Oxon Liz (2 November 2008)

My partner and I were visiting the Lake District. He is a vegetarian and gets fed up with the token veggie option in pub food, so I booked us into the Lancrigg for an evening meal. I have to say that we were both disappointed with the service and the food. It didn't start well as we couldn't find anyone when we walked in, so we had to hunt around for the restaurant, and when we got there no one bothered to show us to a table, or take our coats. The dining room was attractive and calm, but the tables were plastic wood, which did not seem in character for a country house hotel. It was also quite cold in there. The menu was interesting with several starters, but only three main course options. The food was pleasant, quite attractively presented, and the pastry on my partner's root vegetable en croute was beautiful. However, the token carrot, cauliflower and broccoli as the additional vegetables were uninspired. Also the fried potatoes on my dish looked rather 'tired', and unappetising. The puddings were all heavy or rich, without a fruit or sorbet on offer, which was a shame. When I pointed this out, I was offered a fruit salad, which was exceptionally good with fresh fig, pineapple, plum etc. At nearly £8 it had to be good. Unfortunately my partner's baked Alaska was nothing like what my mother used to bake. We asked to have coffee in the drawing room, which was a very attractive room filled with comfortable sofas and a range of chairs and tables. However, it was a cold night and the fire had been left to go out so it was very cold in there. When we went to the toilet we had to go upstairs. I was surprised that the walls were painted breeze blocks, which I felt was not quite in keeping with the country house feel. It was an expensive meal by our standards, was nothing special and we were treated indifferently. We had paid similar for an outstanding meal and occasion at another vegetarian restaurant in the area. I'm glad we didn't spend more at Lancrigg as we had wondered about splashing out and staying.