Pork Tenderloin
Little Hallingbury Mill

Little Hallingbury Mill

Old Mill Lane, Uttlesford, United Kingdom

Cafés • Coffee • Mexican • Chicken


"How on earth this restaurant acquired 5 stars is utterly beyond me. It doesn 't deserve one star. I looked at the menu and the reviews and booked. As it was Valentine 's night there was a set menu. 3 options on each course. This was not stated on the website. We were greeted when we arrived and were served drinks. There was no ambience whatsoever. A rose/carnation on the table or a glass of champagne/prosecco on arrival might have been an idea.... I would have chosen the crab and salmon ravioli. However we were told than ten minutes prior to our arrival the chef had 'dropped the whole tray of ravioli on the floor '. So the ravioli was off. We then chose the pate. We were given one piece of toast Main course was dreadful. My salmon was lukewarm. Very small portion too. My guest chose steak but was not asked how he wanted it cooked. It arrived very rare so it was sent back. It was cooked a bit more and returned to the table. It was very very tough. By this time I had finished my main course and my drink. I was not asked whether I would like another. After quite a while, we had to ask. The cheese board was mediocre to say the least. The restaurant was cold and uninviting. Rather sad as it is a lovely building with great potential. Why they only had three options on the menu is beyond me. It was not even busy! The owner was in jeans and a cowboy shirt.... there was no attempt to make this night special in any way. We were told that two staff had called in sick. Poor excuse. This restaurant has been open for exactly three years. It should have made its mark by now. The owner did make a reduction to our bill. However the evening was ruined and I came home feeling hungry. I think the owner is in the wrong job. Just a final comment.... having read the glowing reviews of this place before I booked I suspect the owner has a lot of friends! Such a pity."

Dawne Smaki

Dawne Smaki

Ul. Nowy Swiat 49Mazowieckie 00042, Warsaw, United Kingdom

Beer • Wine • Cafe • Steak


"We ran into this restaurant when walking along Nowy Swiat, looking for lunch. I consulted Yelp to find nearby restaurants serving Polish specialities and found this one just a block away. The welcoming was kind of jaded, but we were hungry and had patience with the zombie like service. All of us tried some of the different pierogi (dumplings) they offered: traditional with cabbage and mushrooms, russian style and spinach with cheese. They were all OK and my favorite were the spinach ones. To that we had beer and that was where things started to go wrong. If the food was traditionally Polish, so was the service, which could best be described as the one I remember from the worst restaurants during the communist time. This means a minimum of service from an uninterested person that take time. Really strange, as the waitress who served us was probably not even born at the time when that kind of service was kind of common in the eastern countries. One of my friends discovered the opened plastic cover of a toothpick in his beer, and we let the waitress know as soon as we managed to get her attention. Without a flinch, she mumbled something about crediting the beer and just left, taking his beer with her. When we saw her again, we were still a little uncertain about her first comment so we asked, with the intention of ordering a new beer for my friend but we never got that far. She just repeated that the beer would be credited and left before we had the chance to ask for another beer. As the food was OK, I hope the mishap with the beer and service was just a bad day for the wautress, but having talked to my non Polish guests about the Polish cuisine and hospitality, Dawne Smaki just left me with a feeling of embarrassment in front of them. There are too many good restaurants to go back."