The Lake View Bowness — Restaurant in Great Britain

Booked for New Years Day lunch (6 month in advance). Turned up to an almost empty dining room (dirty carpet, lots of tables with used plates and glasses, but oddly a massive queue at the bar). Our table was OK, with a lake view, but only through filthy windows covered in bird poo and dirt. Whilst deciding what to order from the menu, I thought I'd order some drinks from the wiater...except there are no waiters. I then had to ask to borrow some paper and a pen and act as our own waiter to take drinks orders (there were 11 of us) and then begin the 25 minute queue at the bar (almost all the draft beers were unavailable) followed by multiple trips there and back carrying glasses.

By the time that task was complete, I then had to put my waiters hat back on and take food orders for the table, before rejoining the back of the now 35 minute queue to order food, back at the bar. There was only one person taking orders and serving drinks.

Once the food was successfully ordered (with a warning of 45-60 minute wait times) it was time to, you guessed it, take some more drinks orders, as it had now been over an hour since we arrived and we'd only had one drink and just managed to place a food order. So, back up to the bar for a 25 minute queue this time, plus buy some crisps for the children as they were beyond hungry by now.

Food eventually arrived, all fine, nothing particularly wrong, definitely nothing amazing, and then we left. We would have ordered some more drinks but couldn't face the prospect of lining up again to order. It was all a big disappointment and very frustrating

In conclusion, it seemed like a bar run for the convenience of the (very limited) staff. The queues were appalling (lots of very annoyed customers and an annoyed looking bar staff) and the decor was very tired and quite unclean. Food is exactly as you can imagine.

I appreciate it was New Year's Day, but that's not an excuse - if you don't have enough staff then you probably shouldn't be open.

I'd probably advise to try...

Avoid the prawns and manager if possible

The Lake View Bowness is a fine establishment, great views, great locations etc. Unfortunately, my partner and I got food poisoning after eating the Fish Platter. In particular, we think there might have been an issue with the prawns.

I wouldn’t give a restaurant a one-star review on that basis, it can happen anywhere and for many reasons. However, the customer service we received after we attempted to inform them about what happened to us is what gives them this rating.

After initially speaking to the polite table booking staff, we received a prompt call back from the manager (this is where it goes downhill). Our expectation for this call was to inform the restaurant of this issue so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. We had no thoughts of, or made implications of receiving any compensation for our illness.

When the call started, the manager spent the majority of her time explaining to us what food poisoning was, and giving us reasons on why we didn’t have it. She told us that food poisoning needs to have a medical diagnosis through a blood test which would need to be done at the GP. Not sure where she got her medical degree. However, being told what stuff coming out of either ends of our digestive system means is not what I would expect from the manager of a restaurant.

She then made the claim that a stomach bug has been round in the village which many people have been getting. Made no attempt to explain how we got this stomach bug in the small time we were there. If they have member of the staff working a preparing/delivering the food with this illness, that’s disconcerting.

This is not what I would expect from a visit to this restaurant.

Do not recommend, avoid the prawns and...

Went in for a carvery as it was a place I used to visit regularly for one. It was OK. You choose a table first, then place your order at the bar. I ordered 2 adult 2-course carvery dinners, a pint, and a large chardonnay. £55 for the lot, which I thought was reasonable. I went around to the carvery section, meats were Turkey, Gammon and Beef ....... I asked for a little of everything and was promptly told that I was only allowed 2 slices, opted for the Turkey and Gammon as the beef looked terribly dry and overcooked. Unlike other carvery lunches, I've had this place doesn't let you serve yourself with the vegetables so you go along like a school dinner saying what you would like on your plate. I was infuriated to be told there was no roast potatoes only mash. Th smash looked like it had been sat there for hours and wasn't in the least bit appealing. So I passed on the mash. The sweet we went for was cracked salted caramel cheesecake and warm chocolate brownie with ice cream. The cheesecake was pretty tasteless to be fair and the consistency of the cheesecake was way too soft. The brownie was bitter and had been warmed in a microwave. The ice cream was vanilla. To be fair considering we only paid £40 for the food it was OK. Would I recommend it, well if you want bog standard carvery fayre and aren't too fussed about the quality of the food then go for it ...... but for £55 there is much better food on offer in the locality. The staff were pleasant and polite, but that didn't...