Stove Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in England

UPDATE JUNE 2024:

So since my initial review, I have been back to the Langdale complex and eaten at the Stove again. There is a new GM, who previously worked at the hotel, and has tried to turn things around. The menu has been updated and some of the service problems have been addressed. Unfortunately the food is still a long way away from where it needs to be, especially in comparison to the local competition - stale bread, dry pasta and shop bought pizza sauces where some of the ongoining dissapointments. The restaurant seems to be ticking over based on the ‘captive audience’ of guests and hotel punters. Which is fine for the buisness I guess? But not a great user exp. It IS such a shame, that what could be a stellar offering in an amazing setting is just below ‘bang average’. Hopefully things will improve!

This is a nicely laid out restaurant in a beautiful setting, in a stunning part of the world. So it is such a shame that the food and service it is so utterly average and underwhelming!

We have been staying at the estate for 20+ years, my wife’s family have been coming even longer. And the onsite catering has always been a bit hit or miss. So when it was renovated, we were excited to come back and see what they had done, the improvements that had been made and sample the new updated menu. And on a positive note, the interior, terrace, bar and dining area are amazing. However for an upmarket eatery in the heart of the lakes the food - which is the main. event - was so far off the mark! The pizzas are bland and doughy - we sent two back because they were soggy. The burgers were tasteless and over cooked - grey meat in cheap buns that wouldn’t have been out of place at Iceland! The fish and chips were just foul - soggy fish, undercooked chips, cooked in old, stale fat! The cocktails were okay, but at £15 a pop, really not cheap. And the beers are okay. But they don’t have anything local, which seems bizarre given all the excellent craft breweries in the area? The staff were very nice, but totally disorganised. No one seemed to have a handle on what had been booked or ordered. And the food turned up luke warm and nothing together. All of this is such a shame as the Langdale hotel and time share is an amazing spot and the staff aren’t wilfully bad. But for the money you are paying - 20+ for a main dish and 15 quid for a pizza - you really would expect better. I guess it has a captive audience? But given the competition across the Lakes this place really does fall short and someone needs to...

I will start this review by stating that despite our really poor experience, the manager on shift was very understanding and dealt with the issues in a professional manner.

I had booked a table for 8 Adults and 1 Child to celebrate a family birthday whilst on a weekend break in the Langdale Valley. Having done some quick research, Stove bar looked perfect for a celebration meal and upon arrival we were impressed with the surroundings and restaurant setting.

The red flags started shortly after arrival. There were very few people dining in the restaurant, and several different staff members seemed to be competing to serve our table - the service was confused and unpolished, although it has to be said the staff were polite and friendly.

Drinks came quickly, as did our food. The starters were generally OK however there was a strange flavour combination on the ham hock with pesto - it tasted like basil mixed with dried cumin spice or similar. Whilst not unpleasant, it was a strange dish.

The major issue with the meal was the roast dinner. We ordered 5 roast beef dishes, 2 cod loins and 1 roast chicken. The sides arrived first, and whilst plentiful and varied, everything was flat cold and looked like it had been sat on the side for days. The Yorkshire puddings crumbled into dust, the roast potatoes were so hard on the outside it was a struggle to cut through...you get the picture.

To top it off, the beef was served raw. Again it was cold, the meat had blood on and had not been cooked to anywhere near the required standard for a £30+ roast dinner.

We sent the beef dishes back, and they returned, still raw. Upon speaking to the manager, I was informed that the beef was "slow cooked overnight". I invited her to look at the dishes and she quickly changed her mind. The dishes were returned to the kitchen and the manager came back with the staff to our table to retrieve the rest of the inedible food.

We agreed to remove all food from our bill, finished and paid for our drinks, and swiftly left.

I have never experienced food quality of such poor standard in a restaurant and it was a huge disappointment for our family celebration.

As mentioned above, the shift manager was professional and ultimately our issues were resolved fairly - however the standards fall well below...

After spending a few hours in the spa prior to our meal, on entrance to the stove our group was greeted by the rudest front of house member I have ever encountered,

I asked firstly what ciders were available and was directed simply towards a fridge door behind the bar , now… my eye sight may be poor but at roughly 12 feet even a fighter pilot could not read or see what was inside

Following this my friend ordered and had asked for a receipt and was met with some hostility as he had already closed down the tab in the till and had to call for assistance to print a copy when I made my order the gentlemen asked would i be needing a receipt as-well in a tone that made me feel like id reached into his front pocket and stolen his wallet his phone and his front-door-keys

Our third member asked politely if there was a discount for locals as we all live within 10 mins of langdale and have done for our entire lives this is quite a common practice in the cumbria area due to inflated tourist prices he was quite surprised that this was not considered and was met with immediate strict refusal !!! left taken aback the member behind the bar who at this point appeared as though he’d swallowed a wasps nest was becoming visibly hostile ,increasingly dismissive, intensively short tempered and rude !! continuing his order

2 points on our order in total were also taken in error

Thankfully the supervisor listened well and addressed the issues with us quickly and processionally offering drinks and a reimbursement

We were happy with the drinks that’s all

All other staff were fantastic and friendly

Food fantastic compliments to the kitchen

Service super fast

It’s a shame one staff member can spoil a day out despite so much effort from everyone else who is...