The Rooftop Restaurant at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre — Restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon

We were really looking forward to our visit, but unfortunately, it was a very disappointing experience from start to finish.

From the moment we arrived, things felt off. We took the lift to the restaurant, and on the way up, it stopped on the second floor, where two staff members got in, one carrying two large rubbish bags. They were heading to the third floor, the same as us. When the doors opened, they didn’t even let us step out first. While we’re not expecting royal treatment, common courtesy in hospitality should come as standard. If you’re carrying two massive rubbish bags, it would make sense to use the stairs or a service entrance rather than the main guest lift. I even stepped aside to let them through, and neither of them acknowledged it with a simple “thank you.”

When we finally arrived at the restaurant, we stood at the entrance for a good 5–10 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. The bartender, who was standing right there, could have at least greeted us or reassured us that someone would be with us shortly, rather than leaving us feeling awkward and ignored. Eventually, a staff member came over. It was a sunny day, so we asked if we could sit outside for our meal. He told us he would check with the manager and let us know, but instead of doing that, he simply picked up the menus and seated us inside without ever asking. Had he actually checked and been told no, we wouldn’t have minded, but to say he would ask and then not even bother was frustrating.

We ordered from the set menu (the only menu that was at the table), choosing a starter and a main, along with two sets of nibbles. The halloumi was lovely, but the bread and butter were very disappointing. The bread was stale, and the butter was so cold that it was impossible to spread without the bread crumbling into pieces. The starter, Cajun shrimp potte, was completely lacking in flavour and I had to add salt and pepper just to make it taste of something. For the main, we had pork belly, which also needed seasoning, and the peas were either undercooked or overcooked because they were so tough to eat.

Overall, the food was not worth the money. However, I have to mention that once we were seated, we were looked after by a lovely man and a woman, who were the highlight of the experience. The woman, in particular, went out of her way to make sure we had a nice time, and when we mentioned the issues with the food, she did her best to accommodate us. It’s a shame I didn’t get their names because they were the only redeeming part of the visit.

Sadly, this visit left us feeling gutted, and we won’t...

Big big disappointment yesterday for our meal just before the brilliant play of Timon of Athens. My partner offered me a meal at the rooftop restaurant mentioning our vegan diet. When we arrived we were confirmed by the waiter at the till that we booked 2 vegan dietary requirement. We were given the vegetarian/vegan menu. Our starter arrived and there has been no mention of any vegan cheese on the menu. The starter arrived and I noticed the very looking like feta cheese. The waiter said he would confirm with the chef but they use a vegan alternative so it was suitable. He came back and confirmed. We were not in the mood of challenging and decided to start eating the starter. This was ridiculous as I noticed straight away the feta cheese. I made a comment to the waiter mentioning I used to work in a restaurant and know this is cheese. He said oh what would you like us to do? And I said I just want you to be honest! He finally admitted this was cheese and they were sorry. Then came the main and he said it was definitely vegan. But once again I am pretty sure the veg were cooked in butter... now I have no proof of this but at this point the trust was already in a bad position. Then he came back and said he would offer us tea/coffee for the mistake. So I thought well let's give them a chance although at this point we were already really disappointed. We decided to have dessert and when the dessert came it was clear to me that this was not homemade dessert. And most sorbets distributed by suppliers contain milk protein... again not vegan. I mentioned all of this and said as well that the milk served with our coffees did smell of normal milk although he did assure this was soya. I explained this was really disappointing and really not responsible when I am allergic to milk and this causes me really bad stomach cramps. They removed starters and coffees from our bill and the waiter said he would be careful next time. But I honestly felt that was not a big deal to him and he did not realise that he could have potentially killed someone. Because not only did he bring cheese but he also confirmed that it was not! My advice is: I think this place needs a LOT of allergies/dietary requirements training and communication before the service! The place wants to look posh but the standards they have, are,...

A fantastic dining experience and a very considered menu. We had a table of 20 booked originally, but after multiple changes on our part leading up to the day, we ended with a table of 13. Oliver, Marta & Laura at the RSC were all very accommodating with our changes and kept an open line of communication through emails up to and including the day of our booking.

We were seated in a private room atop the Fountain Staircase with a view of the river and Stratford-upon-Avon’s resplendent Bancroft Gardens. The table-layout was a little strange as it was reminiscent of Sir Ken Adam’s set for the War Room in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' a giant round table traversing the lines of the oval room and with large, comfortable chairs. This made it feel a little less intimate than we would have liked as you could have just as easily had a long banquet table in that space which would have made the setting truly perfect.

The order for drinks was taken and the delivery of the pre-ordered starters was prompt and greatly received as everyone had a keen hunger on! We sat, we ate, we drank, we joked, we finished our meal in high spirits and we left feeling satisfied with the experience and the warm glow in our bellies. If there was any one thing to pick on I would say that the garlic content in the mash on our feather blade of beef was a little too high… and that is coming from a seasoned garlic enthusiast too!

With starters, mains, sides, pudding and drinks all accounted for between thirteen of us, the average cost was probably about £40 per head, but then some people ordered bottles of wine and bubbles here and there so that figure would probably be a lot less if you were just eating from the set courses available, averaging out around the £20-£25 mark.

All in all it was a wonderful place to spend the afternoon, the food was great and the staff were all very friendly and...