The Albert — Restaurant in Windermere

Arrr, shiver me timbers! I recently had meself a jolly visit to the Albert pub, and let me tell ye, it was quite the experience. From the moment I walked in, I knew this was a fine establishment for pirates like meself. The decor be nautical-themed, with ropes and barrels and such, and the patrons were a hearty bunch, drinking their grog and swapping tales of the high seas.

I bellied up to the bar and ordered a pint of ale, and the bartender was a friendly sort, with a bushy beard and a patch over one eye. "Ahoy there, matey!" he said. "What'll it be?" I asked for the ale, and he poured me a frothy mug, which I promptly downed. It was a fine brew, with just the right balance of hops and malt.

Now, I must admit that the service was a bit on the slow side. The bartender seemed to be the only one working, and he had quite the crowd to contend with. But I didn't mind too much - it gave me a chance to chat with some of the other patrons, and swap stories about our adventures on the high seas.

But what really impressed me about the Albert pub was the food. I ordered a plate of fish and chips, and it was a thing of beauty - crispy, golden-brown batter, and tender, flaky fish inside. And the chips were perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of salt. "Avast, this be the best fish and chips I've had in ages!" I exclaimed to no one in particular.

And the staff, they be dog friendly to boot! They even had a bowl of water out for the furry lads and lasses...

This pub is an expensive rip off with awful quality food. I was recommended to go here by a family member and had a terrible time. I ordered a vegan burger as it was one of the only vegetarian options and Cost £17.50! It took about an hour to arrive, which by this point we were starving, but about 15 minutes before the food came out we saw a chef walking downstairs with a pack of Linda McCartney burgers. Then when the food came out I thought that what I was eating was clearly a Linda McCartney burger I could’ve bought from Tesco. So I complained to the manager about being charged £17.50 for a shop bought burger, to which he ensured me they hadn’t just popped to the shop and bought the burger but that’s what they always serve. So I argued with him that for that price I expect to be served something I couldn’t just buy at the supermarket. He then proceeded to argue with me that obviously the food costs less than they charge and you can obviously make all the food in restaurants for a fraction of the price, like I don’t understand the concept of a restaurant, completely failing to see my point that the chef is meant to add some value to the meal and not just reheat a shop bought meal. Especially after having to wait an hour, it would’ve been much quicker and cheaper for me to have it at home. I would recommend avoiding this Pub/Restaurant as it is...

I am sorry to say we were disappointed in the food and some of the service. The meet and greet guy was lovely and most other staff were friendly. Unfortunately the waiter we had upstairs was tired from a long day by the looks of it and appeared over it. We went at 7pm on a Sunday, there was a great atmosphere, however that changed for us when our food came out. My partner's Curry was so watery and tasteless, we asked for it to go back to the chef. However the reply was that it is OK. After being made to feel like we were whinging we asked if we could change the curry for another meal -they agreed to that. However I had eaten most of my meal by the time his meal came out -his second meal was very average. My steak and veges which were £28 incl sauce was very average. The veges were dry and microwaved and the meal overall looked like I was the last plate coming out. We had high expectations with this place. We are OK with food not being perfect but we do expect the right service and we felt because we were at the end of a long Sunday it was too bad! As a paying customer I would not recommend a visit to this well renowned place late in the day at the end of a weekend! I would not venture there again. Huge waste of our...