MANR — Restaurant in Borough of Rossendale

Oh, boy, we hit the jackpot when we strutted into the Whitaker for breakfast! 🌞💼 It was like taking a big, juicy bite of a fresh apple - a real breath of fresh air. We meandered up the park along the footpath, the scenery was just popping - so glorious it could make a grown man weep, but don't worry, we kept it together 😂. The sun was out doing its thing and the weather was showing off its best behaviour 🌞🌳. Upon our grand entrance into the café, we were met with a friendly nod 🎩 and given the royal privilege of selecting any table. "Pick your throne," they seemed to say. Once we parked ourselves down, menus magically appeared 📜✨. Orders were placed for the good ol' flat white and a Coke Zero - gotta maintain that balance, right? 🤷 For the main event, we went for poached egg on bloomer and Eggs Jardiniere. The latter, in case you're wondering, is a fabulous mix of smashed avocado 🥑, earthy mushrooms 🍄, poached eggs and Hollandaise all laid out on a buttered toasted muffin (or slice of bread if you're a rebel like us). The food arrived quicker than a greyhound on a racetrack 🏁 and with the first bite, our taste buds screamed "WOW!" 🎆 The mushrooms tasted like they'd just had a heart-to-heart with the earth, and the Hollandaise? Ooh la la, très bon! As for the avocado... well, it was being very avocado - cool, creamy and understatedly classy 🥑🎩. Meanwhile, my better half gave a standing ovation to her poached egg on toast 🍳👏 and reported that the flat white was just right, it had perfected the balancing act - "not too creamy" she said, savouring every sip ☕️. Guess what? We're already planning our grand return to try their lunch menu! I'm betting it's a...

Sadly, The Whitaker Bar & Kitchen has gone dramatically downhill. It now seems to be run/supplied by a large catering company. The menus feature a logo for Elior and they've started displaying calorie content, which generally means you're eating in a business or chain with more than 250 employees.

You used to be able to get a really nice meal here, with fresh ingredients and staff that cared about what they were serving. Since reopening 2 weeks ago with a new menu, it now seems like the freshness, quality and portions have fallen off a cliff. My partner had a tiny jacket potato with tuna and an undressed salad. I had an absolutely tiny quiche with barely any filling and bizarrely sweet pastry. The chips were possibly from a bag in the freezer, or at the very least highly processed and ordered in. The Whitaker is a beautiful park and the museum is a local gem, but the bar and kitchen now unfortunately lets it down. The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for hospitality businesses, and I understand they're trying to cut costs wherever they can, but the quality is gone here. It feels like a total waste of money as a customer.

There are so many nicer places to eat and drink in Rawtenstall. Try the Stinky Chef, Siphon, A'Vucciria, the market stalls, or one of the many microbreweries and small...

How disappointing! We used to visit the cafe regularly and were looking forward to visiting again now the kitchen has reopened. Breakfast was awful. Limited opinions, basically sourdough with avocado plus toppings. The bread wasn't sourdough, more like cold dry hard farmhouse. The poached eggs were hard and the whole dish was cold. On a positive, the flat whites were nice. We offered feedback to the waiting staff, but no sign of the chef. Surely to improve the quality of the dishes, the catering staff need to engage with the customers and not just take 3rd party feedback! The Friday morning atmosphere used to be buzzing! Today the cafe was virtually empty. Unfortunately, we won't be back anytime soon which is so sad, especially as this used to be our...