Bishop's Kitchen in County Durham

This was a most impressive experience. 25 of us turned up on a booking, and the service was pleasant and fast and efficient -- order food at counter and it comes quickly and accurately. Its a atmospheric setting too in the Auckland Bishop's Palace Refectory, and one can eat at the cafe without paying the other entrance fees. Food was great, my partner and I shared the Bishops Platter - an impressive ploughmans with ham, spanish meats, delicious cheese and onion quiche, brie and another cheese, pickled onions and chutney, home made sausage roll, and delicious home made bread with butter. All at a reasonable price. The breakfast tea was very good too, not the catering rubbish one so often gets.

We had been round the Bishop's Palace looking at the stunning Christmas decorations and were in need of a sit down and some refreshments. The Bishop's Kitchen hit the spot beautifully. Once a cellar of the Bishop's Palace which has been very tastefully renovated, the Kitchen offers a wide range of lunchtime treats from sandwiches, soups and salads, with cakes to follow. Everything is prepared on the premises and beautifully fresh. We had soup of the day with sourdough bread and a prawn salmon and dill sandwich. Both delicious and very filling. Service prompt and friendly and all reasonably priced. A perfect way to finish the morning. Highly recommended.

We ordered a coffee on arrival and only one person on the til so served everyone waiting to order! 30 minutes later the coffee was served. After visiting the Faith Museum the slow service didn’t stop there - the Waldorf sandwich filling was off so ordered Salmon and prawn in brown eventually slowly came in white, but on inspection of the replacements the filling was scant and the bottom crumbs of the crisp packet and 2 leaves of salad and a slice of tomato and cucumber. At £8.50 for a sandwich my expectations were more than what was given. I returned to the counter to request more filling but chef scraped the remaining filling from a box. It turned out to be mostly mayonnaise which was ridiculous.

We had a lovely morning in the Museum and then topped off lunch with fresh salad and quiche. It was absolutely absolutely delicious.

This is for the kitchen cafe in the castle not the Tapas bar. Small menu. Asked for the Courgette, Pea mint soup - not available; asked for the cheese and tomato panini - run out. Asked if the Quiche was vegetarian and was told yes. It came, not with salad Small menu. Asked for the Courgette, Pea mint soup - not available; asked for the cheese and tomato panini - run out. Asked if the Quiche was vegetarian and was told yes. It came, not with salad but with couple of bits of pasta with shreds of meat. Asked for this to be changed but no salad. Given that they say the food is selected from its own garden and this is only 1.00pm that’s poor. Was then told the quiche had meat in it. Only other alternative was a cheese toasty. Thus came with crusted bread and crisps! Rubbery and no taste. Great shame as the setting is beautiful and tastefully restored and the staff were lovely, friendly and apologetic. If you’re going to run a cafe in this lovely setting run it properly. The grounds are beautiful. Had we known we’d have ate elsewhere.

A warm, bright and welcoming atmosphere with plenty of seating made for a relaxed lunch. The menu is simple but includes plenty to suit every taste. Portions are generous and well presented. Prices made this a good value option in very pleasant surroundings.

I'm not sure how long the Bishops Kitchen has been open but there did seem to be some teething problems when we visited in December. We ordered some hot food only to be told just as we were about to pay that its wasn't available but the person taking the orders wasnt aware of that. There did seem to be a lack of communication between staff. Initially we were charged for items we hadn't ordered and not charged for some of those we had ordered and when everything was sorted, we were given the wrong amount of change. It wasn't busy and the food quality was fine although the coffee was very bitter. Reasonable prices and once the teething difficulties are overcome, it should be a good place to eat.

The Bishop's Kitchen provide good nourishing hot meals and snacks in either the 'kitchen' or the library. There seemed plenty of space - even though it was a Saturday lunchtime,

First day of public reopening of the Bishop’s Palace. Lovely service, coffee and cakes. Cakes freshly made in house and delicious.