The Smoke Room — Restaurant in England

Our first visit here and we will be back! The mains were soooo good! Lost one star due to a couple of minor things and the brownie, but the main meals definitely earned the other stars.

There’s a multi story car park near by, which we were very grateful for as it was chucking it down. They have limited parking on weekends though, so parking could be difficult at busy times. Just a short walk and we were there, very wet and very hungry. We were promptly seated, right by the toilet door. I asked to be moved to one of the many empty tables but was told no. Just as I was considering leaving, another staff member very kindly moved us to a more central table. I’m so grateful they did, as we would have missed out on the amazing food otherwise.

The restaurant looks great! It’s quite a rustic vibe, with lots a quirky decor.

The waiting staff were very attentive, and brought drinks quickly. It was hard to choose what to order as everything sounded incredible. Once we did order though, we couldn’t believe how fast the food came. It was well under 10 minutes and the food arrived piping hot.

We both had smashed burgers, mine with beef brisket and my son’s with pulled pork. We also ordered the loaded fried with beef brisket and mac cheese because they sounded so good and we just had to try them. Honestly, we couldn’t get over how nice it all was, it was to die for! The portions were large, so we couldn’t finish everything, but we tried our best. I cannot express how good the main meals were! We cannot wait to go back to try more.

Although we were full, we were also keen to see how good the desserts were. We had high expectations after the mains. My son ordered ice cream and I had brownie with banoffee ice cream. The ice cream was lovely! Unfortunately the brownie was a bit dry though. It tasted like it was maybe a few days old and had been warmed in the microwave. I prefer my brownie fudgy so it was disappointing. It definitely needed some more chocolate sauce too. We weren’t too bothered though as they were reasonably priced desserts and it didn’t spoil our meal at all.

One other slight issue at the end was that no bill or receipt was offered. I asked for the bill and the waitress just told me the amount owed. I think most people like to see a breakdown of their bill and that’s pretty standard in restaurants. Lots of places have started automatically charging a serving charge now, so I’d have liked to have known if one was added. I did give a reasonable tip (about little over £4) but I would have given more if I’d known if a service charge had already been added. It just felt very awkward, I didn’t want to not tip in case a charge wasn’t added, but didn’t want to tip a lot in case it had.

I hope the negatives will be taken as constructive criticism and not criticism of the staff.

The bill came to a little over £65 for 4 soft drinks, 2 mains, 1 side and 2 desserts, which I think was very reasonable.

We’ll be back soon. We really want to work our way...

I wanted to share some feedback following a recent visit to your restaurant with my dad. While we both really enjoyed the food and found the bartender to be lovely and welcoming, unfortunately, something we witnessed during our visit left us feeling deeply uncomfortable.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a tall man with a bald head and beard who said, “Can I help you?” in a rather stand-offish manner. We didn’t think much of it at the time and took our seats.

Not long after, a kind Asian father and son entered and sat near us. They had broken English, but it was clear they were trying their best to communicate. When the elderly gentleman politely asked to order a drink, the same staff member who had served us responded sharply with, “Yeah mate, I’m just doing my job, you know.” His tone came off unnecessarily dismissive, as though the man had been a burden, which was uncomfortable to witness.

As the pair continued trying to place their order, and read the menu best they could, the waiter repeated items back to them in a noticeably condescending tone. When the customer said they would order mains later, the waiter replied, “Alright mate, you’re doing this in a really awkward way. Usually people order drinks and then we come back for the rest.” His attitude was clearly agitated, and entirely uncalled for.

As an Indian family ourselves, my dad and I couldn’t help but notice the stark difference in how he interacted with us compared to how he treated them. It was hard to ignore the micro-aggressions at play, it genuinely felt like they were being treated unfairly due to their accent and limited English.

What’s most upsetting is that they were simply trying to enjoy a meal like anyone else, and watching them be treated this way was disheartening. My dad, who is typically very calm and non-confrontational, even felt the urge to say something, that’s how wrong it felt. Having experienced microaggressions ourselves, we found the situation incredibly upsetting and disappointing.

While the food was excellent, and other staff were lovely, this incident really soured the experience. We hope you’ll take this feedback seriously, as no customer, regardless of background or language, deserves to be treated that way. Everyone deserves kindness and respect, especially in a hospitality setting.

I’ve edited this review to reflect the fact a few people have come forward and told me the same man was incredibly rude to them and was even shouting in another customers face and pointing his fingers. It’s completely unacceptable!

Kind...

Me and my partner went on the 18th of August, lured in by the promise of smoky goodness. The place wasn’t too busy, which should’ve been a red flag – but we optimistically thought “ooh, no wait for a table.” Oh, how naive we were.

In hindsight, it was more of a warning sign — like a horror film where the couple say, “Looks quiet in here…” before the chaos begins.

Starters We bravely started with deep-fried pickles and pork burnt ends. The pickles arrived looking like they’d been cremated. The oil they were cooked in must have been older than me — and I’m not exactly fresh out the fryer myself. The batter was dark, crispy, and tasted of… absolutely nothing. Honestly, if cardboard ever opened a restaurant, this is what it would serve.

My partner’s “burnt ends” turned up as random cubes of belly pork floating in what can only be described as mysterous buttery swamp with bonus mystery grit. I don’t know if the chef accidentally tipped the pan scrapings in or if grit is a new trendy garnish or texture — but either way, it was a bold choice.

Mains

My partner’s belly pork burger sounded great on paper but tasted like someone had dropped a standard burger into a chemistry set. No smokey flavour, no excitement, just regret between two buns and a very odd after taste. Calling this a smokehouse is like calling a toaster a Michelin-star kitchen.

I ordered the brisket, which came with “pickle slaw” and fries. What arrived looked like six sorry strips of meat clinging to life, calling out for any type of mostire they could absorb next to some depressed pickles and onion slithers that clearly didn’t want to be there. The chef tried to distract us with a sprinkle of chives — like putting glitter on a bin bag. It didn’t work. The brisket was so dry I was halfway through planning my will, I almost rang my dentist for an emergency appointment. If it wasn’t for the gravy (the absolute liquid saviour of the meal), I’d have probably choked and become a cautionary tale for future diners.

Overall Reading other reviews, maybe we caught them on an off day… or maybe some people just have lower brisket standards than me 😜 On the bright side, the staff were lovely, genuinely couldn’t fault the two young girls serving us. The restaurant and toilets were clean too which is lucky, because after that brisket, the toilets may be the best part of the whole experience because sadly, the food left a bad taste that only a mint and a strong will to...