Game Pie
The County

The County

The County Hotel, NE46 1PS, Northumberland, United Kingdom

Steak • Pasta • European • Bar-lounge


"My wife and I have been to the County Kitchen a few times for their Sunday Carvery. So why, you may ask have I only given the County Kitchen 3 stars and entitled my review as lacks consistency? Well the title does say it all, it isn 't that the food and service and surroundings are bad its just that as a complete package it...........lacks consistency. Perhaps I should explain rather than repeating myself Our table was crammed in with others in the small conservatory/veranda area. It felt cramped as we were against a pillar and so close to at least 6 other diners that it felt uncomfortable and unwelcoming, especially as the rest of the restaurant was empty. Moving on to our food. We opted for starters, followed by the carvery. My wife 's starter crab haddock fishcake, with chive hollandaise was presented nicely and according to her very nice but lacked flavour . Mine was pork belly terrine and chutney my comments mirror those of my wife 's. Lacked seasoning and flavour, but looked nice. I echo Greg Wallace 's thoughts on Masterchef the other day..... ...would rather have something that tastes good rather than a dish that just looks pretty... Now the carvery you have a choice of at 3 roast meats plus vegetables and if you feeling really hungry there isn 't a limit to the number of times you can go back. But for most appetites 1 visit is enough. Being a little greedy I had a couple of slices of port with yummily crisp crackling) and some beef. The carver described the beef as medium rare my preference) but it was more like medium to well done so it was a bit tough and chewy shame as it looked a fantastic joint of beef). That finally put an end to our meal, we paid our bill £59.95 incl bottle of wine, and starters) and left. I have to say that this hasn 't been our experience on other occasions, so perhaps its was just an off day. Will we go back? Probably, but we won 't be rushing back. Its not a bad place, it just.....lacks consistency!"

Crab & Lobster

Crab & Lobster

Dishforth Road Asenby Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 3QL, Harrogate, United Kingdom

French • Cheese • English • Seafood


"Very disappointed with this restaurant. I booked as we were in the area and the menu looked good. We skipped starters and went straight to mains, I ordered the Haddock in mustard sauce my husband opted for the Malaysian fish curry. When my dish arrived, the ill advised tower of onion rings on my fish had collapsed and they were hanging off the edge of the plate almost taking my poached egg with them. Why the chef had tried to defy gravity I don't know but I wish he'd put that effort into flavour and colour. The plate was beige and tasted the same. There was a lack of flavour in the mustard sauce and the mash. The onion rings were weird, the batter was chewy. My husband declared his Malaysian curry to be bland. We decided to have pudding, they were much better but not good enough to warrant the price. At the end of the meal it took 45 minutes to get the bill and pay. The staff were clearing plates from empty tables and seemed to have forgotten they had customers. The ambiance in the restaurant was strange when we arrived it was quiet despite plenty of customers and we felt we had to whisper, later with live music we couldn't hear each other. The decor was odd, an attempted blend of old fashioned dining with quirky additions didn't really work. My overall impression is that this restaurant is stuck in the 1980s. I don't mind paying more for exciting dishes, but all the excitement was on the menu. This meal would have been poor value at half the price."

Balbirnie Bistro

Balbirnie Bistro

Balbirnie Park, Fife, United Kingdom

Pizza • Cafés • Steak • Pasta


"We decided to treat ourselves to a meal for our wedding anniversary's and wish we hadn’t. When we arrived we were told all orders had to be made through the app, so I downloaded the app. I ordered drinks and shortly after a waiter...arrived with drinks. I checked the confirmation email and checked that I had ordered another drink and, after asking for it, it eventually arrived. We had booked the Bistro Al Fresco which looks lovely in the little private gazebos. Again, everything had to be ordered on the app. Two of the other diners also downloaded the app and we passed the phones around the five of us to choose from the menu. A bit impersonal and obviously we couldn’t order drinks while making our choices. We ordered one soup and had tiny bowls delivered, we had to ask for glasses for the water, the music system kept turning off and on and changing volume and song, the ‘bread basket for was slices of plain white bread with some oil and vinegar, the ‘nuts and olives’ were a tiny bowl of olives and a bowl of salted peanuts, hardly award-winning fodder. When I politely asked the waitress what was happening with the music she returned with a ‘manager’ who was condescending, confrontational, patronising and frankly downright rude. She said that the music system was new and that, no sorry it can’t be turned off’ and that the poor bread selection was ‘reflected in the price’... for four small slices of white bread!? When I pay for two starters and five main courses I expect better. Fortunately the main courses were okay, not great but okay. We certainly won’t be recommending it to friends or family, or returning when we can get nicer food and far better service elsewhere."