The Curious Mr Fox — Restaurant in England

Durham's newest eatery certainly has street appeal and it is tastefully decorated throughout. There are three floors each with a slightly different feel. We were slightly early for our lunch so decided to have a drink in the bar before our meal. The table was thoroughly cleaned before we took our seats and the staff were pleasant but lacked some self confidence and seemed unsure of what to do.

We dined on the top floor and whilst this was pleasant enough we were stuck behind a pillar that denied us of any view of the Riverside or Cathedral which is a great shame. The food was of a good standard that you would associate with any quality pub nearby but don't expect to get a fine dining experience.

The service is ok but just seemed to lack any kind of cohesive attention to detail. The staff were polite but were unfamiliar with service standards you would have expected from the image the business visually portrays. In fairness, it's early days and I'd hope that these issues were addressed by management as they bed into the business. I think a good 'front of house' would be a good business investment to get the standards up.

In summary this a visually great place to dine, with friendly staff and good quality food. Hopefully the service side will get better as the staff become more familiar with their jobs. Go check it out and support a local business. Good start, well done for being brave and...

I came here for Sunday lunch yesterday, and the woman who greeted me downstairs was absolutely lovely and very accommodating on arrival. Once we were at our table, yes the service was still good and very polite. When the food arrived it was quite a shambles to say the least. The plate was placed on the table and gravy went everywhere including mine and my friends clothes and we were left to clean the mess ourselves.. The food itself was below average.. it looked pretty on the plate but to eat it, it wasn't very nice.. I left nearly all my meal and when asked if it was nice, I did make a point of saying how I did not enjoy it at all - to which I was asked if I would like dessert? I absolutely said no. We asked for a glass of wine with our meals and it took ages to come to the point we had to ask twice.. I understand it can be busy but the person we asked had actually forgotten.. I can't justify paying £62 for two lunches and one glass of wine which were completely below average - and am still unsure how the price even came to this? Either way I would not recommend the Sunday lunch! I will most likely go back in the future and try the weekly lunch menus as it is a beautiful...

We booked as a party of 5 for afternoon tea which was advertised as finger sandwiches, a fruit and plain scone, cakes and a glass of Pimms. When booking we advised that 2 of the party didn’t want butter on their sandwiches. When we arrived we were told that mayo was used and did they want no mayo, which they said they didn’t. What arrived was 2 plates of mixed sandwiches for the table of plain egg, cheese and chicken, with no mayo on any and difficult to tell what type sandwich you were picking up as they were all mixed up. All the scones were plain, when I queried this I was told “nobody eats fruit scones they just get left or people ask for a box to take them home which costs us money” The cream in the Eton mess had turned watery. Despite asking on arrival about the Pimms we still hadn’t been served it when we were finished eating and had to ask again! Staff started clearing the plates away before we’d finished. Sorry but wouldn’t go back, shame as beautiful...