Bottle and Thyme — Restaurant in Chesterfield

Did not want to post this publicly but I feel I have been left with no choice after I raised this issue during our visit and was practically ignored and then contacted them twice afterwards and again ignored and not once was an apology given.

We had a table booked for 12:00pm and were informed on arrival that food would not be served until after 12:30pm, which we were completely fine with. We were seated slightly early, at 11:55am, and waited for someone to take our drinks order. Nobody came over until around 12:20pm, and this was because my friend had to ask if we could order drinks. We ordered a PSL iced with oat milk and a Diet Coke, and also enquired about ordering food, but were told that food orders wouldn’t be taken until after 12:30pm — which was frustrating, as we were previously told only that food service would recommence then not that we couldn’t order.

We eventually placed our food order around 12:35pm, after being seated for nearly 40 minutes, and noticed that several tables who arrived after us were served drinks and food before us. Our drinks then took another 15–20 minutes to arrive, and unfortunately, I received the wrong drink (a matcha instead of an iced latte). When I mentioned this to the waitress, she checked her iPad but didn’t apologise, simply taking the drink away and rudely saying she’d “sort it.” When my PSL arrived, it was made with regular milk instead of oat milk which I only realised once I had tried it, so had to be remade again. Another waitress then came over to apologise and explained they’d run out of PSL syrup. I then ordered a pistachio iced latte with oat milk, but it was overwhelmingly sweet and syrup-heavy. By that point, almost 50 minutes had passed since we were seated and I’d only just received a drink, so I decided to just drink it.

When we were given our cutlery, one of the sets was visibly dirty, which was quite off-putting. Our food arrived just after 1:00pm. However, when we asked for mayo, none was ever brought to the table, and no one checked on us to see how the meal was or if we wanted additional drinks. We attempted to get a waiter’s attention but were unsuccessful.

When our plates were eventually cleared, we asked for the bill and explained to the waitress that we were disappointed with the service throughout our visit and detailed the issues with the coffee, long waiting times despite booking a table, dirty cutlery and rude service. She went to speak to someone but returned with the same bill, no discount or adjustment made, simply stating it was a “miscommunication” and that she would pass on our comments. Again, no apology was offered.

While I completely understand that weekends can be busy and that staff work hard, the level of service that we experienced fell well below what we’ve experienced previously and what we’d expect given the prices and our past visits. We left feeling very let down and hesitant to return, which is disappointing as we had booked our table earlier in the week and were looking forward to it. We were made to feel unwelcome and had a very poor experience. I have since tried to contact them and I have been blatantly ignored, so clearly this level of service is acceptable to them...

If there was a way to give this “experience” zero stars then I would.

I’ll start by saying we have visited bottle & thyme many many times at their old location, and several times since they moved, and whilst we feel service has gotten worse since moving it has never been as bad as today.

The atmosphere at the previous venue was miles better, it felt more intimate and the staff seemed more attentive, it felt like a dining venue where you were valued and received attention, this has definitely declined in the new premises, the capacity has increased significantly, however with this none of the service feels personal and the venue itself now is noisy and more akin to a fast food outlet, especially on a Saturday.

We arrived at 1145 looking forward to making breakfast, we hadn’t booked in advance but there were tables available. The place was busy, but not full. We were greeted and asked to wait a few minutes whilst a table was cleared, this was sadly the highlight of our visit….

We were seated and after around 5 minutes another couple sat at the table next to us, after a further 5 more minutes a waitress came to take their drinks order, whilst walking straight past us. I tried to get the attention of one of the other servers, one smiled and acknowledged me, then promptly never came, after a few more minutes the original server came and took our drinks order…. 25 minutes later the drinks arrived, the server took the food order of the table next to us then ours straight after, about 10 minutes later their food was delivered, by now our drinks were long since finished…. After 10 minutes still no sign of our food…. fast forward to almost an hour and a half since arriving…. server approaches the table to tell us that the order hadn’t been sent to the kitchen…… almost an hour and a half sat waiting without any attention from any of the staff working there, what a waste of our time, underlined with a half arsed apology and not to pay for the drinks we finished over an hour earlier.

Dismal service, as could be noted by the amount of people who had given up on waiting to pay their bills at their tables.

Midweek is a much better experience, but even then the service is a massive downgrade from the previous venue. Whilst the food is pretty great the value isn’t there any longer, as I said above this is no longer an intimate experience where servers give you their attention and a quality service, it’s maximised customer capacity whilst diminishing the quality of service, and asking the same price.

Disappointing to say the least, leaving after wasting almost an hour and half of our day sat being largely ignored and...

I visited for Sunday brunch with my Mum and sisters for my sister's birthday. We were given a very warm, smiley, genuine welcome as soon as we arrived and although we hadn't booked we were taken straight to a table by one of the beautiful picture windows. Our waitress, Christie, introduced herself, took our drinks order , gave us our menus and gave us time to get settled. She also complimented my coat which was very thoughtful.

I ordered the 'nojito' a mocktail with ginger, mint and lime which was absolutely delicious. Christie came back and took our food order, I had the small veggie breakfast and my family each had the small breakfast. Christie was happy to accommodate a change to the menu, I requested scrambled eggs instead of fried eggs. It was really nice to see a variety of options on the menu. As I'm veggie I have to choose the vegan option at some restaurants which is fine apart from the fact that I miss out on halloumi! At Bottle and Thyme they have both a veggie and a vegan option which was great.

The food was beautifully cooked and well presented. My small veggie breakfast was a veggie sausage, vine tomatoes, scrambled eggs ( by request) on sourdough bread, delicious chestnut mushrooms, handmade rosti, spinach and beans. The beans were thoughtfully presented in a little pot. All parts of my breakfast were tasty and cooked to perfection. The food was light but filling and just the right amount. My family all enjoyed their breakfasts too.

I had a pot of green tea afterwards, my Mum had a cappuccino and my sisters had iced coffee and lemonade. We didn't feel at all rushed to finish our drinks and although the restaurant was busy we felt comfortable to take time to enjoy our food.

The space is exceptionally well planned. Very light and airy but still feels comfortable and welcoming. Sometimes window seats can be chilly but we were nice and warm even on a cold day.

The team were all lovely and made sure we were comfortable and attended to for the duration of our stay.

I would highly recommend Bottle and Thyme. We are already planning our next visit and looking forward to trying more of the menu and maybe some cocktails too ( it would be rude not to right?!)

Huge Thanks to Christie and the team for making us feel welcome, we'll...