Blok Fine Dining Restaurant — Restaurant in Wales

I was excited to dine at Blok at LanelayHall, but unfortunately, the experience was incredibly underwhelming. From the food to the service, there were several issues that left me disappointed.

To start, we ordered calamari, which was greasy and heavy instead of being light and crispy. It tasted like it had been sitting in oil for too long. Alongside this, we were served a small dish of olives that were inexplicably warm. Warm olives might work in some dishes, but on their own, it was an odd and unpleasant experience.

For my main course, I opted for the sirloin steak with béarnaise sauce, while my companion tried the gnocchi. Unfortunately, neither dish was enjoyable. My béarnaise sauce was served cold, which seemed strange, and when I raised this with the staff, I was told, “That’s how it’s meant to be.” I’ve had béarnaise sauce at other restaurants, and it’s never been served cold—it felt like a lazy excuse.

The steak itself was lukewarm and lacked the vibrant presentation I’ve come to expect from a properly cooked steak. When I asked the waitress to feel the temperature, she agreed it wasn’t right and sent it back. However, the chef insisted it was supposed to be served that way. It’s baffling to me, as steaks at other restaurants are consistently served hot, with a gorgeous pink center when cut. This one was neither hot nor visually appetizing.

As for the gnocchi, it was plated to resemble scallops, which seemed like an unnecessary gimmick. The taste was just as strange—it left an odd aftertaste that lingered unpleasantly. It felt like the kitchen was trying too hard to be creative at the expense of flavor and execution.

Adding to the disappointment, the atmosphere didn’t help matters. There was a DJ playing in the corner, and while I don’t mind music in a restaurant, it was simply too loud. We found ourselves having to raise our voices to hear each other, which was frustrating and took away from what should have been a relaxing evening.

What really sealed the negative experience was the lack of care or professionalism from the staff. There were no apologies for the cold sauce, the lukewarm steak, or the odd gnocchi—just bad excuses. The attitude made it clear they weren’t interested in addressing customer concerns or providing a better dining experience.

The only saving grace was the wine, which was excellent, but it’s not enough to salvage the overall experience.

I wouldn’t recommend Blok at Lanelay Hall. For the price and reputation, I expected far better food, service, and atmosphere. Unless there are serious improvements, I won’t...

Very poor service and atmosphere let down the high quality of the food.

Let's start with the positives. The scallops, pork belly and focaccia were absolutely delicious! All beautifully cooked, and for the prices very reasonable (despite the small servicing sizes). Regarding the steak (which is rated the 55th best in the world), we had a Porterhouse and it was good, you can taste the quality of the beef and the presentation was beautiful! But we felt like we had gotten better elsewhere for a lot cheaper (in Swansea and Carmarthen) and they left a lot of meat on the bone. Ultimately, for what we prefer, we felt as if it wasn't worth going out of the way for (having travelled a total of 2 and half hours to and from). The deserts were delicious but the menu was confusing and it was not clear what you would actually get, with one option saying just - Strawberry, Lime, Melon.

But the reason why I wouldn't recommend you going is because of the strange atmosphere and appalling service. With a DJ on the decks playing night club music loudly it was difficult for us to relax the moment we got into our seats. At some points the music was pumping and it made me feel a bit nauseous. The service however, was on another level of disappointment. Professional to the point of feeling impersonal. We felt as if our server couldn't care about us and honestly the reception from them felt cold and distant. To the extent that their need to uphold their robotic professionalism made us feel like they looked down upon us... It was odd and truly strange and made us feel uncomfortable. To the extent that it did ruin our experience of the food.

We left having spent over £100 a head, maybe if we spent half or third as much we wouldn't have cared as much for the atmosphere and service. But frankly for the price that you pay (enough to go for a decent weekend away in Rome), you would expect...

Unfortunately….it was a disappointing experience overall which is a shame considering that it’s not exactly cheap!

We were running literally a few minutes late and were called by a rather ‘sharp’ gentleman asking if we were on our way. We advised that we were and we arrived 5 minutes late - all sorted and fine.

We decided to share a starter and made it clear to the waitress that we were doing so. However, when the starter arrived it was just assumed that it was for me and plonked in front of me as opposed to in the centre of the table between my partner and I.

The main failure was that my partner had called a few days in advance to inform them that it was my birthday and they confirmed that they would “arrange a little something”…….however, this failed to materialise as it sounds like the person tasked with noting this down had failed to do so! When my partner mentioned this to the manager, after we had paid the bill, the reaction was very much one of “oh well…..too late now but we are pretending to be sorry”.

On the whole….a real disappointment and very expensive for what it was and there are many better restaurants in and around Cardiff such as Pasture,...