English Cheeses
The Gallery Restaurant At The Swan At Lavenham

The Gallery Restaurant At The Swan At Lavenham

United Kingdom, CO10 9PX, Lavenham

Bars • English • European • Brasseries


"We had to cancel our major holiday so decided to stay in a couple of lovely hotels in the UK and booked this hotel but have been so disappointed, especially the food on offer. One our first night, we went in full of anticipation and very hungry after a six hour drive from the Wirral. The whole meal was the worst one we have ever eaten. The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy but we had to wait a long while for the food to arrive. My asparagus and wild garlic soup was ghastly. It was vibrant green but was overpowered by the garlic and was watery , with no substance, so I sent it right back. I had requested the skate wing in advance as I overheard someone saying there was only one portion left. I wish I hadn’t bothered. It came with a huge pile on cold seaweed , :3 barely cooked halves of potatoes, no leeks and the few buttered shrimps were not buttered. This fish was grey and overcooked and after 2 mouthfuls, I sent it back. My husband’s ‘ torched’ mackerel was cold, overcooked and tasteless and the accompanying vegetables had no dressing at all. He ordered the pork which was a 4 cm round and had to saw through it as it was so tough. Also there were only a few drops of ‘jus’. The restaurant manager was very apologetic and said she would report it back. I went to bed hungry and unhappy. , which was a shame on our anniversary. The breakfast was ok but the sausages were well overcooked and tough and we specified soft fried eggs but they were solid. The adorable Kas apologised and promised soft ones next time. We played safe last night and ordered Theo chicken pies in advance but when they came , one was beef and the poor Manager couldn’t believe it but we ate them as they take 30 minutes to cook. They were very tasty but the gravy was a beef one.!! Surely it’s easy to prepare some chicken gravy. The desserts were nice. We spoke to several other guests who all said they were disappointed in the food. I did speak to James, who’ll is the Manager who told me he had read the report from the dining room. On leaving I was told there was a £5 supplement and £31 for the wine. I would definitely not eat there again. The nicest thing about the restaurant was Kas’s lovely smile and excellent service."

Parliament Restaurant

Parliament Restaurant

High Street Colchester, Essex CO11DT, CO1 1DH, United Kingdom

Pubs • Beer • Pizza • British


"Booked for a 70th Birthday last year and was so impressed i booked again for it this year. I write this review based on both visits to be fair to the place as they had some 'issues ' this time. Apparently they had some sort of flood so their pumps were out and only had one ale out of a on-the-bar barrel and fizzy drinks from a bottle. As only one of us was drinking alcohol and was happy with the ale, that was ok, but the other drinks were flat and warm. Previous visit though was 100%, no issues so will assume normally would be ok and we just had bad luck. The food was excellent both visits with the exception of the mushrooms in the mushroom sauce with the chicken supreme, they were really tough and i had to leave them. My only other comment on the food is that the menu hasn 't changed in that year and is maybe a little limited. The service was good. Both times there was just one person out the front, but as it 's a hotel, he was also the receptionist. Both times we visited for a 19:00 table we were the only ones in the restaurant, but the guy frequently had to leave for 10-15 minutes to deal with things in the hotel so we had to wait for ordering more drink. I dread to think how it would have been had more people been in the restaurant. The guy this time was new to the job so was a bit slow, but the previous time there was no waiting despite the man being alone. The whole building is 13th century with bits built on over the last 4-500 years. Yes, there 's a bit of scaffolding holding up a beam in the bar area, but apart from that it 's really amazing how well it 's all lasted. Last year the receptionist gave as a 'guided tour ' and was able to explain exactly what was what and from when. It 's a really interesting place, sadly we had forgotten most of it and this time the guy didn 't know quite so much, but after 4 weeks in the job, he had clearly been taught a lot. Overall, it 's maybe a little over-priced, but i 'll be back next year..."