Darjeeling
Horton Grange Country House

Horton Grange Country House

➤ Berwick Hill Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE13 6BU, United Kingdom

Pubs • Beer • Wine • English


"Visited Horton Grange several times now over the past few times for dinner and have always found the food to be excellent and the service very good. However, visited for the first time on a Monday and whilst the food was as good as ever, the service was not up to the usual standard. On this occasion my wife and I took a guest with us as we recommended this was a very good local restaurant. On arrival, it didn't seem as though we were expected. Asked if we wanted to go straight to the table or in to the bar for a drink. We opted for the bar as we always do. Took between and minutes before we were offered a drink and only after I asked. Having got the drinks and having waited between and minutes, I had to ask for the menu. I was then asked if I required the dinner or bar menu even though my booking was for dinner. The food was as delicious as ever and all three courses were served in a timely manner. After the final course, it seemed the waitress had disappeared. We were not asked if we required coffee so eventually we decided to leave. Having waited in reception for someone to attend to us so that I could pay, I wandered through into the kitchen to see if there was any member of staff there but found no one. Eventually, some one came down stairs on her mobile phone and asked me to wait whilst she wandered off, presumably to finish her call. I could have easily wandered off without paying! In all, we spent around hours at the hotel, of which about minutes was taken up waiting to be attended to for various reasons. Suffice it to say, we will not be hurrying back and certainly not on a Monday evening."

La Trattoria By Alfredo Russo

La Trattoria By Alfredo Russo

➤ 15 Cromwell Pl, South Kensington, London SW7 2LA, United Kingdom

Vegan • Italian • Vegetarian • Gluten Free


"Hidden below street level, this restaurant is as one keen reviewer eloquently put it 'a tourist trap ' for nearby visitors to the museums of South Kensington. In essence it hosts an expensive menu with average tasting food. I 'm sure they 're only surviving because of a guaranteed minimum level of customers who 'll unwittingly stroll in without heeding the warnings of these reviews. In the restaurant 's defence, the decor is homely and the service from staff is very attentive indeed I was asked by two separate staff during my meal whether everything was okay which felt a bit parental but mostly non threatening all the same. I 'd gone for the margherita pizza which at ÂŁ7 seemed like a bargain. You could easily get full on this, despite tasting rather bland. However, I was feeling somewhat adventurous and decided to add pickled artichokes (nope, not fresh) and mushrooms as toppings for ÂŁ1.50 extra each. Thinking this wouldn 't be enough, I included a side of spinach into the mix for ÂŁ5: what I was served with was a small bowl of half boiled baby spinach leaves really should 've been another pizza topping as that 's what it turned into. Overall, disappointingly average, and they 'll include a service charge because they expect you to be one of many money donning tourists sprinkling cash in the already hideously wealthy area. Try your appetite resolving luck elsewhere."

The Black Horse

The Black Horse

➤ 95 Slough Road Iver Heath Iver, Buckinghamshire SL0 0DH, United Kingdom

Kebab • Seafood • Mexican • Asiatic


"Meeting friends here for Sunday lunch this afternoon, we 've all come away slightly disappointed by our choice. The Black Horse is immaculate, having clearly had a decent budget spent on interior decoration and furnishings, with a cherishing of its connections to nearby Pinewood the walls are festooned with black and white photos of famous film stars and directors who have been past customers. At the same time, the bathrooms are labelled stable boys and stable girls , playing on the obvious coach house traditions from a pub at a crossroads. All very nice, as were the lovely staff who greeted us as we arrived and brought us our food. But that 's where the problem lay. All of the niceties failed to disguise the fact that our food was really very disappointing. Five had opted for the roast beef, all agreeing that the beef was very well done, with rock hard Yorkshire puddings and soggy broccoli. I 'd opted for bangers and mash, to be presented with a small mound of mash, three sausages and a large bowl of peas. The mash was really quite inadequate a portion, certainly in relation to the peas portion. As we were amongst the first of the day (1245 for 1), this disappointing food offer seemed hard to explain there was no rush to handle. We were at least ten minutes into the meal before being asked if all was well some of our party would have complained if we 'd had time to accept a second run at the meal, but we didn 't. So, with a bill of ÂŁ73 for four adults and three kids, only one kid seemed happy with her meal, while everyone else left a little less than impressed. Definitely, it could have been better."