Cheese And Biscuits
The Orangery

The Orangery

St Elphin's House, St Elphin's Park, DE4 2RX, Derbyshire Dales, United Kingdom

Full • British • European • Breakfast


"Where do I start! My husband and I were looking forward to afternoon tea at the Orangery restaurant, after perusing the menu online beforehand it sounded quite nice. When we arrived we were greeted and shown to our table, the place was almost empty, with only one more couple there. We were asked if we’d like tea or coffee, this came out after 5 minutes. The wobbly cake stand with the very sparse amount of sandwiches and selection of cakes came out much later and our teapot was nice and empty by this time! We weren’t offered a refill and tried in vain to get the attention of the waitress who was extremely busy chatting to the other couple about house prices for about 10 minutes. She noticed my husband waving his arms in desperation to get her attention and completely ignored him 4 times! Eventually she managed to fetch us another pot then took the rest of our milk away whilst she refilled it in the kitchen. I thought we were going to die of thirst! The sandwiches we received were not the ones advertised online. We were given plain ham, cheese and pickle, egg mayonnaise and salmon. Where were the watercress, horseradish, cress etc and the coronation chicken? 4 small fingers of basic sandwiches each…. Not enough and I could have made these at home! The scones weren’t warmed and the cakes bore no resemblance to the menu whatsoever! Where were the mango tarts, Victoria sandwiches, pistachio macarons? We received, very dry coffee and lemon cake, chocolate cake and chocolate macaron. Not very inspiring at all for the hefty £21.95 per head price tag! We couldn’t eat a lot of it as it was that rubbish! We did think we might get chance to take the rest home for the kids, but after waiting another 15 minutes to get any attention we gave up and left. As we stepped out of the door the waitress shouted across the room to us to see if we wanted to take the rest home. We said we would have if she had bothered to ask us 15 minutes earlier. Overall a dreadful experience, zero customer service, very inattentive staff, please don’t waste your hard earned cash on this place. Whilst we were there we looked at reviews on trip advisor and see that many people have complained. Short replies have been added by the Orangery saying that they have taken note of the comments, yet absolutely nothing has been done about any of it! We won’t be returning!"

The Cornerhouse

The Cornerhouse

15 New Street, Lancaster, United Kingdom, LA1 1EG

Kebab • Cafés • Steak • Pizza


"I stayed here during my 2023 John O'Groats to Lands End ride, when I was accompanied by my wife and 13 year old son, who were acting as support crew. The Sun Hotel is a quirky boutique hotel housed in an historic building with extensive accommodation located above the pub and accessed via a unique flight of stairs and a labyrinth of intriguing corridors set out on different floors. Indeed, as you wander through, you are able to learn much about its character and history from many informative notes displayed on the walls. We shared a snug family room with a camp bed for our son but we were very comfortable. Our ensuite bathroom was clean and bright with a bath, shower and toiletries provided. The usual kettle, tea and coffee were provided but with limited alternative options. Make sure you turn off the provided digital alarm clock before slumbers unless you need an early start! There are truly are some larks out there. The room was a little noisy overnight where it was overlooking the street at the front – a combination of late night revellers and morning deliveries – but this is to be expected when you stay in the heart of a city. Lancaster was literally right on our doorstep. The staff were incredibly welcoming and approachable even before our stay responding promptly to any queries we had. We enjoyed dinner in the pub on the ground floor which was not overly noisy with a good atmosphere and attentive staff. The food was good and inexpensive, especially if you share a platter. Having booked direct with the hotel, our stay included breakfast from a set menu, served in the bar area downstairs. This was extensive ranging from the traditional cooked full English breakfast to many plant based and fruit alternatives, including pancakes, acai smoothie and granola jar. It is advisable to pre book this the night before to reduce waiting times in the morning if you are in a rush. Tea, coffee and fruit juice freely available The hotel is found on a complicated one way system with heavy traffic but well handled by Google. The cycle route approaches on quiet canal path but I did push up a one way street to the hotel rather than cycle a circuitous route around the one way. The only drawback is that there is no onsite parking not a problem if you only have a bike. At the time of our stay, there was paid street parking outside the hotel on the road for up to 1 hr or free overnight from 6 pm until 8 am. We would advise checking Google for parking locations beforehand to find alternatives, especially if the recommended nearby multi storey parking is not suitable because of a roof box, etc. My bike was locked away in a cellar inside, down a steep flight of stairs and only accessible by staff."

THE GREEN DRAGON

THE GREEN DRAGON

The Green Dragon High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP10 9LD, United Kingdom

Pubs • Steak • Seafood • British


"It’s our (very) local pub and has undergone several reincarnations in recent years. The new managers/owners look to be putting a lot of work into it and we have had a good report. So thought we’d give it a try for lunch as the signs say food served from 12:30 The first thing to notice is that it looks and feels cosier inside than it ever has although the Christmas decorations may have helped. A log fire being lit would have been the icing on the cake for me personally. The sole lady member of staff was very friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately lunch was a tad disappointing. The Christmas Menu was referred to but was apparently roasts only and to be honest it wasn’t clear if it was available or not. It seemed that burger and chips was the only thing on offer. Not what we’d anticipated or expected but thought we’d give it a try, as let’s face it, you can’t beat a good burger and chips. Unfortunately we didn’t get one. Supposedly we should have had coleslaw (I say supposedly as we’d not actually seen a menu) but this was unavailable so we had cheese added to the burger instead. Not a problem though. Portion size was OK. The chips were great. The burger itself, sad to say, was average at best. Having seen no menu and therefore no food prices we don’t know what the burgers cost, only what the food and drinks together cost. Overall, given the quality of it I’d say the price slipped in somewhere between ‘slightly dear’ and ‘about right’ So, first impressions of the “new” Green Dragon? Definitely worth returning for a drink for the coziness and friendliness, but the food needs to be sorted out both in terms of what is actually available, visible menus, and more importantly, quality. It’s a shame as we so wanted our inaugural visit to the pub in it’s current guise to be a perfect one. As the food was the main reason for visiting I’m afraid it’s got to lose a couple of dots on the rating"

The Highwayman's Haunt

The Highwayman's Haunt

Old Exeter Rd, Teignbridge, United Kingdom

Meat • Steak • Cheese • British


"We often come here for Sunday carvery which is very good so thought we would try an evening meal for my Mum's birthday. I am afraid the overall service let down the whole experience. When we arrived, instead of being taken to our table by the waitress, she just pointed and said you are at that table over there. After being to a busy bar area to get our drinks we found out that the 2 waitress standing around did not take orders so we had to go back to the busy bar again and wait to give our food orders. When the food came it was very good, especially my seafood platter. Everyone thought the food was good except for my Mum who had gone for one of the specials. It was so poor especially for being a special. She had one tiny piece of fish with no sauce, 4-5 very small new potato's, a few carrots and a few bits of broccoli. All the veg was hard and there was not enough to satisfy even a person with the smallest appetite. We told the waitress about the hard veg but she just said oh right and there was no apology. When we spoke to the chap at the bar and said why don't the waitress take the orders he said he liked people to come to the bar so the staff could meet them. We all felt this was a lame reason and probably did not trust the teenage waitresses to take the orders. It is a real shame as the place is lovely and the food generally is pretty good but is missing a professional touch. We said we would not return for an evening meal but just stick to the Sunday Carvery."