William & Victoria — Restaurant in England

My girlfriend & I went for Sunday lunch today. Her smoked salmon starter was really good. Would have been nice with a little toast/bread rather just leafed salmon on a plate, but regardless, it was a nice starter.

I had the 'tempura' king prawns, and although the prawns were quality, the batter was extremely heavy and felt more like something you'd get at a mediocre Chinese take-away. I was left feeling a little full up already with my fingers dripping in grease. Not cool...& most certainly not 'tempura'...

Our mains, however, were largely excellent. My partner has a pretty scrumptious lamb Henry and I had the roast beef which was perfectly decent. Roasties had that 'we've been under a hot-plate awhile' kind of taste, but it was obvious they had been really good when they were first cooked. Yorkshire pud was nice and big, perfectly cooked and was probably the highlight of the meal. Take from that what you will.

The lowlight of the meal, regrettably, was the waitress, who was clearly not happy about working on a Sunday. Her somewhat severe manner was quite overwhelming on the few ocassions we actually managed to catch her attention. The mains were dropped off to us without a word and, moments later, when my partner strategically asked another member of staff for some mint sauce, our chirpy new friend was the one to actually end up bringing it to us. Unsurprisingly, it was plonked down on our table without a word...

Real shame because we've been here a few times before and the staff are uniformly excellent. Really courteous, not overbearing, and they're almost all entirely convincing in their friendly demeanours.

So, dining at William & Vics is, once again, a somewhat frustrating experience. It's so, so close to being a really first class place to eat, but each time we've been their have been minor niggles...

Recommended, but this place isn't quite the finished article...

...& you really could smash a window through with that 'tempura'...seriously, someone needs to ask the chef to...

It is in a nice area of Harrogate with limited street parking so you'll have to park nearby in the residential areas. Inside, our party of 12 was seated downstairs for dinner and we were elbow-to-elbow as the table was really made for 8. The aging wooden seats were unpadded so your tail will start to hurt before dinner arrives and you'll struggle to stay comfortable afterwards. The ambience was pleasant but the noise levels were very high and the air was stuff (it would be nice to open the entrance door at least to allow fresh air to flow in.

Food quality was good but not at a level where this place will stand out amongst the many restaurants in Harrogate. The Beef Rib on Bone was a nice piece of meat but the brown gravy was very simple and the mashed potatoes good but not enough. The Lamb Casserole was good as well however the lack of veggies really made this plate average and not terribly filling. The desserts were ordered and everyone seemed satisfied although the double espresso wouldn't stand up to what you can buy in a Costa or Cafe Nero.

Overall, the place just adds its name to the list of places to eat in Harrogate but doesn't stand out. Some of my party really liked it, some just found it to be generally okay/good. The seating really needs improvement and may have prevented us from leaving early to catch a movie when we could have stayed and chatted over a bottle or two of wine and perhaps more people would have ordered desserts.

The waiter we had (Spanish, maybe?) was a phenom and truly a master at customer service. He receives 5 stars for...

Came here with one other person on a Monday night around 8pm. We asked for a table for two, not having booked a table, and after a few looks between a waitress and the bar staff, one of them cheerily said "why not?" and sat us at a lovely little table in a corner.

The lighting gives the place a lovely atmosphere and the way the tables are placed makes this restaurant very cosy.

We were told they didn't have a drinks list but "have pretty much everything" so we ordered a pint of Kronenbourg 1664 and a double rum and coke. We were given some bread with salted butter while we looked at the menu.

For starters we had a deep fried brie and a prawn and avocado cocktail, both of which were amazing. For our main we had the slow braised pork cheeks and the venison Wellington. The pork was incredible tender and, really, I didn't need my knife, which is exactly as it should be. The venison properly melted in your mouth and was just out of this world.

We were both stuffed by the time we'd finished our mains so had to skip the dessert and coffee, and the total bill came to just over £60.

I am very impressed by the cheery and friendly staff, and the food was absolutely incredible. Can't believe I'd never heard of this place before, but I'll definitely be coming back if I...