Valley Farm - Farmhouse Inns — Restaurant in Gateshead

Booked Christmas lunch here in October paid in full for 5 people, they asked for our Christmas menu's to be in by a certain date which ours were. We were booked in for 2pm, arrived at 1.45 to be told to stand to one side until our table was ready which was fair enough, 2.30 we were still waiting for our table and asked 4 different waitresses about our table to be told they would find but not one came back to us. Eventually, we were assigned a table that had been a mess for all the time stood there. One of the waitresses snapped at another in front of us stating she was getting the table ready. At 3.00 we eventually got our table, we were told a certain waiter would be serving us, we only seen him once when the wrong starters were served. We also pre ordered drinks, we had to ask 4 different people for those. Then the main course we were told to go and stand in the carvery queue to get our lunch (this was not mentioned when booking - see picture below of them mentioning food arrival) we had to stand in a long queue on Christmas day (when talking to other people outside who were also livid this was not mentioned to them either when booking). The food was nothing special it was cold and the meats were not edible. A waitress (the only that did bother) asked if we wanted dessert, then got a note pad out to take our order (what was the point in pre booking starters, main and desserts in advance if you are going to ask what we would like). We were never offered tea, coffee or mince pie that was included in the menu. The whole experience was a total shambles and totally spoilt our Christmas day. Even being served at the bar we had to wait 20 minutes even though there were only 2 or 3 people at the bar. The staff seemed totally uninterested in seeing to customers, only at the end when they wanted to get home. I intend to take this further with higher management, what a disgrace the whole day was. I would not recommend Valley Farm for...

Unfortunately, the Valley's menu and value for money have gone downhill. Some of the tastiest dishes have disappeared from the menu - for example, the previous delicious chicken tikka has now been replaced with a different tikka, which is far too spicey and watery. The chicken is also dried out and not tasty. The previous, tasty chicken skewers that used to be on the menu, which came with nan bread, and rice have also gone, as has the tex mex chicken burgers (replaced with a chicken, cheese, and pasta sauce burger - erm....no thank you). The carvery meat is nice and tender - albeit teeny tiny portions (and we don't eat huge portions!). The cooked veg all tastes exactly the same and is overcooked. (The veg on offer consists of squishy cauliflower, squishy oily soft green beans, squishy tasteless brocolli, dried hard roast potatoes, dried out tough and inedible parsnips and deflated cold Yorkshire puddings. All reminiscent of school dinners in the 1970s.) Chips are now pale, soft, and undercooked instead of golden and crispy. The prices used to be affordable - making it a good place for regular weekend visits. As it stands, the prices have all gone up now. You really don't get value for money. It is very overpriced! We used to be regulars at the Valley, but not any more. We decided tonight would be our final visit after feeling so disappointed over the last few visits. Unfortunately, we just can't recommend this restaurant more. Shame, as the staff work hard and...

We booked here for 12 people on mother's day but it was also my daughter's 2nd birthday, we booked it because we love a carvery and it has the play area. I asked if we could bring my daughter's cake in as I know the establishment serves cake and we wanted to be as respectful as possible and right away they said yes and explained that they would put it in the kitchen for when we're ready to have it. Food was absolutely lush as usual and the staff were so friendly and helpful, they brought my daughters cake out, put the candles in and even sang her happy birthday which melted my heart, they then gave me a knife to cut up the cake along with plates and spoons so we could consume it, they then gave us take out boxes as I had brought my own tinfoil so my family could take cake home with them! I honestly can't thank the staff enough, they were so accommodating and amazing with us all and I want to personally thank Diane who was at the door and was so helpful and also want to thank Mayensi, Toni and Terri for their help with the cake and being so wonderful and thank you to the other staff for helping us with our split payments and requests. I will of course be back as we love it so much and it's such a warm and friendly place to be, so thank you so much to the staff for making my daughters birthday wonderful!! They all deserve the highest praise I can give them, thank you again to the team at...