1215 Restaurant — Restaurant in Borough of Runnymede

Bit of a long post but worth setting everything out as our experience of 'fine dining' here was particularly poor.

We were guests at the hotel and had booked dinner for to celebrate a birthday.

To begin with, we were appalled to discover upon arrival that there were no side dishes available at all because of problem in the kitchen. This could and should have been communicated to us in advance, especially since our reservation was made through the hotel where the restaurant is located. At the very least, a good manager would have tried to negotiate with Moreish (the other restaurant on sight) or come up with a solution to this issue but instead, it became our issue to deal with for the night. Awful start.

The lack of a drinks menu was another issue. We weren't given a drinks menu when we sat down and had to request it afterwards. Not entirely sure why this was the case but again, not something you should have to ask for anywhere.

Then came the issue of bread at the table. We were a party of nine and we didn't get given much bread but we did ask for it to be replenished. This didn't happen despite asking several times over the whole night we were there, the restaurant failed to replenish our bread supply or provide olive oil as an alternative to butter, which was needed as some of our guests were vegan. I think the small things like this are inexcusable for an establishment like this.

Then we came to starters. Again, we were disappointed to find that the artichoke in the salad was overcooked, and various dishes were overdone and dry. This included items from the kids' menu, which we had ordered. Even when the starters were served, the staff struggled to identify who had ordered what, a surprising shortcoming.

The problems persisted with the main courses. Once again, the staff could not identify which dish belonged to each guest and our waiter even made a comment that it was difficult to tell the dishes apart because when we'd ordered the food, we had given 'many comments'.

Apart from the service issues, all the main courses were overcooked, with the lamb and potatoes being particularly disappointing. The fish was also overcooked, rendering it dry and nearly inedible. Our complaints were met with a waiter's apology, but we were told that the chef wasn't that interested in hearing our feedback, raising concerns about the restaurant's attitude towards customer satisfaction.

At this point, we were just fed up at the whole experience. The evening we had anticipated and planned for was entirely ruined. To add insult to injury, when we requested the bill, the waiter simply informed us that the service charge had been removed as compensation. This gesture was wholly inadequate in addressing the litany of issues we had encountered throughout our meal and I had to ask for the inedible items to be removed. You would think at this point there would have been some proactively in providing some sort of apology.

After we had finished our mains, our plates were left on the table for an unreasonably long time with no one coming to check up on how we were doing. We were ready to leave but had to instead get up and catch the attention of staff to request the bill.

I was left exasperated by this entire experience. I can't in good faith say that this is a fine dining experience as we had such a subpar experience and staff who appeared to be inadequately trained to handle the most basic aspects of service.

I raised all of the above with the hotel and restaurant and received nothing apart from platitudes and what felt like stock responses. To top it off, the only offer we had was that we should return to see if our experience would be different the second time around. I'm not sure in what world anyone would think that was a productive response to what we...

It was my wife's Birthday, so I booked a table at the 1215 restaurant online on the website, great website everything you need to know is on there before coming.

When we arrived we were charmed by the absolutely beautiful look of the hotel and its grounds. I stunning little bridge drive over a small lake.

At the door of the hotel greeted by the most politest man who kindly guided us to where the restaurant was.

Then at the corridor of the restaurant another polite lady who took us to the restaurant itself.

We were greeted wonderfully by the management and waiting team and sat on a great spot under a beautiful arch feature, the restaurant itself was grand and elegant.

Once sat, then the 5 start treatment for our dinner began, given a introduction by one of the managers on the day, unfortunately I can’t remember the name but tall slender gentleman.

He told us about the sourcing of ingredients used in the dishes from their very own garden, all organic.

Then as he knew it was my wife's Birthday, he brought us two glasses of very expensive non alcoholic sparkling wine. 🍾

We then were greeted by our waitress, who was fairly new and due to us asking questions she very kindly swapped with another waiter called Chetan, who had more knowledge about the dishes.

But at all times we felt very well looked after.

We selected the 5 course menu, they had the option of a 3 course, but we went with the 5 course.

They started us off before our courses with some delicious sets of in-house baked breads and to accompany it a set of two types of butters and the most amazing chimmi-churri. One of the butters was made with leaks and you have to try how good it was as I cannot describe the taste.

What we had was all stunning food with extra’s added in between plus pallet cleansers that were magical in flavour.

I have attached their menu and some images of the 5 course, which I would say ended up being 8 course as they gave us few extra delicacies to try.

With regards to service the chefs came out with service and talked to us and served the beautiful food to us.

The highlight was head chef Tim Sheed came out right at the end and served us with birthday pastry and a hand written card. Unfortunately in the flurry we did not recognise it was Tim himself, but if he reads this then I would advise that one of the best chefs we have come across in relation to fine dining and very down to earth gentleman.

All in all an exceptional experience not just for a lovely evening out but for occasions. Your loved ones will remember the evening at the Fairmont for a long time if you decide to visit.

It is a bit more on the expensive side, but I would say value for money and the experience is...

Beautiful setting and ambiance. Fine service and good food.

We went here in December 2023 for lunch. They had a 3 course LUNCH MENU for £55 (+ service). The location is quite secluded and very well kept. To find the restaruant, go through the main entrance of the hotel, turn left at the end, through the bar and the entrance is on the left. The monochrome decor is very elegant creating a lovely ambiance. I can imagine being here in the summer and it would have been perfect. The music was okay, I would have preferred something more classical; but hey, it was nearly Christmas...

We were served by an enthusiastic waiter who took good care of us. We were asked around 4 times about dietary requirements...

After ordering, we were served some sourdough bread and butter, it was fine, this was followed by a pre-starter (something that looked like a fish finger, but made of polenta, which was nice, but nothing special).

Starter 7/10 I had the ham hock terrine for starter and my partner had the oysters. The terrine was average, but the accompanying pickled vegetables were good. The oysters with a champagne, crème fraiche and cucumber, I'm told was excellent.

Main 8/10 I had the chicken and my partner had the fish. The chicken was full of flavour and the sauce tasted great (a little too much residual fat for me though), the potato was good, what stole the show was the cabbage, it was very buttery and creamy - best cabbage I'd ever had.

I wish I ordered the cod though, it came with a very tasty bisque, was cooked beautifully and the accompaniments were pleasant.

Dessert 5/10 We both had the set dark chocolate, espresso, mascarpone. Visually it was very appetising, but I found it bland. The chocolate did not have any strong flavour - frankly, a good supermarket brownie would have been better. The coffee ice cream looked elegant, but was average.

Overall, it was a good experience that I would recommend. There are numerous nice restaurants in this area (most of which I have not been to). This should be one of the better ones, but I am certain not the best in the price range. For example, I would say that Bluebells would beat it in terms of flavours, but maybe not on the interior (though of course, both are subjective)...