Cafe at Inn on the Park at Allensford Park in County Durham

We popped in after a walk for a coffee to go and seen the festive afternoon tea being advertised so booked for the following day. It was such a lovely experience. The staff were so accommodating and what was on offer was beyond our expectations. The sandwiches, Scones and cakes were delicious. It was so good and plentiful that we needed a doggy bag. It was a perfect afternoon to celebrate the festive season and there was a complimentary glass of bubbly 🍾 we have had afternoon tea in many places , three times the price of here but here was ten times better. Highly recommend

I visited recently as part of a group of 15 people; we meet up there every couple of months and this was my third visit. The staff are wonderful, they get us all served quickly and they look after us very well. We go for a late breakfast, the menu choice is very good, something for everyone and the food is excellent...top tip, if you're hungry then go for the 'large breakfast' but no shame in taking some of it home with you! Looking forward to the next visit.

Our group meets up regularly at the caffe, the breakfasts are amazing and the staff so friendly and helpful .

Good in the summer for a coffee and some food but to cold in the winter to enjoy

Tastes like home and home tastes so good. Impromptu bite to eat, Cheese burger and chips for me, tuna mayo sandwich for Denise, 2 flat whites. Clean plates, empty cups, fabulous service, friendly staff, great value for money. It’s proper food at a fair price, everything to like here.

Festive menu delicious small breakfast bigger than expected and toasted sandwich equally good quality. Staff in and out making sure everything was OK and if we needed anything. Even given a container as I couldn't finish mine. Restaurant service snug was lovely and warm. Bill including drinks £42 for 4.

Just a short distance from the A68, we broke our journey to have breakfast, and the 'small' cooked English Breakfast didn't disappoint. It was well cooked and the portion size was just enough for my appetite, but there was a medium and large option for the hungrier! Good value for money too.

Lovely cafe, superb for walkers or those just passing through, sitting on the country park it’s a surprising gem, very friendly staff in surroundings in keeping with the riverside environment. Prices indicate you get great value for money, and you have plenty of choices

The entire setup is puzzling. Inappropriately inflated food AND drinks pricing for a rather ordinary café in an unspectacular park on the edge of a former steelmaking town. The curt service leaves much to be desired and the food has a school canteen feel to it. Perhaps only worth grabbing an ice lolly in July and heading for the hills!

Good food, good coffee and very nice staff.

Found this place whilst looking for somewhere to get a cuppa. Was busy, not surprisingly as it is on a Country Park. The lady serving was a bit flustered as she was so busy and we ended up getting 2 large teas instead of medium. No bother. The Belgian waffles were nice. Freshly made and loaded with ice cream, fresh cream and chocolate bits.

Lovely food, lovely staff, the cafe is right on edge of caravan park, be ready for loads of kids running around. Cafe staff/food lovely tho.

Very disappointed- toastie was nothing more than melted cheese on cheap bread and whilst the paninis were edible they were quite tasteless- certainly not worth the £23

Coffee stone cold , scone disintegrated it was so dried out. Rip off

Called in after a drive around Weardale and Derwent Reservoir, just really for a cuppa. After looking at menu and seeing food being served at other tables we decided to have a mid afternoon snack, I chose tray cake (carrot) with custard and my wife had cheese scone ( warm) both of excellent quality and a good portion size . Had a large pot of tea for two , £11.25p. I think for the quality and quantity very reasonable. We sat in the snug part a a lovely timber built well decorated, cosy addition to the main cafe which was extremely busy with families , we prefer a bit of quiet. The service was excellent, professional but friendly ,real plates,cups saucers and cutlery. I did visit the toilets on the campsite, yes not the best but they are used by Joe public and any problems I noticed were caused by idiot public putting tissue in urinals the toilets are obviously cleaned daily but heavy usage causes deterioration . I'm a realist.. The cafe we will visit again, I'm already looking at the menu to choose what to have. Thank you to all for a nice visit

Right next to Allensford park. To be expected, it's really busy during school holidays. Expect to queue.

Great little place, good assortment of sandwiches, cakes, drinks hot or cold. Excellent breakfast ! Prices were fairly reasonable. The staff were pleasant and helpful, they provided good service !

A little thing but worth making a whole review for: the coffee at this café is very good, as in unusually good. Whoever decided to invest in good coffee here, they are a visionary. It's a game changer: go for a hike in the countryside and then get a decent coffee. (Photo is of the coffee with ice cream - also from the cafe - added by myself.)

Got to say had a fabulous sausage, egg, beans with HOMEMADE chips which was piping hot and absolutely delicious 😋 …….and only £6.95 !!!! Also big shout to the lovely ladies and gent who served us service with a smile ☀️☀️☀️☀️ Highly recommended and great value for money 💥💥💥 Thanks loved that today 💙😊👍 All the best Mark/Wendy Hetherington

Nice little cafe that is on the holiday park lovely staff here couldn't do enough for you.

We just had ice creams, and the puppy's enjoyed their doggy ice cream 🍦

Basic and not great value for money. Small portions. Forgot drinks. The staff were friendly which was one good thing at least.

Limited lunchtime menu. Staff very pleasant and helpful.

Nice setting but not overly friendly and it was pricy. Ordered two coffees, a toasted teacake and a fruit scone (£12). Jam came in a small plastic box, butter was pre packed (we had to ask for more butter, twice), cardboard knives and presented in polystyrene boxes. Okay if trying to be plastic free and save on washing up but no recycling bin and not everything was recyclable! No toilets in the cafe but some near the park. Unfortunately no hot water in the ladies and the water was not turned on in the gents so stagnant wee left in the urinals. No soap. Dryer not working. Would not recommend.

Excellent break on a 6 miles walk along the river.

Excellent food and great service..

Basic food and decor, broad menu, little too much plastic window dressing.

Lovely, friendly welcome and the breakfasts are highly recommended. Definitely worth a visit.

Lovely little place one let down no toilet facility in the actual cafe and as I'm.disabled wasn't easy to.access the one by the park and it was awful weather to

Called for a breakfast & on a wet & windy morning we really appreciated the dog friendly undercover area! Delicious breakfast , great value for money & a very friendly welcome too Definitely recommend if you are in the area

was here today ( 10-09 - 23 ) and i got say it was very poor . order 2 coffee , cake and a fruit scone . it took 15 mins to get my order . The cake was not that good and the scone was very poor . It had no taste at all . Not be going back in a hurry . very poor .

First class as always good coffee staff are very friendly lovely atmosphere

Amazing Kelly's ice cream in perfect weather at a lovely cafe

Very nice area...lovely food & refreshments 😊

Lovely helpful staff. Good value.

Called a number of times over the Easter period with my disabled wife and grand children but we were unable to get parked in disabled parking bays spoke to a gentleman outside of the sales office about none of the vehicles displaying a badge and he seem uninterested

Great place, although pretty expensive.

Good food and good service.Been a few times and always good.

bought some fishing rods it came to £7.50 paid with £20 and they only gave back £2.50 i said i’ve paid with £20 this isn’t the correct change they said i didn’t, pretty sure i how much i paid with anyways they says we’ll checked the till apparently everything is correct. So they’ve kept £10 of my money which they owe. I’m struggling with money at the moment and could have really with that £10 they owed me

Excellent park ,good facilities

Nice, clean and friendly helpful staff.great food even alcohol is sold there. Nice little pleasant cafe for a sunday treat.

Lovely place to visit with kids. Free Car park from both sides of the play area with some disabled spots available too. New play area for the kids, new toilets including baby change! (due to be open soon). Cafe nearby with delicious ice creams! Takeaway available there too! Holiday park by the side as well. There’s a park to visit with a river, we took a walk there and it was lovely. Just one recommendation for all - it’s very muddy there right now! - take your wellies otherwise you’ll sink in mud! 😄

Had an awesome breakfast yesterday. Perfect food and looked after by the lovely Brenda who has a great sense of humour. It may have been 3 years ago since we were there but it certainly won't be another 3 years before we're back

Yesterday had an amazing afternoon tea with my 2 sisters & niece for our belated auntie,s birthday have to say what an amazing time we had. The food was first class & what a choice of food we had the service was first class & each & every one of the staff were lovely there couldn't do enough for us . We would definitely recommend this place to any 1 💕🍰💖

Friendly and accommodating staff, serving a range of Cafe foods to suit the hungry traveller. They really take their Customers safety seriously, so be prepared to follow their Covid safety procedures.

We were shopping over at consett and thought we would give this cafe ago !!This cafe is strange to enter you had to ring a bell to be let in , then wear a mask and sanitise your hands to go to table , I feel this is a bit over the top now considering restrictions getting dropped !!On the plus side a lovely lady called Brenda served us . This lady was perfect, friendly and attentive . The food was lovely and there was a lot of choice on the menu .I was quite shocked at some of the reviews, as I could not fault Brenda or the food , food and service was excellent

Lovely food staff very friendly

Lovely clean cafe, friendly staff and delicious food

Great little cafe excellent surroundings excellent meals friendly service great stop of for walkers.

Smashing little place good food and good prices

Great friendly service down side fish was a frozen fish portion and the food was on cold plates

Wonderful food,friendly staff great value for money i wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Good menu however they had run out of most things we wanted when we visited. Chips we did get were undercooked and sandwich really bland. Don’t expect to be able to use their toilet even if you buy 3 meals as they refuse to let you in.

Called here recently and was very disappointed.we were left in a room by ourselves with no staff having to ring a bell to get attention. Our meals were cold and we barely touched them as they weren't very nice. We were never asked if everything was ok as they were to busy panicking that the WiFi wasn't working for the card machine. We just paid and left. Won't be going back

Sorry I had to give it ONE star! Would have preferred none at all option! The worst most unfriendly cafe I have ever ever been to! We spent £25 last weekend - on what turned out to be LUKE warm hot chocolate drinks! One of our party, a 67 year old lady, politely asked for directions to the toilet whilst our £25 worth of order was being prepared. She was REFUSED access to their loo! We were told 'only people sitting inside can use the toilet'!!! Unbelievable and totally astounding! No one could believe it, especially as we were spending £25 there - on luke warm 'hot' drinks! It was a disgrace, the staff were aggressive and really unfriendly - we were totally shocked - not one soul was inside, it wasn't as if they were busy - with their service, attitude and poor drinks, I'm not in the least surprised they were empty. The worst experience ever... it wasn't even humane!! We'd spent all that money, but because we weren't 'sitting inside', an older member of our party couldn't use their facility! An utter disgrace. The staff were appalling and so anti-social it was funny later on when we were over the shock of their attitude. Take your own drinks - then you will guarantee getting something hot - you won't get that from this Allensford cafe I can assure you. Paid £5 for a luke warm chocolate! A real rip off to add insult to injury. WARNING: I tried to put this review on their site - not published yet! There's a surprise!

Great place, afternoon tea is excellent value for money and the staff are amazing. I would highly recommend

Excellent service..they have all the ice cream you dream about. Cakes and pastry.

Not good left before ordering felt like a lepper with all the perspex screens etc

Terrible service wow will never go back

It was a cold damp day when we went mind but i was not overly impressed? Scone was very hard i sent it back.

Excellent customer service.great menu lovely park to bring the family.

Stopped here for a coffee which was awful. The toilets were out of order and when asked for possible alternatives the woman behind the counter just shrugged.

First visit and won't be the last. Called in after a walk around Derwent reservoir for a coffee and a bite to eat.Greeted by a member of staff on arrival and had a great meal and a very nice cup of coffee or two, thoroughly enjoyed it. All the staff we came into contact with were excellent and a credit to the owners.Thank you all for a very pleasant visit.

We stopped for lunch yesterday.Ordered soup and bread at a hatch and told to sit at a picnic table and someone would bring over.Fifteen minutes later we were told it was at another hatch!Soup needed seasoning and was basic broth.Dogs dirt at table on ground really not a pleasant experience.No access to inside of building.Really bad experience.

Food was excellent and the apple pie was awesome xx

Marvellous food, lovely stroll by the river. Disability friendly, new toilet block in construction. Staff very helpful, friendly and polite.

Had a lovely beef dinner today definitely be going back

Did not try cafe might next time if the children's area opens up again if won't be back sorry

Friendly staff, good covid safe operation, only had ice creams but the food choice looked good.

Always Absolutely amazing yummy food from here we had the Sunday lunch today then followed by even better deserts totally stuffed now definitely recommend to anyone

Good varied menu, very reasonably priced.

Great cafe that does all sorts of food, from waffles, to chips, to breakfast and so much more. We usually go for long walks and then have coffee us adults and ice creams the kids. They even serve Sunday lunch and were also doing during quarantine!! You order on one side, usually there is a queue, and collect your order from a different window. People always seem to keep their distance. There is a small shaded structure that you can seat with your dog to enjoy your food but also there are several tables available with umbrellas.

Nice little cafe clean and covid safe

Very welcoming staff, Covid secure and delicious snacks!! Best choice on 3 menus!! Would definitely return.

Nice food, friendly staff and a beautiful area to stop off for a break.

Friendly staff. Food lovely and hot. Better to book. !! Rules are in place. Dog friendly.

Staff were efficient and pleasant, meal was hot. It was a very warm day and humid, all the outside seats were taken so we had to sit indoors and not much air was circulating so was a bit stuffy. The meal (chips) were hot and tasty but were advertised as hand cut which they were not. I may go back again.

No public toilet. Chips delicious though

Absolutely beautiful afternoon tea staff so helpfull and friendly

I finally managed to find time to go to the café at a quiet time, near closing time, on a grey day. I treated myself to a takeaway cup of decaf coffee and some shortbread - and it did feel like a real treat! I will certainly be back - I could not believe all the things that were on offer on the menu. Something for everyone for sure! Service was also great - very friendly. Thank you and see you again soon!

Does a mean Panini with salad. Excellent value for money with very helpful staff. Covid friendly and a wide choice of both hot and cold meals / drinks

Friendly staff...cafe was very clean But only order a custard slice if there is at least 2 sharing it !!! Delicious but enormous...

Good food helpful staff external seating great location for walking and children

Friendly staff , lovely food at a lovely picnic area

Yes had a lovely walk on a nice day, went to the cafe and got very nice milkshakes and doughnuts and will be back, they have also extended the cafe for a sitting area opening soon for light bites and afternoon tea looks good be back soon...

Good value food in a beautiful setting

We had very enjoyable experience at allensford parks cafe staff where lovely nothing was a problem ask if we could have a dish of water for our dog 🐕 got that have to say the bacon sandwich was so good outside seating area clean and tidy couldn't fault it spot on ❤️

Had to wait 20 mins for hot chocolates and when we got them they were stone cold. The cake had a really strong fried food smell and even worst tasted of it. Vile. The doughnuts were dry shop bought cheap that had been decorated not home made or fresh.

Lovely hot drinks and chips following a lovely walk along the river

Very good fast safe ordering system,

Give this place a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed

Open space with cafe in Historic part of Derwent Valley up river from Shotley Bridge NB cafe open take a way only Subject to Covid lockdown restrictions

Went today after a walk , got hot drink 15 mins before food so was freezing by time I came to drink it , mushroom garlic soup in a tiny pot fit for a dwarves portion and it was fowl , far too expensive for what you got , snotty young girl serving shouldn’t really be working with general public,if you don’t know how to interact nicely .

I love this place, they have done some much with the space they have. All the best to them.

Fantastic place, even during lock down. They have gone beyond what is need. Xx

Overpriced and the beef on the Sunday dinners is dreadful. Tried the mince & dumplings instead a week later and it tasted like somebody had dropped the whole salt shaker in it 🤢

Lovely, lovely not over priced food, really nice dairy free lattes, and the staff are so friendly and nice. Definitely recommend the place.

Everytime I go to the cafe the food and service is excellent and really great value for money. The festive hot chocolate today was so cute.

Always a lovely coffee served by very pleasant staff

Great place to grab a bite to eat or a coffee. They now have a Christmas selection of syrups too.