Bottle Of Wine
The Italian Garden

The Italian Garden

Main Street, South Lakeland, United Kingdom

Pizza • Pasta • Steak • Italian


"I recently visited here during a weekend break in Kirkby Lonsdale and I was left extremely disappointed. I tried to book a table for around 8.30 9.00 but was told I could only have a table at 8.00. When I arrived I was asked to sit in the bar until my table was ready which was fairly quick as I was 5/10 mins early. I found the menu to be slightly disappointing and not very Italian inspired despite the name. My order was taken and my starter didn't arrive until around 8.45 which annoyed me slightly as I wanted to book a table later and wasn't able to. (By now the restaurant was almost empty). The garlic bread was lovely but the garlic mushrooms was smothered in pesto ??? The main courses were a complete disappointment once again the chicken pasta was smothered in pesto, probably to hide the fact that it was tasteless and only two pieces of chicken in the whole dish. The carbonara was all curdled. Rather than a smooth sauce it was all lumpy and separated. No black pepper or Parmesan offered. The portion sizes were decent and the fries were lovely. When letting the staff know how disappointed I was with the meal I didn't receive so much as an apology and they quickly asked us for the money and we left. I would definitely not visit here again. Apart from the appalling food I found that I wasn't treated how all the other customers in the restaurant were. This was my wedding anniversary treat and it was far from it!!!"

Room 43

Room 43

43 Lavender Hill, London, United Kingdom

Meat • Seafood • Chicken • Cocktail


"We came to Room43 after reading lots of positive reviews, and found the food descriptions particularly appealing. Our first impression was positive, as it felt quite cosy inside, and one particular waiter was very energetic. This waiter made us some cocktails which were delicious. That said, things went downhill from there. It took quite a while before the other waiter decided to take our food order. We ordered eight dishes between the two of us, as these are small plates. Eight was slightly too many I'd suggest 3 dishes per person should be enough. Our main issue was the flavours of the dishes, which were severely lacking. The salmon and the chicken had seemingly no herbs or spices on them as they tasted like plain baked salmon and chicken. The okra and lamb stews, and the smoked aubergine starter all tasted like tinned tomatoes and nothing else. The calamari was decently crispy but, again, lacked flavour and the pieces of actual seafood were quite small in comparison to the amount of batter. The lentil and mango salad had too many lentils and too little else once the mango was gone, we were eating plain lentils with no dressing or flavour. Finally, we are pretty sure the vine leaves are in fact the Asda vine leaves, which taste fine, but the mark up was quite substantial. Overall, we were expecting a flavour explosion based on the menu descriptions, but we in fact just had a disappointingly bland meal. My boyfriend also thought the music was a touch too loud for a dinnertime slot maybe a post dinner performance, from say 9pm, would be more appropriate, or a pre dinner cocktail performance from 5 7pm. In any case, don't have loud music on when people are trying to converse over dinner. We also found it a little odd to have a jazz band there as the ambiance and decor in the restaurant do not feel suited to a jazz band it's not a very opulent venue."

R Bar & Brasserie at The Richmond Hotel

R Bar & Brasserie at The Richmond Hotel

24 Hatton Garden Liverpool, Merseyside L3 2AN, L2 2EN, United Kingdom

Tea • Wine • Drinks • British


"My partner and I visited on Saturday evening having had a Virgin Experience Days voucher for the Beatles Story and a three course meal at the R Bar and Brasserie. As it was part of a bundle we fully expected a reduced menu from what’s available on the website, and this was indeed the case. The starter I chose, calamari, was lovely but that’s where any loveliness began and ended. The tagliatelle I ordered for the main was abysmal, and had zero taste to it with the creamy sauce having less taste than a can of white emulsion. After 2 mouthfuls (the second I was hoping to be an improvement on the first , I had no choice but to leave the food. My partner ordered the burger which again did not meet expectations. When the waiting staff came to take our dessert order, we had to repeat it twice as she wasn’t listening the first time having been distracted by something on the TV screens behind us, followed by a “sorry what was that?”. You know how waiting staff often ask if you’re ready for them to take your order, well we came close to having to ask her that instead! The desserts we chose were subpar once again, with the lemon tarte being smothered in thick vanilla cream to the point you couldn’t taste the lemon the pastry casing was also the same one my partner had his goats cheese tartlet in for his starter. My partner’s brownie looked like something you’d stick in the microwave after you’ve picked it up from Iceland. Food aside, the restaurant itself wasn’t too great either. The decor, whilst not to our taste, we can accept was okay, but the cleanliness was poor. The coffee machines to the left of our table were filthy from splash marks, the carpet was covered in crumbs and dropped food and the (white! seats were very stained. It’s a shame because after reading the reviews from other visitors we thought we were getting a good deal as part of the bundle but being honest it’s the worst meal we’ve ever had (and I’m re experiencing it today as my stomach just won’t settle! . I hope this is a one off and we just visited you on a bad day, as surely being part of a voucher bundle would give you the exposure to gain to repeat custom moving forward, and this isn’t your normal standard."

Prix Fixe Brasserie

Prix Fixe Brasserie

39 Dean Street Soho London, W1D 4PU, United Kingdom

Steak • French • European • Brasseries


"Came here for an early birthday celebration with my friends on a Friday night. I had made a reservation beforehand but it was very empty when I walked in so it wasn't needed. There were 4 of us and we decided to order a couple starters to share so we could try different things. One of my friends is vegetarian so we went with the trio cheese croquettes and then the grilled mussels. Both were really nice, but I wish the garlic butter sauce for the mussels could be stronger. The mussels also weren't the most fresh but tbh I wasn't surprised since central London isn't known for seafood and for the price it was what it was. For mains, I went for the Entrecote steak with fries. I loved the garlic butter that came with it and the refreshing salad on the side. The steak was a little too rare for my liking even though I asked for medium so I couldn't finish it but the portion was huge for its price. The fries were a little soggy and didn't taste freshly fried so it was slightly disappointing. My friends went for the sea bass, duck breast and cauliflower steak which were all really good apparently so that balanced out with my main I suppose. Service was great. One of my friends made a special request with the staff for my birthday and they came sing a birthday song for me with the desserts we ordered which was lovely. For desserts, we went with the raspberry crème brulee, affogato with vanilla ice cream and the apple tarte tartin also with vanilla ice cream. All were really good and we all agreed that the apple tarte tartin was the best of them 3 because the apple was rich and the pie was well-made and went well with the ice cream. Overall, I had a great time with my friends there as we stayed for 4 hours and we didn't get kicked out at all since it was so empty! I would be happy to come back soon and try other things on the menu."

Mas Q Menos Holborn

Mas Q Menos Holborn

272 High Holborn, London, WC1V7EY, United Kingdom

Meat • Tapas • Cheese • Spanish


"these are dotted around london and I was always thrilled by the facility. it looks like a deli with all the hanging jamon, then there is the tapas bar and also a casual sitting restaurant vibe. behind the bar, you will see the display of various Spanish meats and be ready to be cut, plated and served.With a friend in the city and a group of us want to entertain him, nothing completely fits like a tapas sharing experience. equipped with my taste card we drove to holborn for our reserved table. the Holborn site is large, open and airy. high ceiling, large windows above the front and beautifully spaced tables/sele. we sat in a corner that was good, as I knew, that we would probably get a little rainy. if you haven't seen a friend for a long time, of course, the wee, the remembrances are reappearing and the sweat burst. Having ordered a white and red wine from a Spanish wine list that ranged from aragon to toro, we studied the tapas menu for our choices. we went for every food group, with classy like pimento pardon and kartoffel bravas, to some lush gambas pil pil (king prawns in olive oil with garlic and chili). grilled chestnut mushrooms with Spanish blue cheese and garbanzo con chorizo (chorizo, kichererbsen, Piquillo pepper with pimento). a selection of Spanish cheeses and estofado de cerdo (a basque stew of slowly boiled pork, with carrots and carrots). it was a good cross-section of the food that was very tasty. it was enough for us four. I would be interested in a future visit, as there is nothing like Spanish meat. / mas q menos is a really relaxing place, ideal for getting friends. the service was nice, our waiter spoke about Spanish, recommended some dishes and led us through the wine list. we will definitely visit again and with off-food with tastecard, it makes the experience even sweeter."

Renoufs Cheese and Wine Restaurant

Renoufs Cheese and Wine Restaurant

48a Poole Road Bournemouth, Dorset BH4 9DZ, United Kingdom

Wine • Beer • Tapas • Gourmet


"We had called-here for drinks during a previous visit to Bournemouth. We were impressed with the wine we drank, and the food that we saw served to other customers. So, today was the realisation of a promise that we made-to-ourselves to revisit and, this time, dine! We were a few-minutes early for our 19:30 reservation having allowed too-much time for our half-a-mile walk from our hotel. The restaurant was not busy, and there were scant customers during our 2½ hour stay. There was only one, very pleasant, member of staff in the bar/dining area. We had assumed he was the Manager, and he did everything: menus, drinks, food orders, food service, and payment. He did this pleasantly with good humour, plus impressive efficiency and knowledge. The food here is principally ‘Sharing Boards’ but also available were smaller (snack) servings of Artisan Cheese and Charcuterie and other “Nibbles”. We chose an ‘Ultimate Board’ (intended for two people sharing and costing £36.95 in total). Within this price you select four types of charcuterie plus four types of cheese to complete the board. Drinks: we started with a 175ml glass of “Martin Codax Albariño” for each of us. The extensive and impressive wine list offers a good selection available by the 175 or 250ml glass: 6 white wines, 3 rosé wines, 9 red wines, 3 sparkling wines and 9 aperitif/digestif wines. The Albariño was very much enjoyed, whist we decided which bottle of wine we would have with our meal. After much thought we chose a bottle of Bin 31 ‘Laibach (Sur Lie) Stellenbosch’; a white wine from what is a great wine-producing region in South Africa. This was superbly delicate and gently flavoured; with the very slight effervescence from the ‘Sur Lie’ fermentation method (fermentation on the lees). We know this method well from Sur Lie Muscadet wines, from the Sèvre-et-Maine region in France. With our wine chosen, we concentrated on the charcuterie and fromage that we would like with our ‘Ultimate Board’. There was much debate between us, but eventually: Our choices of charcuterie were: Salami Milano: with a perfumed scent that was such a delight. Pâté: quite fine but rich and flavoursome. Venison Salami: surprising and just superb. Smoked Pancetta: we loved this delicately smoked pork belly which was served in the thinnest slices imaginable. The cheese was far more difficult to choose: A Cheddar was a no-brainer and it was good; however we have ‘Vintage’ Cheddar at home (aged for 36-60 months); so the Cheddar here was a bit tame for our tastes. Oak Smoked Lincolnshire Poacher: this was very disappointing as half of the piece was totally inedible rind, and the rest was almost impossible to cut with the cheese-knife provided. I brought this to the attention of the Manager this was exchanged with more of the Cheddar. Northern Blue: good and creamy and appreciably tangy. We had another cheese which was firm and good eating, but we cannot recall it’s name (that’s our fail then). To be honest, and sadly, we found the cheese to be not anywhere as good as the charcuterie, we like mostly hard, or at least firm cheese, with strong flavours. Brie, Camembert and other soft cheeses rarely feature at our home (the somewhat explains our choices). The board was loaded with extra ingredients: a good selection of salad and fruit: cream cheese stuffed cherry tomatoes, lovely crunchy astringent cornichon, fresh grapes and pitted olives. There was also a pot of hummus, onion relish, cheese crackers, and a basket of bread (the latter of which we ordered a second). The meal was still a very favourable experience; made better by the extra cornichon provided. Just because I said how much I loved the texture and flavour of these wonderful ‘little gherkins’. After our board we were quite replete and there was no-way we could have managed a dessert, but an extra glass of Viognier for my Partner, and a wonderful 10-year-old Tawny Port for myself, finished-off the meal splendidly."