Grilled Salmon Salad Grilled Salmon Salad

Fresh grilled salmon atop mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, avocado, and a lemon vinaigrette.

The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa - The Restaurant

The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa - The Restaurant

Spread Eagle Hotel South Street Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9NH, GU29 9PD, Chichester, United Kingdom

Steak • Hotels • British • English


"Our first choice restaurant was booked up so we decided to eat here because the menu looked really nice and it was convenient as we were staying at the hotel. It was full and so I was encouraged that it would be good. Some nice warmed bread was brough to the table with some olive oil/balsamic mix. The ration wasn't quite right as each time you dipped the bread you got olive oil and no balsamic. We ordered the wood pigeon breast (special) and baked sardines as starters. The breast was overcooked and the red wine sauced lacked any depth of flavour. The baked sardines allegedly came with a basil and garlic crust, Borlotti beans and a herb salad with lemon oil. I struggled to find any basil, garlic or lemon oil. I don't know what they braised the borlotti beans in because they had little or no taste. The sardines were lovely but rest of it was just apallingly executed. Steak is a great dish for judging the competence of a kitchen. It's difficult to get wrong and if you can't get it right then perhaps you're in the wrong section or profession. With that in mind and the disappointment of the first course we both ordered the Chateaubriand rare and rare to blue with extra sides of green beans and tenderstem brocolli. We did ask if it was possible to get a bernaise sauce but were advised that it wasn't. I know restaurants like to avoid going off menu but a bernaise takes me about 10 15 minutes to make so I'd expect a professional chef to do it in half that time. It's possible they didn't have tarragon or more likely the lack of demand would have meant them wasting most of it. Not a huge issue and it made no difference to our rating. The Chateaubriand was tough, chewy and lacked any seasoning it hadn't seen a flake of salt before it reached our table. Normally a great cut like this is tender to cut through, melts in the mouth, has great carmelisation on the outside giving that wonderful flavour. This was just like beef jerky....a real shame. The highlight was the cherries which were wonderfully sweet and bursting with flavour and the green beans. The tenderstem brocolli was underdone but I prefer that to overdone. The chips lacked any crisp bite, like they'd been sitting out for a while. The peppecorn sauce had a nice peppery hint to it but I do prefer a little more pepperyness. The red wine sauce was the same as the one used for the wood pigeon so again it lacked depth of flavour and could probably have benefited from reduction. My partner decided to forgo dessert as the previous courses were so disappointing and the few dishes we saw come out were not particularly appealing. I went for the cheese board. The cheeses were nice and mild. The figs went well. There weren't enough crackers and the slices of cheese were quite small. The front of house staff and serving staff were great, sadly the restaurant is let down by the kitchen. I expect much better food at £53/head. On the strength of the breakfast and dinner we had this place just can't deliver good food."

Cafe Cockburn

Cafe Cockburn

34 Cockburn Street, City Of Edinburgh EH1 1BU, United Kingdom, EH1 1PB

Cafés • Coffee • Cheese • Breakfast


"Probably the most miserable cafe I have ever frequented. We entered what appeared to be a nice cosy establishment, sat down and waited... and waited. We eventually got the menu we had to request, a crumpled, well used, dirty A4 sheet. The menu looked fairly promising so we forgave their reuse of dirty paper. Ordering, we eventually discovered was by walking up to the counter full of tempting looking cakes and attempting to attract the attention of customer avoidant staff, zero eye contact and the personification of misery, however, I forged ahead and asked if I could order. The waitress silently turned behind the counter and walked to the far end and stood at the cash register, apparently I was supposed to follow. Order placed and paid for I sat down. First the coffee arrived, nicely presented and fairly good, a pity about the ugly chipped metal spoon on the side. Then the main event, 1 fry up and 1 eggs benedict. The fry up: half the plate was filled with a chorizo style greasy sausage, a couple of shreds of fried mushroom and the remaining mediocre fry, and the other half of the plate was inexplicably taken up by a horridly bitter mismatching drizzle of balsamic vingear? Why? The eggs benedict, again half a plate taken up by a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, the other half a small slice of white loaf with two over cooked dry yolked eggs and a watery yellow teaspoon of sauce. Sadly after that nothing could tempt me to stay and try one of the cakes that drew me in the door. Verdict: The most miserable, avoidant staff I have ever seen, not just one staff member but every single one including the chef. And a greasy fry, overcooked dry eggs, a lack of sauce and inexplicably half of every plate reserved for a zig-zag drizzle of bitter balsamic vingear. My advice: Avoid! Overpriced, over cooked, and customers over looked."