The Lambton Worm — Restaurant in England

Despite my number one rule: NEVER EAT AT A GREY PUB - my wife and I pulled in here, one lunch time, in hungry desperation. Within minutes I realised I was breaking my number two rule: DON'T EAT AT A CHAIN, but we were seated and hungry.

The GOOD: First impressions were that the pub felt nice - yes it was typically pastiche fake chain-pub interior, but it was nice. The men's toilet was probably the cleanest looking and cleanest smelling pub toilet I've ever been in - could not fault them! The young man behind the bar was very polite and helpful. The cask beer I had was lovely.

The BAD: The older chap behind the bar was sullen and abrupt when I asked him about food menus - perhaps he was having a bad day (?) or perhaps he's just sullen and abrupt. Our table was incredibly sticky - clean, but like contact adhesive. I made the mistake of leaning on it, and then had to peel the sleeves of my jumper from the surface. I know this is a 21st century problem with water-based paints, but it's extremely unpleasant - why can't pubs use a decent polyurethane varnish?

The UGLY: I ordered the "Worm Banger" - a Cumberland Sausage ring with mash, greens, and onion gravy. When it arrived at our table, I wish I 'd sent it back there and then. A gigantic, deep, bowl filled to the brim with cheap gravy. An island of mashed-potato held aloft a sausage ring in the centre of this gravy ocean. Okay, I accept that some people like gravy, but there was a pint or more of the stuff, and is was cheap and nasty. I fished around in the gravy-soup and managed to find a few green beans and garden peas, but not many. I attempted to eat the sausage & mash and fish out whatever greens I could whilst trying to avoid imbibing stomach-churning amounts of gravy with every mouth full - but it wasn't possible. I persevered because I was hungry, but with each mouthful I became more and more nauseous, and eventually gave-up. I felt sick for hours afterwards.

In SUMMARY: The place was nice, 50% of the staff I met were welcoming, and the cask beer was good. So go for the nice environment and nice beer, but if you like nice food - I stand by my rules - NEVER eat at a grey pub and NEVER eat at a...

I stayed at the Lambton Worm for four nights. It has a lot going for it: a great location on the main road out of Chester Le Street, with good links to Durham, Newcastle and Sunderland as well as the local town. The bedrooms are spacious and equipped with wardrobes. The bathrooms are a decent size. There is ample car parking. ||||Unfortunately, the standards are not what you might reasonably expect. At the heart of the problem is a lack of any visible management presence. ||||I experienced an issue with my room on the first night (the blind collapsed when I went to close it). There was no-one on reception, so the guy at the bar did what he could to perch the blind up precariously, but I could see it would not hold so I asked him to report it which he promised to do. I reminded the lady on breakfast duty when I went down the next morning, and she also promised to report it as a maintenance job. ||When I returned back that evening, I was astonished to find the blind just lying on my bedroom floor. I immediately alerted the guy at the bar, Calum, who did what he could to secure the blind to the window with gaffer tape. However, this meant I could not open or close it for the rest of my stay. He explained that the hotel had a very loose arrangement with a maintenance man who was rarely on site. ||||I was also less than impressed with breakfast. I am an easy customer because I don't order a cooked breakfast - I am happy with continental. However, the selection was really poor and on more than one day there were no fruit yoghurts and no orange juice. I was told they were "waiting for a delivery". Again, this is basic stuff which requires management. ||||Evening meals were substantial and pretty enjoyable, and the service was efficient and reliable. But this is a place in need of...

Staff friendly and helpful. 7 night stay. However room (Amarrilo) disappointing, daft bed frame we kept catching knees and toes on!! (especially as so close to wall, sqeaky too) this room noisy as right by stairs other guests noisy returning late, not venue's fault as such but a sign asking others to be quiet might help however! Shower worked OK but small, no shelf, tiling and general finish in ensuite very basic indeed, and poor diy level of finish, couldn't get heated towel rail to work. Overall the room was OK but just didn't impress and fell short of 'boutique' in my opinion. Carpet and bed linen nice and clean though that's more important at the end of the day. |Be aware live music on Friday night (which usually we would love to see) was loud in our room being above!! we foolishly had planned an early night as we were hoping to be up a reasonable time for a very long drive home saturday....no chance..... in fairness its a pub too and we knew they had live music, just we weren't to know our room right above the gig, so bear in mind.|Ate at restaurant first 2 nights for convenience, but again nothing special and portions not big, breakfasts same, the cooked was OK but small. (Has to be said staff lovely though) from then on we ate elsewhere, there's a great pub walking distance up road which we preferred. |In summary, an ok venue, location good for Beamish museum etc, parking good, value average, I expect the rooms at the back of the place would be quieter which may of made a big difference.|Best point; Staff were genuinely lovely. |Venue I think could be very good indeed with some...