Merienda — Restaurant in Great Britain

This was an extremely underwhelming, disappointing and overpriced experience.

We were visiting Keswick and saw the menu of this place on the first day and thought it was interesting and wanted to give it a try. It was fully booked that day, but we managed to go a couple of days later. Based on the reviews and popularity we assumed it would be good, but it was not worth it at all.

We had booked a table for 9pm and only arrived at the restaurant at 9:09pm. When we arrived I told the waitress we booked it for 9pm and she looked at the clock as though if we were even slightly over the 10-minute grace period she wouldn’t have let us in.

We were 4 people. For starters, we ordered the tempura and sirarcha chicken wings. The wings were good, but it tasted like normal barbecue wings, it didn’t taste like sirarcha nor was it spicy. The tempura was literally just deep fried pieces of spinach and peppers.

For mains, three of us had ordered the specials, which was a pan fried teriyaki salmon with linguine and stir fried vegetables and prawns, and the other had the jerk chicken. The chicken dish was decent, it came with coleslaw and truffle wedges.

The salmon dish was sub par. Although the salmon portion was good, the linguine genuinely was tasteless. We had to put loads of salt, pepper and soy sauce just to make it edible. And when we told the same waitress about it, she told us to add salt. She was impolite and not very customer friendly.

We told another waiter about the food as he asked how it was. After our complaint, no one spoke to us again regarding our feedback. They did not care at all whether we enjoyed it or not.

We asked for the bill and it came back without any service charge included. We don’t know if they just took it off or whether they generally don’t have a charge, no one bothered to say a thing to us. But for a £22 specials dish, which is essentially priced the same as in London, you would expect better food...

Always visit whenever I'm in Keswick. The best coffee in town (can make a proper flat white), using Monmouth-roasted beans. Superb food for brunch and breakfast which is worthy of a five-star rating. Fresh, healthy ingredients, strong flavours, interesting combinations. Definitely a step up from the usual cafe fare. On my last visit I had the scrambled duck eggs with smoked salmon and avocado which was ace.

Very dog friendly, like many places in Keswick. Which is great for those who insist on taking their dogs wherever they go, but perhaps a little off-putting for customers who want to eat nice food without the smell of damp hound in the air!

I also visited for the evening meal, an experience which didn't quite live up to the high expectations I had formed from my other visits. Food was fine (I had pulled pork tacos, fellow diners had fresh baked trout and the meatballs) but not outstanding and not on a par with the daytime offering. Portions were on the small side given the prices. For me, something about it didn't quite work as an evening restaurant. Tables a bit small, white walls and hard surfaces made it a little too stark (although the plentiful candles are a nice touch), and only one (I think) chef in the small kitchen meant there was a bit of a wait. Did really enjoy the Hawkshead beer though!

However, while evening dining is still a work in progress I'm sure they will crack it because they're clearly a talented and ambitious bunch.

Regardless of what time you go, there is no other establishment in the town trying to serve clean, modern and interesting...

Our last night in Keswick and our second meal at Merienda. A really lovely little gem of a restaurant with friendly and helpful staff and great food. A pity our evening was almost ruined by an outrageously obnoxious female in a party of three who clearly had had too much to drink before arriving and was so rude and abhorrent to the poor waitress in arrival (when we were seated upstairs) that we asked to be moved downstairs. I’ve never seen such a challenging diner! And I’m being polite. My teenage kids were cringing! Thankfully our request was accommodated and our night was salvaged when we were quickly seated downstairs. Poor waitress. She remained cool throughout. I doubt I could have remained as calm as she did given the abuse she sustained. To add insult, the inebriated and ghastly guest complained when leaving. she should have been barred on the spot. The waitress was a saint throughout, even when another guest (who didn’t know the back story) chastised her for allegedly being indiscreet when discussing the guest with another waitress. Food was delicious and reasonably priced too. We can recommend the steak, halloumi, pulled pork burger and Churros. Definitely recommend and I look forward to visiting again next time I stop by Keswick. Well...