Passion Fruit Cheesecake
County Hotel, Samphire Restaurant

County Hotel, Samphire Restaurant

The County Hotel Rainsford Road Chelmsford, Essex CM1 2PZ, CM1 2QD, United Kingdom

Beer • Wine • Coffee • British


"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!"

The County

The County

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

Steak • Pasta • High Tea • 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!"

Harvey Nichols Restaurant

Harvey Nichols Restaurant

The Mailbox 65 Wharfside Street Birmingham, West Midlands B1 1RE, B1 1RS, United Kingdom

Bars • Beer • French • Coffee


"I booked afternoon tea for as a gift for my mum for mother’s day. We arrived slightly early but the restaurant wasn’t busy so we were seated. The host who took us to the table did not tell us anything, just sat us down. We waited for about mins for a waitress to ask if we wanted water. We were then asked by separate members of staff if we had any dietary requirements. We then waited another minutes and another waitress came to take our order without us having received any menus. We ordered, we were told we could have tea, champagne or a cocktail. We waited, our drinks took another minutes to arrive, and came in separate parts. We were then told our menus were being printed, which seemed bizarre having ordered and being sat there so long. When the menus arrived it transpired you were able to order from a selection of teas, coffees and various cocktails. It also showed the dishes. There were a couple of things my dad didn’t like, which we asked to swap. I was told that maybe this would be ok, if we were quick, as the order had been rung through. It was at this point I reminded the waitress that we had been expected to order off a nonexistent menu, so what did they expect? The food came, it was ok but nothing special. The service was just terrible. There seemed to be no communication between the staff, no desire to make us feel welcome and no attention to detail. For something which was meant to be a treat, I was very disappointed and would not waste my money going again"

Martin Wishart

Martin Wishart

54 The Shore Edinburgh, EH6 6RA, United Kingdom

Wine • French • Coffee • British


"Went for the lunch, rather than tasting menu so was pleasantly surprised to find that the amuse bouche (and bread actually came with 6 or 7 different simple, but tasty, flavours for an immediate sense of variety to start. Somewhat more of a traditional vibe with lots of marble, very formal waiters (it took a few attempts to confirm that one amuse bouche was basically just a hash brown, rather than whatever convoluted name it was introduced as , mirrors and an ever so slightly colder feeling atmosphere. But the decor is still fresh and, importantly, comfy. Great service from the waiters who never let our water run dry, and were always on hand. However somewhat disappointing that after specifically asking for the return of the drinks menu once, it went missing again. Compounded by the inability to make a White Russian which I asked for, partially hoping one could be made and partially having had my drinks menu whisked away, so I had to guess! Perhaps the lack of White Russian was not such a bad thing, as when we got hot drinks after dessert, they were served with milk that was close enough to it's use by date that it curdled into lumps floating in the coffee! Having said that, a swift apology and replacements followed quickly, and I suppose it's not necessarily reasonably to expect everywhere to have a well stocked bar that can cater to White Russian cocktails, milk that is fresh and the hazelnut flavour I requested for the hot chocolate (it was still good, without Food was faultless, with terrifically simple flavours (gespatcho, tappenade, tomato salsa, crusty bread etc. to start and more complicated flavours for main (pork jowl and to finish (chocolate opera cake"