Poppi Red — Restaurant in England

Absolutely abysmal from start to finish.

While sitting having a drink in Kitchen we popped over to book a table for the evening. Arrived at 7:30 to be asked to wait in the doorway as they were having issues with the till, card reader and no free tables. Not a bother, these things happen to everyone.

After a little while staff suggested we may like a seat while waiting and directed us over to some high tables and stools. The wait wasn't long before we were shown to our seats.

Hilariously the table was by the window with one of the seats being in a bench with cushions and the other a normal chair which resulted in me being around 2ft higher than my husband. This did keep us entertained every time I sat up but not what you want when you're out for a meal together.

Food and drinks orders taken, the husband opted for a pint and myself a diet coke. Most likely the best part of the meal. Food, I'd ordered a margarita pizza with the broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes added. The husband went for beef shin chilli. We also opted for some fries to share.

Oh my god this was the absolute worst food we've had in a long time.

Pizza, the base was clearly a bought base, maybe from the local Co-op. Hard, tasteless and dry as sand. The mozzarella was fine, but some wasn't even melted yet. Mixed with a dry, hard base you wonder how on earth that happened. The pizza sauce was okay, very much tasted like a tube of tomato puree than anything with any seasoning.

Beef shin. The worst of the two, rice was overcooked and undercooked, maybe separate batches mixed together. The rice could have done with draining properly too as this created a very watery meal. Sadly this wasn't sticky rice as expected but only specified as rice on the menu so we can't complain about that. The beef shin was actually very tasty, but a very small portion. The tortillas added were actually a cut up wraps which had been toasted. Burnt in places and floppy in others.

We also had to ask twice when the fries ordered would arrive as food had arrived around 10 minutes ago. Seems like they'd been forgotten. No apology for the delay.

The waitress was asked about the 'tortillas' and replied 'i don't know what they are actually' this interaction was when the plates were collected with more than half the meal remaining because we just couldn't try eating anymore.

A couple to the left of us, also sitting on the bench and chair situation asked to order drinks, the manager said he'd be over soon, the bloke then went to the bar and asked again. Order taken, pint, wine and a glass of water. They asked to order food at the same time and told someone else would be over soon to take it. When their drinks arrived the water was missed, the poor lass asked 3 times for water before it arrived.

Another couple over from us were finding the situation hilarious too, they'd also ordered a pizza and many times just laughed at it.

This is clearly a place that is kept alive by the tourists who have no idea just how bad the food will...

We booked for New Years Eve and paid double the price, also paid for breakfast. Could not go on New Year’s Eve as we caught Covid. Staff did change the booking to March and had email confirmation. Got to the property and our check in code did not work, rang and the room we booked had been booked to someone else due to a communication error of changing the booking. Waited an hour for another room to be ready. When in the room it was beautifully decorated and had everything we needed for a 1 night stay. I didn’t realise until the next morning the cafe was shut so could not get the breakfast we paid for. During this time management were in constant contact with us and they offered to refund half the price of the room as we paid bank holiday prices (I did not ask for this) I also asked to be refunded for the breakfast we did not get to eat. Said this will be sorted Monday with Booking.com. Have sent a few messages since and had no response, suggested we get a free stay instead of the refund but no reply. DO NOT SAY YOU WILL REFUND IF YOU DO NOT PLAN ON DOING SO! Would have happily returned if we didn’t get ignored...

Poppi Red in the centre of hawkshead is a well located centre eatery.

We nipped in for lunch and had a cajun sandwich. So first, the great points:

Very friendly staff, great decor, good selection of foods and options. Clean facilities and toilets and overall great atmosphere. Large indoor area and outdoor area, too.

Overall 5/5 for the eatery.

The only bad point (for me) we nipped in for lunch. Had a cajun sandwich and roast potatoes. Potatos were ok (new potatos roasted, not crispy), and the cajun sandwich was OK but tasted more like a very mild peri peri (for the record. I may be critical here after eating cajun food regularly, esp in New Orleans) but it was OK

For quick lunch, there may be better and cheaper in the village (it's a busy village though, so don't let that put you off this place at all). But if you fancy a bit fancier and indoors, it's worth a visit.

Not to our taste, but we were told pizza was great by quite a few local places, and all in all, try it out. Next time we are back, we will...