Derwent Artisan Cafe in Allerdale

My husband, myself and our 13 year old son visited The Brasserie two days ago on a Saturday evening. We were able to walk from our cottage accomadation to the Brasserie. On arrival to the venue we were very impressed by the beautiful driveway leading down to the Brasserie. The whole establishment is obviously very well kept with beautiful spring flowers and plants and lovely lighting down the drive. On entering the Brasserie however, we were suprised that the decor didnt appear to match the rest of the hotel. We were approached by a friendly waiter on arrival who took our drinks and food order promptly. He checked we were all ok during the first half of our meal and we felt his interactions with us were appropriate, not too overpowering or disinterested. My husband ordered the mushroom stroganoff. He felt it was quite ordinary and bland. I ordered the brushetta and a side portion of fries. I felt the brushetta was overpriced but the fries were beautiful. My son ordered the pizza which he said was really tasty! During the meal.another member of staff( female) arrived and we have to say it was quite an experience! We had ordered a second round of drinks. I had ordere a lakes gin and a small bottle of fever tree ginger ale to mix it with. I was allowing my son to taste the ginger ale from the bottle. The waitress appeared out of nowhere and snatched the bottle from his hand with a resounding"no!" It shocked us all! We reassured her that this was not an alcoholuc drink. She then commented in quite a rude manner when my husband wiped his nose gently on a napkin and also told us later on during the meal that she was used to working in the " posh restaurant". During our meal she stood over us on several.occasions which we felt was inappropriate and a bit unnerving! We felt she would benefit from some more training from more experienced members of staff. We did realise she was young and and was probably trying to.please (.a little too much). We were very patient with her but felt there may be future guests who may not be quite so tolerant! A little later during the evening my husband and our son went to use the toilet closest to the Brasserie. They came back and both told me there was smashed glass on the floor and a dirty nappy. My husband reported this to a member of staff from the spa team. On leaving the Brasserie we walked through to the hotel reception as we were all so concerned about the state of the toilet and wanted to ensure it had been sorted and the message had got trough. The lady on hotel reception didnt appear to know anything about this but we did see her promptly speaking to another hotel member of staff after our conversation. The only other disappointing part to.our meal was the cheeseboard. It sounded fantastic on the Brasserie menu but when it arrived we were informed that some of the cheeses were not available. The waiter did however add a few extra for us but we felt this could have been mentioned before we went ahead with the order. Sadly it was a disappointing experience as it could be a fabulous setting within the grounds of an obviously gorgeous hotel.

Decent pub grub Traditional Pie and mash

good food for the price sadly the starters where slightly over cooked but mains where good nice hunters chicken and my burger spot on sadly had to leave the chips as i personally dont like frozen chips place was nice clean and warm all the staff very friendly will go again if ever in the area

Good cafe. Not a good look at the lake.

The state of this place continues its sad decline. Standards have dropped significantly since my last visit a couple of months ago. The men's toilets are an absolute disgrace. There's one serviceable cubicle- but the toilet bowl is hanging off the wall and the door lock has been bodged up so many times it barely provides the necessary privacy. The stench from the urinals is so bad - you can tell when the toilet door opens as it wafts into the pub. Not really what you want to be smelling when you're eating and drinking- it's bad enough when you have to go to the toilet . The staff are great but completely up against it as there are so few of them. Dirty glasses pile up on tables untouched. This place is desperate for a makeover. I for one won't be rushing back. I know the beer is cheap but, I'm afraid I'd rather pay "proper pub" prices and have a degree of comfort rather than sit in a what effective looks and smells like a cattle market. Come on 'Spoons. You can do much much better than this.