Brackenrigg Inn, Ullswater

Food was good if a little overpriced.

Accommodation was vastly overpriced and shabby.

Will not be recommending to anyone

Stayed at the Brackenrigg Inn on the 6th and 7th August 2008 on a Dinner, Bed and Breakfast basis. We had booked a superior room for three of us including my 12 year old son. Room was fine apart from the bathroom being very small (couldn't fill the kettle due to the sink being small, also the shower door would hit the basin when opened only allowing a small space to enter). After looking at the menu's we decided we would eat in the bar the first evening, we enquired at reception and were told we were able to book a table in the bar and did so for 8.30pm. Upon returning to the Inn at 8.20pm we noted that there was no table reserved and the bar was full apart from a table that was so close to the table behind it, it felt uncomfortable. Luckily for us after ordering some drinks a table in the corner became available, we sat waiting for the table to be cleared but to no avail eventually we had to ask twice and it was eventually cleared and wiped with a dirty cloth which left the table sticky. The food arrived after around an hour. My son had fish and chips which was excellent, my wife had ordered ham and parsley sauce from the blackboard which came with a miniscule amount of sauce, I had ordered duck off the blackboard which although was fine, it was over cooked. During our meal we noted that although the bar was extremely busy it was apparently left unmanned a lot of the time so people were waiting an extremely long time to get served or pay their bill.

The following morning we went down for breakfast and found a table and although the breakfast was fine we thought the service again was terrible taking around an hour and a half just to get breakfast!

We decided at this time to book a table in the restaurant for that evening, thinking the service might be better than in the bar, how wrong could we be!

Before dinner we decided to have a drink in the bar, there was no where to sit as all the tables had reserved signs with names on them.

At 8pm we went to our table in the restaurant, we were given menu's and asked for the wine list, this took around 20 minutes to appear, the wine we asked for was not available and an alternative offered this was brought to the table put in a wine bucket and not even opened, luckily it had a screw top so we helped ourselves. Our order was eventually taken and after around an hour our starters arrived, I had ordered a risotto with langoustines, it was the most tasteless and overcooked risotto I had ever tasted, after one forkfull I returned it to the kitchen, no alternative was offered and no apology given. At around 9.30pm no main courses had arrived, in fact I could not see one member of staff in the restaurant they all seemed to have dissapeared, eventually staff reappeared but it was too late the restaurant was in uproar with people complaining, I complained to a manager who stated that they were having problems this evening, I told him that they seem to have them every evening. Our food eventually arrived around 10.15pm, my wife's sea bass was overcooked and dry, my lamb shank was salty but we were so hungry and tired by now that we had no alternative but to eat what we could.

Breakfast the following morning was a repeat of the previous days but with an even longer wait.

I thought the service was very poor, we had to wait over an hour to get the food and the restaurant menu didn't offer enough choice. I found the food to be inedible, the bread was stale, when we asked for cold water it came in a cracked warm and dirty jug so warm the ice melted before we poured the water into our dirty glasses. I felt it was very over priced for what it was.

We ate at the Brackenrigg Inn in Ullswater last week for the first time, and we had a lovely meal. The produce was from local suppliers where possible, and there was a very good choice of A La Carte meals to choose from.

We had 3 courses and 2 drinks each, and the meal came to £60.00, which we though was very reasonable. An automatic service charge was not added, which we appreciate, as although we do always leave a tip, we do like to feel that this is our choice. However, we did of course leave a tip, as the food was excellent and our waiter for the evening appeared to be on his own and was doing a wonderful job of keeping everyone happy.

If ever we are near Ullswater again, I am sure that we will choose to go back, and I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who is looking to visit the area.