Restaurant at The Old Manse Hotel

Jon Miller (12 April 2009)

I went there on Saturday and was very disappointed, how a restaurant looking this good in such a popular destination can get it so wrong. I took a party of 5 there last night, we should have guessed what the night was going to be like when we sat in the reception waiting to be seated and the staff continually walked by without comment or question. Finally seated we had to ask for the heating to be turned on, not 30 seconds later ‘were we ready to order?’ The starters were acceptable, the main course just about if you ignored the fact that two steaks were ordered, one rump, one sirloin both rare, the rump just about rare, the sirloin like shoe leather. The desserts were acceptable, but out of three coffees how can you present a cappuccino as a latte twice! If this had just been our table you could have excused it, but it was plain to see that at least 2 other tables nearby were having similar experiences, one nearby being told that they had run out of steak after they had finish their starters. In conclusion although the restaurant was relatively quite, I don’t think my party was particularly demanding it’s hard to see why the service was so bad and the food mediocre. When the manager was challenged on this his reply ‘that his chefs had worked in many top establishments’ was a claim hard to believe. God help them when the real tourist season begins.

Disappointed Diner (26 October 2008)

The website and exterior of this establishment are both let down by the actual experience of eating there. On a Sunday at lunchtime you would expect a roast dinner offering. It was available but only for the first few diners that came through the door. Not even an hour into serving and the message in poor English was they had roast beef and pork, but mainly pork and not much of that either. The restaurant was only just starting to get busy! The lady who appeared to be in charge clearly had a problem with body odour; not pleasant when you go somewhere to eat. The rest of the staff were keen to take the initial order, but trying to get their attention to get more drinks or pay the bill was a frustrating experience. The ladies and gents toilets were extremely shabby and in need of redecoration. What’s more the toilet paper was not kept topped up in the ladies toilet during the main part of the day; very poor. This is not a venue I will be recommending to friends and family.