I booked a table for lunch online which was easy to do. We arrived and it was quite chaotic as I tried to speak to someone on the staff to inform them that we were here and had booked a table. It took a while to get a member of staff to see us or hear us as I was trying to be noticed. Eventually someone saw us but couldn’t find our booking as it had been online but they just had a bit of paper with names on it. Another lady on the staff said she hadn’t got access to the laptop to check our booking but took us to a table anyway. After looking at the menu I went to the counter to order but was beaten to the queue by a table of 10 ladies who all had to order individually as well as other people in the queue. I turned round and went to my husband and we decided to leave it. I informed a member of staff who was lovely and apologised. We went on our walk round the gardens and returned to the cafe to see if it was quieter which it was by then. We ordered our choices but it took ages as there was clearly staffing issues as the member of staff didn’t know the menu or the toll system so well and had to check in the kitchen whether they were still serving and still had what we wanted. The food came quite quickly which was great as we were quite hungry having had to delay our lunch. It was all lovely, very fresh , well presented and well cooked. We spoke to the waitress who I had previously spoken to about leaving earlier and she said they were short staffed but also weren’t allowed to do table service which we thought was the way forward to improve the service here. It is such a shame this can’t be improved as this isn’t the first time I have been caught up in a very long queue at Renishaw. It is painfully slow and inefficient . It is an amazing place and always provides good choice, delicious food and the staff are on the whole friendly.
Renishaw Hall and Gardens Cafe – Chesterfield