The Romney at Mote House — Restaurant in Maidstone

I booked for lunch for four at 12.45 on Thursday 10th June using the online booking system. Confirmed. Then I realise I’d made a mistake and e-mailed asking for it to be reduced to three people. Heather confirmed. Because of poor signage and imprecise satnav, we arrived just before 1pm. My brother went into reception to ask if we could park in the forecourt of the restaurant as our guest is unable to walk very far at all. They said that without a disabled badge I couldn’t park there and would have to drop her there and return to the car park. I did so and paid £2.40 for the minimum 6-hour period. None of this was evident on the website nor mentioned in the booking confirmations. When I arrived back at the restaurant, we were the only people in the room. My Aunt and brother told me that our table had been laid for tea! It had to be cleared and re-set for lunch. My brother had asked semi-seriously whether lunch was being served and was reassured that it was. Our waitress was friendly, and we learned later originated from Myanmar/Burma. We ordered drinks and then our food at 1.30pm. At the same time, I also requested some bread and butter. Our original waitress moved to the only other group in the room to be replaced by a rather grumpy Brit. Our food took 35 minutes to arrive: two cold starters, a chicken schnitzel, and a prawn linguine. The schnitzel had been advertised as coming with ‘bistro fries’ but in fact they were ‘triple cooked chips’. I didn’t complain as we were trying to have a celebratory lunch as my brother hadn’t seen our Aunt for five years. A meal of fifteen minutes cooking. Plus two bread rolls and butter half an hour late. No apology was made. Fearing another long wait we asked how long it would take to poach the peaches on the menu. We were told about five minutes, so they were ordered. But when they arrived, they were cold! It wouldn’t surprise me if there had been no chef on duty due to the error made by the reception team recording the booking as ‘afternoon tea’. And that the kitchen had to be fired up from scratch by a beleaguered cook brought in from their break. The irony of all this is that a management person had greeted my brother and Aunt bemoaning the fate of the hospitality industry. Mote management should focus on the opportunity at hand to delight customers and ensure a repeat booking. When the bill came it amounted to £64.73 and perhaps a glimmer of cognition had occurred because our Brit waitress didn’t mention service which wasn’t included. After payment had been taken on my credit card, I gave her a £10 note and asked her to share it with the Myanmar waitress as at least she’s been friendly. I do hope she...

We enjoyed our afternoon tea and do not recognise some of the negative previous posts. The sandwiches and cakes were plentiful; we were asked if we wanted more tea. We described the sandwich fillings as ‘classic’ and for us this is a really good thing! Very happy not to be offered coronation chicken or anything similar. It was a shame the cakes weren’t introduced’ but added an element of fun in identifying flavours. We wanted Earl Grey tea which wasn’t available, but were able to select another alternative. The restaurant staff were polite and apologetic over the lack of tea availability, but I do hope the waitress with the cough had been tested 😉 We were the only eaters at our chosen time so felt very health secure and recognised the location demands an element being very careful in their Covid precautions. There wasn’t anyone on reception and our Covid passes weren’t checked, which seems a little pointless but made nobody being in the restaurant a safer feeling. As for parking on site when it’s dark, the signage leaves much to be desired and maybe would be good to point out at time of booking where it can be found. The cost was reasonable given for an afternoon tea for the type of venue. It is not the Ritz, Fortnum and Mason or Eastwell Manor and felt about right in quality of food and experience to cost. We have had much worse experiences for much more money and would go again…..but in the hours of daylight...

Wouldn't recommend. Afternoon tea was very uninspiring not good value sandwich bread dry cakes minimal. Staff didn't seem welcoming. I had to drop my disabled friend and pay and park the car some distance couple of residents moaned loudly about people parking in residents space clearly thought was us..it wasn't. After tea then had to collect car alone in the dark from unlit car park felt very vulnerable. Great improvements in all areas are needed to encourage outsiders to use restaurant. Wrote to manager to complain and didn't get a reply so sums up their attitude...