Cakes by Paula in County Durham

Visited first time after lock down (I believe it’s opened under new management) on a Saturday afternoon. Booked a table for food and glad we did as it was very busy. The service was slow but this was mentioned on our arrival as they were under staffed and didn’t predict how busy it would be. However, the atmosphere was fab (lively, sport on the TV and a range of music was been played) and at the time we hardly noticed the wait between drinks and food! We ordered three different meals (Yorkshire Pudding, Cheeseburger and chicken and cheese baguette) portions were huge (for £6.95 each) and delicious. Lager and cider were reasonably prices too. Hopefully the place gets a well needed refurb under new management as it is the only negative - but I appreciate the pub has just recently reopened and Rome wasn’t built in a day! We’ll definitely be back.

If you like dirty tables and finishing your coffee long before your food arrives then this is the place for you. Most of the staff obviously don't want to be there either. Used to be a good cafe with cheerful staff, quick service and the tables were sanitised/ cleaned as soon as they became vacant but you need to ask for a cloth and do it yourself now. Customers dump dirty plates etc on empty tables which only adds to the filthy eating conditions. Come on Tesco - wake up and smell the coffee!

Run of the mill Samuel Smith's pub but has good atmosphere recommended

This was a really nice place to pop in for lunch or tea, but unfortunately something has changed. They've obviously spent a lot of money on doing the old place up and to be honest it's very nice and they've done a really good job. Unfortunately that's it because we all found the food to be very mediocre and bland. Service was really slow and it was almost an hour before we received our food. I had a mixed grill (£20) which was so bland , there was just no taste whatsoever in fact the chicken, steak and gammon all tasted the same, just bland unseasoned meat. Son had sea bass (£18.25) and it was terrible, dry and bland again and to be honest it looked terrible to. Mrs had belly pork that was tough like rubber and my mam had steak pie with concrete pastry, she literally could not eat it and left it. We told them it was inedible but they weren't interested and said they would tell the chef. Reading through some of the reviews on here were not the first to have a concrete crust on the pie. This just tells me they don't seem to care as long as people keep eating there. This is the third time we've been disappointed here so we won't be returning. Maybe we're just unlucky but after talking to other people it seems we're not.

A three course at lunchtime is 😁£12 A bargain you can't get a curry at thinford for £12.99 only no brainer