315 Bar And Restaurant

The meal was very good, though the crab and haddock croquette starter at £12 was a real disappointment. Service was poor: we waited 15 minutes for a drink in an empty bar, then were taken straight into the restaurant without the chance to sit and enjoy a drink as we usually do. When I asked whether we could sit in the conservatory, I was called “darling” and told it couldn’t be guaranteed. It didn’t feel as if anyone was managing the restaurant staff. At this price, I expect better service.

The desserts were the highlight for me, with lovely flavour, texture and presentation. The rest of the food was high quality and nicely presented too, and the service was attentive, prompt and pleasant. We booked our first visit for Sunday roast with family, including a young person. We were offered drinks or taken to our table. The bright conservatory table was laid beautifully with clean glasses, cutlery and white linen, and the kitchen was spotless and visible. There’s a clear, simple menu with vegetarian choices and a similar separate one for children. There’s a spa area separate from the restaurant that I haven’t tried yet, though I imagine it gets the same attention to detail. There’s lovely work happening here. Thank you all, I’m happy to recommend it.

The waiting staff were friendly and lovely, and the decor is really nice. We booked steak night and arrived at 6pm; it was so quiet that we were the only two there for quite a while. The gentleman at the front of house wasn’t welcoming, which made us feel awkward, though we wondered if he’d had a bad day. We ordered fillet steaks medium and medium-well, but both came out well done and very tough. There were only a few chips and a little green veg, so I was still hungry afterwards. The latte was very strong for me and cost £4.50. Desserts were £9, so we didn’t have any. It seems popular, and maybe we were unlucky, but unfortunately I won’t try it again.

The steak pie was badly overcooked: the beef was hard and crusty, and the suet pastry was inedible, even though I like making pies with suet paste. The prawns and salmon turned out to be shrimps with a couple of pieces of salmon on top. A slice of homemade brown bread might have helped. I’m here for five days and ate at the restaurant on day two. Given the owner and head chef’s reputation, it was a great disappointment. When I mentioned it to the duty manager, the response was essentially, “They were prawns, so what!” I’m a senior caterer and booked this hotel because of the chef’s reputation. It’s a pity that standard doesn’t seem to carry through to the team. I guess I’ll have to find somewhere else to eat for the next four days. I’ll give a full review when I leave on Friday.