Black Iron — Restaurant in England

Our experience was overall positive, but with a few niggles which overshadowed. Afternoon tea food - absolutely beautiful and extremely generous portions. Gluten free options the best I've ever had for an afternoon tea. Very talented chefs clearly. Ordinary afternoon tea also excellent, and the children's portion generous. We chose an orange blossom Ceylon tea, and this was lovely. Great selection of teas. The parking was good and house decorated beautifully for Christmas. The niggles were that the directions on the email link were incorrect and staff didn't receive the feedback in a logical way which would mean they do something about customers driving 15 mins in the wrong direction. Logically if something doesn't work, fix it or delete it from their emails because people are better off googling the location themselves rather than using the link that takes you to a place called Black Grill in Kirby Muxloe. Secondly we had a voucher for afternoon tea but we're made to pay £2 despite the voucher still being within the expiry time. My general experience of using a voucher for an experience that is pre purchased is that you get that experience if used before it expires. There was no monetary amount labelled on the voucher. We argued this case and the staff wouldn't budge on us paying this menial amount. For us, it was the principle of the matter. It left us feeling this place would rather take £2 than give us a flawless normal experience. If the voucher had said an amount or had terms and conditions stating if the price increases you have to pay extra (which would be cringey!) we would recognise we need to top it up, but having it as a voucher for two afternoon teas I have never in my 43 years on the planet had to sub in money for an experience. Most, if not all businesses would in good faith let £2 go recognising that we had a voucher that hadn't expired yet. As a result the service felt amaeteur-ish, because this was bizarre, as well as the bizarre response over the directions being wrong. Having said these niggles, I have already recommended this place to all my fellow Gluten free friends as the food was absolutely amazing!!...

Sadly a disappointing experience. My husband booked a table and mentioned that it was our first wedding anniversary and was informed that it had been noted down. The restaurant called on the day of our visit to confirm we were still coming and the man on the phone mentioned that he could see it was our anniversary and he looked forward to seeing us later.

We arrived and the man on reception was very welcoming and took us to the restaurant.

We sat down and were given the menus and our waiter did not mention the anniversary. We ordered drinks and again no mention of the anniversary. The waiter came to take our food order and still no mention of the anniversary.

We ordered the mixed grill and the price seemed good value given the variety and amount of meat we received.

We were initially provided with only one napkin for our main course which was not a big issue as we simply asked for another, however, when we ordered desert (still no mention of any special day) we were again only provided with one napkin and had to again ask for another which gave an impression of carelessness and lack of care.

The food was overall nice with generous portions but was not particularly special. Given we had mentioned that we had selected the venue specially for our first wedding anniversary it was very disappointing that there was not even an acknowledgement of it at any point.

When the waiter came with card machine he asked if we were paying together and then proceeded to ask if we were doing anything afterwards like going to a club, which was very odd considering it was Tuesday and we had stated it was our wedding anniversary. At this point I informed him that it was our anniversary and his manner changed immediately, however, it was too late to make up for the evening. A disappointing evening, which could have been vastly improved had any of the staff bothered to read the notes and said happy anniversary at any point. Good for a meal but very poor for a...

Attended following booking online and with a voucher.

Booking wasn't checked or confirmed on arrival.

Seating and first drinks were slow. There wasn't an indication whether the coffee and tea were included, so we assumed they were. I was able to have cream with mine, which I always choose for a treat. Coffee was lovely, we didn't try the tea.

I had the waffles, bacon, and maple for bottomless prosecco lunch. Husband had the full English (nv).

Overall I was disappointed with mine, it appeared to be Belgian sugar waffles, which with the maple was far too sweet ( I fear they were even pre packaged) and, despite the bacon being delicious, it couldn't temper down the overt sweetness of the Belgian sugar waffles, (rather than buttermilk) to make the brunch edible. Feedback was requested by the wait staff, but they didn't offer alternative or any additional items to make up my brunch, leaving me a little hungry when I left.

Husband had no concerns of the quality or cooking of his full English.

The bottomless prosecco, although slow to be served, was topped up regularly following breakfast and tasty. Further drinks were offered, such as orange and coffee, and we were not rushed to finish our table.

The building was lovely and the facilities of a high standard.

There was no offered cloakroom, which meant coats were hanging off of chairs. Mixed crockery and cutlery were used on the tables. Tall bright windows were well dressed and bright despite the weather. The room was warm without being stifling.

Overall, it was a mixture of a grand elegant setting with a lack of finesse in areas, including the food. Value wise, I'd score a 6/10, quality of food and drink 6/10, service...