shame that doesn’t exist.
My ciabatta with Marie Rose sauce reminded me of the ones you would find at M & S, whilst you have no time for a proper lunch and forced to pick up something quick from the sandwich aisle. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t bad it just wasn’t thought about deeply. If you are going to serve a sandwich, make it a good one! To start with, make sure you are making the bread yourself or get a cracking supplier, if the kitchen doesn’t allow the time or the space etc. I didn’t sense that this bread had been made by hand, and this was a downright shame. Some crisps were served on the side (probably out of a packet) But which packet, we do not know. They could have instead sliced some potatoes and deep fried them to make some marvellous homemade crisps, with your hand constantly going in and out of the bowl, starting an uncontrollable addiction. There was also some salad on the side. Details matter!
My guest took a salad, and he said it was not bad… And I guess he is right, it’s not bad but not good either. It just fulfilled the hollow hunger hole. This is not what we want to happen when we eat out. I took a cream tea in the other room afterwards and did the ‘scone test’ trying to break away the two parts, but it wasn’t a smooth transition. You can always tell a good bake by doing this, unfortunately it failed the test.
This hotel deserves a high-quality restaurant, but it isn’t going to get it if the owners don’t take pride in it. I would come back if there was nowhere else to go, but to come here purely for gastronomy? Unfortunately, it does not offer this. The hotel needs to work on their restaurant, and they should because it could be something to be celebrated, stately to match the building. I was nowhere near impressed.
