Beautiful location, nice grounds, but terrible, terrible restaurant. We booked a table for two for a birthday lunch and arrived at 1:15pm. They seemed very understaffed, although the loud music, laughter and voices from the kitchen would suggest they were amply staffed in there. The place was so lacking in atmosphere that the music and voices from the kitchen were the only sounds we could hear.
When we arrived, there was one other table of diners who had clearly been waiting for service for some time, which should have been a red flag. Our drinks order was not taken until 1:40pm and we took the opportunity to order food at the same time.
The food arrived at 2:20pm, over an hour after we arrived. My steak was ok, and my friend had a chicken burger which he said was fine, although both of our portions of chips were cold. My plate had a large mushroom on it, and it was so tough and rubbery that I wondered if it was real or not. I pulled off and ate half of it, and at the end of the meal I showed it to my friend, who noticed that the underside of the mushroom was entirely mouldy. I felt immediately sick, and we asked for the bill. I told the server about the mushroom and how I wasn't very happy.
When the bill came, they had deduced ONE POUND from the bill, which she said was the price of the mushroom. ONE POUND.
I was so annoyed and disappointed that my birthday lunch, in such a beautiful spot, had been so awful, we paid and left.
Poor service, mouldy food, and a complete lack of atmosphere. We really thought we had found somewhere local that was going to be a regular place to visit, and had noticed the Sunday roast banner outside. But we won't be back, and I recommend everyone avoid this place until it is under some kind of new management.