Reviews in County Durham

AMAZING!! I cannot fault this place at all!!

My friend told me how good Mary Rowntree's was and we made a visit at the beginning of this week. I was so impressed by the surroundings and the food that I took my husband a few days later. He was very impressed also and we plan to try out the evening menu. Hopefully, this will be as good.

Went for a friend's birthday treat, but disappointing as the waiters were surly and, although there were only 8 other diners in the restaurant the food was ages in coming and not worth the wait. Vegetables are extra and starters are tiny. Was as hungry when we finished the meal as we were beforehand. Prices are hefty too and service charge is added to the bill. Bistro 21 is NOT on my recommend list.

My boyfriend and I visited the pub for the carvery on Sunday 22nd July. The beef was lovely but we did not enjoy the meal at all. The mushy peas were hard. we had pay an extra £1.25 for mashed potato, (usually included when you go to any other carvery) which was not mashed up properly and along with the rest of the different kinds of patatoes they had on were generally not very nice. I couldn't cut my yorkshire pudding as it was overcooked. Would NOT recommend and will not be returning!

I have been here twice and both times was impressed with the food and service in general. What has prompted me to write a review here is that I recently went to a 1 Michelin star restaurant in Lancashire and was disappointed that it didn't come anywhere near the Orangery impact for the food. The Orangery was 'WOW' with almost every mouthful zings and pops of intense flavours and fascinating combinations and my Michelin experience last week was somewhat flat and flavourless in comparison even though it was presented as beautifully as Kenny's. I can't now wait to go back to the Orangery and see if it is still as fantastic as I remember!! I especially remember the confit shin beef tart....a revelation....and I see they at the moment have it done with duck leg....

Excellent Value - friendly staff.Try it for yourself.

I took my parents to Mary Rowtree's for lunch, to celebrate my mother's birthday. We booked table, and saw the notices advising that the food was cooked to order and please be patient. We waited an hour and were going to leave when it arrived, the fish and chips were fine, the beef and mushroom pie was without its puff pastry lid, presumably burnt and removed! The potatoes were dry and the roasted vegetables unappealing, I should have sent it back but my parents by this time were quite distressed. The fourth meal offered was sent back, it was not as ordered, cold and quite frankly a disgrace. We ate and left. The wait staff are excellent and were so embarrassed by the incident, which apparently happened the day before. Whilst we were paying, several table left and others were starting to complain. The owner has spent a lot of money converting the former Church into a cafe. They have good wait staff but a kitchen team who either need to be replaced or retrained. I am writing to the owner to complain and hopefully get some of my money back. We will never return. Please take heed, it is very expensive and you may be disappointed.

An oasis in the desert!! Finally The Headland can boast about a fine dining experience which the area has badly needed.Called in yesterday for lunch and we were greeted with a warm smile by John, the owner. He apologised in advanced for a possible delay as all the food is cooked to order - this was encouraging as it was not going to be a 'boil in the bag' dining experience! We were shown to our table upstairs with a fantastic view over the harbour and across to the Cleveland Hills. Drinks order taken and menus perused. I settled for Liver with mash and seasonal vegetables. My wife had the fresh locally caught cod with proper hand cut chips and peas. Both meals arrived in a reasonable time - so the owners apology wasn't needed. To be honest we were too busy looking at the surroundings and interior to think about the time. Both settled for Vanilla Cheesecake with ice cream for dessert and suitably impressed. Good choice of lager,beer wines etc to suit all palates. Overall we were extremely impressed with the quality of food, service and surroundings and would definitely go back. I particularly enjoyed the courgettes,onions and peppers accompanying my main course. I understand they are soon to opening evenings with a new menu so we will be giving it a try.

I would never go back. they do NOT sell cod. The whole shop is a scam. Buy fish and chips for 3.50 get 1 for a £1. the 3.50 wasn't cod it was something else. £1 fish were bits of thin fish like skin battered. i heard a lot of people saying that they are selling pangie which is a cat fish. Don't waste your money there. much better fish and chips next door

Good food, well presented by a seemingly hand-picked and dedicated staff

A1

Pleasant surroundings, top quality service, lovely good quality food. Will be back soon.

Great food and service.Would recommend the food to anyone without the worry of disappointment You can't beat quality Visited 27.01.12

We recently visited this Cafe On THE strength of THE other reviews on here. I was totally disappointed by it. I ordered à margerita but they didnt have any mint!! Thistle was à Saturday night in à mexican restaurant. I thought this was à pretty staple ingredient in such places. THE tortillas were bland. THE enchillada i ordered was à dry tortilla with plain processed chicken and tinned

A warm friendly family pub serving freshly cooked food with a good range of ales wines and spirits, air conditioned restaurant, disabled access, smokers area, and car parking

My wife and I ate here recently in the early evening prior to going to a concert at the Gala. The food was delicious and the staff really friendly. We used a 2for1 voucher and this didn't compromise the size or quality of the meals at all. We'll be going back for more!

Unfortunately the seating was uncomfortable and cramped. We ordered food only to find my son was unable to have his main course as the pesto contained nuts, and we couldn't risk it as he is allergic. When trying to find an alternative the only thing available was the fish and chips, and so we were forced to pay nine pounds for it aswell as paying for the pizza because it was 'already cooked', the cheek! (The chips were nice though) We waited a while longer than we should have to be served and were given the wrong food and no spoon for soup! So overall not a good service although the a bonus is the portions were big, if that's a concern. The other food was nothing special however and the calzone was a very strange lump of stodgy dough with tomato sauce round the edges(the only positive was the nice ham), and the other pizza+pasta we ordered were standard. Not too impressive, however it was the happy hour menu/time.

1st visit special deal of 2 course. 2 people. main dishes looked fine, meals where warm, plates cold,vegetables of green beans lovely colour,very raw,roast pots/chips as should be but skimpy. mushroom/spinach pie, very average. local roast sirloin served, no heat in it at all, sweets tasty but very small ,could improve presentation. decor fading inside and outside. thank you for listening