Notch Durham — Restaurant in England

Never made to feel so uncomfortable in a restaurant. I’m sure they are nice to customers until things don’t go their way, and you see their disgusting customer service. Arrived, no sign of my booking. We booked bottomless brunch. The service started off well asked for drinks & provided prosecco. I would say the food was good for bottomless brunch. That’s where it ends. Drinks all premixed and cheap, french martini and pornstair martin practically tasted the same. Now considering you pay £55 for cocktail instead of £45 for beer and wine, I would have expected better quality. We did get asked if we wanted more drinks first half then service weakened. Next thing we know this woman is approaching with a bill to give us as if to say ‘leave’ So if she knew it was ending why were we not offered a final drink all our glasses had been empty a while, this is the normal service for bottomless brunch. Then the bill…. large service charge added. Myself personally I’am happy to tip, but not when i am told to and also not for the amount that was on the bill.Said we wanted it removed and gave reasons why we felt service was poor and drink quality. We were advised ‘Have to pay as it’s in our terms and conditions’ LOL terms and condition for a restaurant are you kidding, also I booked over the phone and no one read me any t&cs. After it was passed to manager to remove we were treated like dirt. The woman taking our payments glared at us the whole time it was very uncomfortable, when we all said bye walking out we were totally ignored by waitress and manager. I have seen previous comments on here about a waitress with a bad attitude pretty certain who it would be, we have all had to deal with situations in workplace but we do not get away with rudeness to customers. The table next to us also advised they would not be returning as felt service was bad. £55 for two small plates of food and 5 pre mixed cocktails! Maybe you are better at normal food and should not offer bottomless brunch if you can’t give the cocktails or keep up with replenishing the drinks. Very disappointinh as I had been wanting to try for a while. Soooo any visitors, if you are going make sure to be happy to pay a service charge even if service was bad, if not you will be made to...

What a legendary burger. That’s the Top Notch Burger I’m talking about. A bloody whopper it is, I got it with the added brisket.

Like a ‘Gaz v Food’ challenge it was. It just beat me as well. I had to admit defeat and leave the 2.5 onion rings and the top of the burger bun (I know, how could I, but I was just stuffed to the hilt man).

Anyway, this is twice this week I’ve been to Notch. We just popped in for a coffee the first time, with no intention to eat as I’d just had my lunch only an hour previously BUT once I saw the new menu we got 3 for £20 on the Tapitizers and they were class: the Burnt Ends, Houmous & Flat bread and Halloumi sticks (these were big lads, 4 big chunky halloumi-lads).

Oh and the coffee, the flat white, absolutely nail them too. Proper machine and nicely done. Bravo for that. Life is too short for crap coffee.

But today’s burger. Where do I start. That was actually the question. How do I eat that I thought. I tried picking it up but had to wimp out and use cutlery! Call myself a man huh?!! Don’t judge me.

The burger was truly a wonderful thing. Two smashed patties, plus the chicken thigh, the pork and brisket, and onion rings and fries. And a lovely buffalo sauce. A taste sensation and a belly buster. The onion rings were good, lovely and crispy. And the fries were canny dam good too.

Am I rambling on now, maybe but it’s my review so kiss my burger covered face.

Notch is well up there as one of Durham’s best eateries. If you’re a meat and burger lover, go check it out. I love what they’ve done with the place, cool decor and good tunes, nice relaxed vibe, the owner and the team are all good bants and that makes it a winner in my books.

Next time I go, I’m trying the BBQ Notch Tray, that’s a belly buster even more so they say. I’ll update once I’ve given it a go. I also want to see what they offer as Desserts too so I’ll report back on that. I’ll put a few pounds on for you in my quest to write an accurate and detailed review.

If they do a basque cheesecake then Notch becomes my perfect place. Coffee✅ Burger✅...

2 of us visited last week and had been wanting to for ages. Really disappointed. They were pretty busy (Friday night) but service was so slow, we luckily ordered a starter (which was nice) but had to wait ages (30/40mins) for just 2 x mains. I ordered the Notch burger but it didnt look like other reviewers posts below. It had a giant dry bit of beef hanging out of it (was it left over from the roast?), missing the salad and barely any sauce or cheese. It was dry and the meat was tough. Neither of us liked the onion rings they just tasted of oil. Noone came to ask if the food was okay, otherwise I'd have mentioned it.

While eating, a waitress then asked us to move tables (!?) so she could move our tables around into a 4. We saw them do this to another table too. It just seemed chaotic and unorganised with tables/people waiting etc. We politely agreed and moved and didnt mind too much. But... it was annoying that they werent overly grateful and didn’t offer to help us move e.g. all our dinner/stuff on table, coats etc. And then, later she came back and said quite abruptly and with no apology, something like "yeh we need this table now, you're only meant to have 2 hours". Huh?? When I booked it there was no mention of this?! (I'm still yet to find it and checked the booking several times...it should be made really obvious). Or tell us when we first arrive? I tried to mention this but she just walked off quickly. Also, the service was slow and you made us move..all adding into our time? As she rushed over with the bill, there was no apology or how was your meal etc? Just a quick tap of my card and rushed off.

We saw a number of other tables impatiently waiting for food, or sending food back and getting a bit frustrated.

Service needs sorting, it was disappointing and I wouldn't...