The Gravel Pit Cafe-Bar — Restaurant in England

We came to this restaurant a few years ago for Mother's Day a had a lovely time. So we thought we'd try it again. Very disappointing. At my age you can assume I've had many Mother's Day experiences. This was not one of them. Also working in the industry for 40 years know a thing or two about hospitality and customer service. There was a set lunch me he that is used every day . There was no other alternatives choices. No Mother's Day special menu yet there were plenty of families with mothers there. My mother whose 95 and myself 69 do not want burger and chips or pizza. This was all that was on the menu. We assumed wrongly it would be similar to 2024. Never assume. That was the choice. I opted for a dessert salad as I don't like burgers or pizzas especially processed ones. If they are made fresh I may partake in a piece of pizza. We didn't have any alcohol. Many staff hung around the bar chatting whilst the robot brought the food. Why? Yes I guess I'm old school. Anyway we move on. Staff were polite but unfriendly. I saw on the menu we could choose between cheese or chicken with our salad. And I opted for chicken. The chicken was cold. All it was was a bowl of green lettuce leaves half a dozen croutons half a dozen pieces of cold chicken. A small drizzle of dressing. Cost £18.50!!! They'd added chicken on at £5. A bag of salad from the supermarket is at most a £1 and a breast of chicken (2pieces) £3. £4 . How can a few lettuce leaves and a few pieces of chicken be that price. I was shocked. There was no extra service. Smiles happy Mother's Day from staff a flower in the table. Zilch. The only good thing about it was the venue. Right next to the lake. A Beautiful setting another reason why we went back there as we enjoyed it so much sitting watching the fountain. I will never go there again. And I certainly wouldn't be buying a cold salad for almost £20. Do these places not think they'd be more elderly people booking for Mother's Day and have something more substantial .i was looking forward to ha I g a steak ! Not a burger or pizza. Neither of which I liked or my mother. Are we just a forgotten generation? Our mistake we should have checked the menus. To use a robot to bring the food yet add on a service charge I think it's taking the pee! We should add on our own tip of how much we think they deserve for food service etc. not be told what we should be paying. I seriously disagree with this. But still ! Wont be...

I chose this restaurant to meet my new boss for dinner. I was a bit nervous as I wanted to choose something that’s nice enough for him to enjoy but not too expensive for my first company funded meal.

I think this was the perfect balance. The setting is really nice with a huge glass frontage to the restaurant overlooking the golf course and lake. The bar itself is also really long and well stocked.

It took a bit longer than I would have liked to wait at the counter before someone came along to seat us but once we were at our table the service was excellent and the frequency of interactions from the staff were well judged.

The menu has a good selection of healthy, vegan and also not healthy and not vegan options. We ended up having 3 courses.

As a plus, there was some kind of promotion applied to the bill because my boss was staying in the hotel – so he was very pleased with the price too! Thank you 😊

(4 stars because of the delay to be seated, and I was told I could have the superfood salad with normal feta and it was sent out with vegan feta which wasn't as nice, and the poached pear was still quite crunchy which meant it skidded around on the plate like a bar of soap and was...

It's been a long time since I gave a venue a 1 star. This place is in a word disappointing. Last night in an empty restaurant we were asked to leave a section as the table was reserved for later. What logic makes you move a paying customer in a totally empty restaurant- surely if someone arrived we could be moved then, they could be seated elsewhere in the, I must repeat EMPTY venue. Then to today we went for breakfast, where I asked if some Avo could be added to the Eggs Benedict - this took about 10 mins to organise and was very confusing for the staff who it seemed have never had a request to add anything to a meal. I was thinking what photo I could use to describe this restauran, this bowl of green splodge, which has never identified as AVO, was served to us. I assume it comes from a tin or a toothpaste kind of packaging and is squeezed out onto your plate. It was more vile than it looks. "Chef" have some respect for yourself and for your paying clients and do not in future describe that...