Oakingham Belle — Restaurant in England

EDIT: I have changed my 3 review to a 5* after a visit today, had a steak lunch today and it was absolutley perfect! Delicious, and mushroom starter was delicious too... really pleased , intended on coming back and trying as the place is genuinley lovely and i think we were just unlucky last time. Really lovely afternoon :)

I have visited here twice now within a week, not major bad experiences, but few issues that need adressing, i hate leaving bad feedback but like to hope its positive criticism as can be adressed and help the team work on things. Our first visit was of a lunch time, we ordered the sandwich deal each, one with chips one with soup. Firstly we waited 40mins for our sandwich, even seeing a table that were seated after us recieving 3 cooked lunches first! My blt was very very crispy and dry. I know some people like crispy bacon but i couldnt even bite some of it, and with no butter or mayo this left a dry taste. The goats cheese sandwich was missing peppers. Soup piping hot however and chips hot so good there.

Our next visit was a tuesday evening, starters were delicious and hot, although shame there was no tartare sauce for my whitebait. Pork shnitzel was overdone so very chewy, shame as hubby said the taste and sauce was otherwise lovely. I had the lamb kebab, again meat very chewy, and flatbread was very crispy, like a crisp. I wondered wether it had sat under hot place whilst we ate our starter.

This aside, we had been told they had only been open 3wks, having worked in the trade myself, i understand the work it takes when a new place opens and it can take time for things to settle, the place is absoloutley lovely, large, cosy, great lighting, great outdoor seating area, lovely and clean, great choice of drinks and very welcoming and friendly staff. Being that this is a new buissness, we wont be put off and will look forward to returning in a few weeks when things have settled and hopefully can edit this review :) i do wish...

Updated review-

Went tonight for mother in laws birthday. Given Sunday menus then when we went to order we were told we were given wrong menus and there was no roast dinners left at 6.30. It wasn't even that busy, the car park and restaurant were half empty.

Ordered sharing starter and then told couldn’t have that either as run out of some of the components of it.

Drinks took a good 20 minutes to arrive.

Mains ordered. Didn’t take too long but chips served with kebab were dry and cold so had to be returned and we didn’t get replacements until we nearly finished our dinner which was a bit of a shame.

Ordered desserts. Took ages to come then they were wrong so had to go back to kitchen.

It was obviously a very bad day in the kitchen and the usual poor staffing levels. Such a shame but I would say only 1 out of recent visits I have been to has been good. They need to employ more staff it’s been a constant problem for over a year and it just never really improves.

Sorry think I’ll be returning to Sarson Stones. They just know what they are doing more. —————————

I’ve had two meals recently here with friends at lunchtime. Both times the food and drink has been very good but the service has been lacking.

Visit a month ago at lunchtime and sat waiting for over 15 minutes before drink order taken and that was then forgotten after we ordered the food as well. There was no service after the food arrived so we had to go and order more drinks ourselves at bar and eventually ask at the bar for the bill.

Second visit this week and drinks order taken but had to wave someone down to try and order food as we’d been waiting a long time and after the food arrived there was no service as to how the food was and had to go up again and get water from the bar.

Staff are very friendly when you get their attention but they seem understaffed a lot of the time and the management need to hire a few more people so each area has a designated...

Update 2 Sep 2024: I decided to try this place again despite the service being a bit off last time.

Firstly, the food was great, I have no issues there. However, the service was poor. This was not the fault of the staff who were very busy and trying their best. It was clear that the place was woefully understaffed and for a packed Sunday lunch, having only 2-3 people serving food was insufficient. The 2 working the bar were pretty busy too, so weren't able to help out much/at all. Talking with out waitress, it seems that this staffing level is considered acceptable by management, but it has put me off returning which is a shame because the food itself is very good and very reasonably priced.

Let me reiterate, the problem here is that there aren't enough serving staff and this results is delays and/or mistakes which spoil the dining experience. The staff are trying hard under challenging circumstances with no Maitre D' to direct and guide them.

Original Review in Dec 2023:

The atmosphere was lively and it was a busy Sunday lunch. It was pretty clear that the serving staff were either new and/or not particularly well trained. They were courteous and friendly but when our main courses were served we had no cutlery. Despite asking for some, after several minutes, we had to "borrow" some from another table.

The drinks service was slow and I feel the bar was understaffed.

Now to the food. The starters and the desserts were excellent, but the Sunday roast was a bit hit and miss. The quantity and quality of the meat was good, but the overall experience was marred by sub-par roasties. They were not so bad as to warrant Immediate comment, but were not soft on the inside and crispy on the out.

This review is offered as an honest criticism and will not necessarily prevent me from returning, but maybe at a less busy time and perhaps avoid the roast lunch - which would be a shame since the...