Kirkharle Courtyard — Attraction in England

We visited today, and to say we were very disappointed is an understatement indeed. I suggested to my mum and step dad to visit here as they wished to go to Wallington hall instead…. (And now we wished we had). Whilst the staff were friendly, the waiting service from kitchen to table plus the food was atrocious ! Firstly from us entering the cafe we took a seat and were then served drinks quite promptly, we then looked at the menu and decided what we wanted then placed our orders around 10 minutes later. We sat 45 minutes (+ the 10 minutes in between ordering) before we were served our food with no other acknowledgment in between and by that time we had actually lost our appetite; the food was served Luke warm and the portion sizes of the cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake were shocking ! There must have been roughly 3 table spoons of food for a cost of £10.95 and although the linguine bolognaise was a decent portion size the temperature was even colder then our bakes. The logistics from kitchen to table definitely need addressing and surely it’s not hard to serve hot food and not something like warm as the kitchen is in very close proximity to the seating area. We raised the issue with the lady at the till, but she just said she was sorry and didn’t even offer any sort of recompense to fix the issue.

It’s safe to say we won’t be returning anytime soon; which is a shame as the area has the potential to be a thriving little hub of both independent shopping outlets and a decent cafe / restaurant but unfortunately this isn’t the case at this...

One of my favourite lesser known Northumberland places. Kirkharle is a place of historic interest: it was the birthplace of Capability Brown, the renowned 18th Century landscape gardener. There is a range of shops, workshops and a very welcoming cafe on-site. In keeping with the history, there's a well-designed walk around a lake, great if you are visiting with a dog or two.

It's all very well thought out and there's plenty of free parking. Kirkharle is probably overshadowed by Wallington, on the other side of the A696, but you could easily visit both in half a day. And if you just want an interesting way to break a journey, stretch your legs and have something to eat....Kirkharle is ideal.

Update July 2024: The cafe at Kirkharle has quite recently been taken on by Running Fox, a company which already has several very popular cafes in Northumberland. Great coffee and food. At Kirkharle, my wife and a friend had an excellent afternoon tea on her birthday and had to be given boxes to carry off what they couldn't eat. It's dog friendly (outside and part of the inside) and ours approves of the doggie snacks. Me? one of the best mince beef pies ever (and I've had lots)....

Lovely, picturesque venue...

Difficult to get to on public transport though. We got the 131 bus from Newcastle, nearest stop was miles away, and a difficult walk in 27°C, along a road with speeding traffic bombarding you. 😳😰

Luckily, the venue was cool and the band were amazing (the Belta Reivers), so... the sweat and blisters were worth it in the end.

Also, we would've loved a cold beer on arrival, but this wasn't available. We understand that's not everyone's thing, but y'know... it's ours. 😉

Despite the remote, hard-to-get-to location, and lack of a bar... we highly recommend this place. 🙂

*Edit: Thanks to the owner for responding. 👍🏼 Indeed, we didn't know that cold beers were available in the Coffee House. Good to know. 🍻

We did ask in one of the shops, and they only had bottles on shelves (none in their fridge) and the assistant wasn't sure we were allowed them in the concert venue so we didn't risk it.

I'm sure we'll be back at some point... next time with friends who...