Carriages, Newhaven — Restaurant in Derbyshire Dales

Despite being local, I have only been to Carriages once and that was for a Gin and Tapas evening. I didn’t realise how many variations of gin you could get, the tapas was amazing. I have promised myself that I must return.

Due to the current pandemic I decided to try the take out menu, a kind of e-eats with pick up booked and food chosen. I ordered pizza and chips (it had been a hard week on furlough) I was not disappointed. The chips were proper chunky chips that you would cook at home in the chip pan - perfection, twice cooked, flowery inner crispy but not to crispy outer and a deep brown. Spot on. Better than you local chippy. I’ve eaten pizza in some of the great pizza cities of the world; Chicago, New York, Rome etc and the pizza was probably the best I have tasted. It was only simple - Parma Ham and Mushroom (as pizza’s should be) - it was excellent, not sloppy, not overcooked but very tasty and filling

Who needs multi-national chains when you have got a local restaurant that provides such high quality and reasonably priced meals with a friendly smile.

If you have not tried Carriages, you must -...

Spotted this little gem, while travelling to the nearby reservoir.

Little unsure about the quirky train carriage built inside to give the feeling of fine dining aboard something like the Orient Express, but it’s good fun, and probably helps attract more people than an ordinary pub would, so 10/10 for ingenuity, but I’m not sure it’s completely necessary as the star of the show was definitely the food.

I had the sea food chowder, which came with garlic bread and fries, and it was spot on delish. Sea food bang on cooked, good thick creamy sauce, seasoned to perfection. Garlic bread was light and crunchy and not too heavy on the garlic. Fries were fresh, not frozen, always good to see, crisp with skin on and light and fluffy inside.

My partners pie was good and tasty, although she is not a fan of courgette, and their was quite a bit on the plate, in fact, I think it was the whole courgette.

Her sisters lasagne was great although it kept getting compared to a previous lasagne which was swimming in an orange sauce.

Malteser’s cheese cake for dessert was just divine, to finish...

What a gem of a place! From the décor, attention to detail and service staff, it really is like a step back in time, where luxury, service and standards are at the heart of the business.

The server we had fit the part very well and mannerisms added to the experience, you could be forgiven for thinking you stepped back into the early 1900's. Please take the opportunity to sit in the actual carriage, the old world pictures, immaculate set tables and old furniture all add to this unique feature.

The service was good, quality of food and beverage was also good and reasonable price.

The only comment I can give for feedback, that would raise this experience to a 5-star rating is that one cardinal sin was committed; the plate serving the breakfast we ordered was cold, and so killed the temperature of the food, cold beans and sausage. Please plate up on pre-heated plates and that prevents this.

Upwards and onwards for this fantastic and unique place, I also noticed it holds events too, definitely worth considering and this place hands down beats any of the high-street...