The Glass House Cafe - South Lakeland

We had tea from different regions, apple crumble, and two types of tea. It was absolutely delicious and fantastic.

This is only for the restaurant, we did not stay at this hotel. First the positives... We pre ordered of us) and the waiter went through our orders again, just to make sure. Subsequently our orders arrived very quickly, great! On the whole a...nice surrounding as hurricane Callum was still in full force. Negatives... I don't like artificial sweeteners (the taste more than anything, never mind the dubious safety of the their use) and I don't drink alcohol, so my drink with my meal is limited at the best of times. To be faced with no option at all other than tap water, is ludicrous for such a busy and large hotel. They used the excuse of the sugar tax' as the reason, but we all know that Coke etc can still be bought wholesale, either in cans or bottles. Since the introduction of the nanny tax, I have had no problems before as the default choice seems to be either a can or bottle, as draft Coke was one of the first to suffer. Not great, but I can live with it. Not even San Pellegrino has escaped the effects of the Nanny Tax. This hotel had no other options, very poor in my opinion. The second negative aspect was the disproportionate quantities of servings. We had two extremes of a huge fish and chips (think whale and chunks of potato) and salmon dish that wouldn't have looked out of place if it had been served as a starter. This was not fine dining, and the salmon dish was not memorable in the slightest. Overall we felt a little let down and as this is our second year coming to this Hotel, we won't make it a third. Shame!

We arrived to have food in the conservatory to find ourselves waiting AT LEAST minutes before we was even asked for our drinks order. Also to add to this, what does it take just to light the candles on each table, especially if candles...are laid out. A couple of members of staff walked about their job as though they had an urgent appointment elsewhere by darting around like a pinball! So how unapproachable does this make customers feel when wanting to ask for anything. Also what makes this place decide that the ‘survivor (eye of the tiger)’ music fits in with the whole atmosphere of the conservatory in Grasmere??? On a plus side the lounge area is pleasant and some of the bar staff were friendly. Apart from that we had a lovely meal at The Jumble Room which for similar prices and only minutes walk from here is completely outstanding!!!

We ate in the restaurant on a Friday evening and wasn't impressed with the food. Although its not too expensive considering the location and good service, the food just wasn't good. We had the mixed starter which came burnt, I mean the spring rolls were...like bullets. We had the duck main, and lamb main and both came out with the fat completely uncooked. Ive had far better in premier inn restaurants. Drinks were nice, and the service was superb which is a real shame, as the food just let it down. You would be better off having a cosy drink there and eating else where.

We waited mins and we're ignored by at least staff members before been offered a table. No personal details were taken and no special instructions were given about any restrictions. However the real issue was the table. Unlike most places we have visited...lately, the table we were offer had not been cleaned or sanitised, it was filthy, and I mean FILTHY! As were both our chairs. There was menus on the table which looked like they had been used all night. Again these should have been binned after each use as is the current practice in most bars/restaurants. We left immediately and will not be returning.