Dunham Massey the Stables Restaurant in Trafford

Hugely over-priced, Soup was lukewarm, very bland, and there was little of it for £6. £3.30 for a bottle of sparkling water. Rip off.

Only nipped in to pick up 4 cans of Pepsi and ended up costing me £9.20. how can they charge this much for soft drinks in a can absolute ripoff on prices. Am glad I didn't get a full meal

We were going to Dunham Park gardens and decided to have lunch at the Stables restaurant. I wasn’t looking forward to, because after COVID the Stables restaurant had gone downhill as had a lot of National Trust eateries. I was very pleasantly surprised. I ordered an egg and mayonnaise sandwich on brown bread for myself and a ham salad sandwich on brown bread for my husband, they weren’t in the refrigerators as they used to be and looked freshly made with lots of filling and served very nicely arranged on a plate with coleslaw and salad garnish brought to our tables with the drinks we had ordered by lovely friendly staff. I will definitely be eating in the Stables restaurant on my next visit.

We called in at Dunham Massey en route to another event, knowing that we wouldn’t have time for dinner. Very disappointed as we hoped to have lunch so went to the restaurant rather the cafe. No complaints about the quality of the food but if a venue is described as a ‘Restaurant’ we would expect to find proper meals on offer, not just an option of soup, glorified sandwiches or jacket potatoes. We will go to the pub next time!

Had jacket potato with chilli and a cappuccino was delish. The service was quick and the staff were friendly and approachable. Would defo recommend 😊

Although last time we ate here it was awful but decided to try again for lunch (1pm). My husband had the chilli and I had a tuna jacket potato. The chilli was dried up, not much liquid left in it. My potato was dark and looked as if it had been cooked yesterday and warmed up. Some of it was hot and the other just warm, served with a big ice cream scoop of tuna on top. The coleslaw was stringy and dry. At £8 for jacket potato it was expensive. I should have complained but such a long queue at the counter, I just left. The food used to be beautiful and mostly home cooked but now it's dire. Won't return and won't recommend. Don't waste your money eat at nearby places. Does anybody from the NT read or even care about these poor reviews???

Restaurant heeft redelijke kaart, met lokale biertjes te koop.Lekkere broodjes te verkrijgen. Wordt gewerkt met tafelnummers, wat een goed systeem is.

Restaurant has a reasonable menu, with local beers for sale. Table numbers are used, which is a good system.

Great quick service. Only had coffee but they served decaf!

It has been a long time since I visited the Stable restaurant. I loved it. The food was freshly cooked, the soups wonderful, and the layout so appetising. All that is gone. Only cakes are on show. The food was disgusting. I ordered a One Pot with chicken at a ridiculous price of £9.00 something. . It arrived in a small bowl with horrendous tinned peas and overcooked mush with bits of chicken thrown in. It was inedible, smelt and tasted disgusting. I left. I thought afterwards I should have returned it to the counter, but I just wanted to get out as quickly as possible, never to return.

Given incorrect information at the main desk and we went here for breakfast only to find breakfast was not served here but in the cafe in the building from whence we came!! Having said that, the staff in The Stables were lovely and did what they could to make up for what, in all fairness, hadn't been their mistake. What we had, whilst not breakfast was tasty and fresh and I would certainly be happy to eat in The Stables again.

Excellent Turkey bap with chunky chips. Good coffee.

The food here was a limited selection but included light lunch options and kids lunch boxes. There were vegan and gluten free options available too. The main downside was the very slow moving queue - hit this place at a peak time on a weekend and you need to expect a wait. Once we had ordered though, the food arrived relatively quickly and was of a good quality.

Enjoyed our experience in the cafe nice interior lots of space between tables and I also like the wood effect I ordered the jacket potato was nice especially the coleslaw nice big pot of tea and a beautiful Victoria spongecake service was good we left happy and full

We are regular National Trust visitors to Dunham, but sadly have to report the decline in the food standard in the restaurant. We always made a point of eating there the homemade dinners especially were good, but now it has deteriorated so much. Is nothing home made anymore? The children's sandwiches are dreadful. Tasteless Dry, stale bread(informed that non dairy spread is now used, but that's virtually non existent). Processed cheese or ham. The food is awful. Manager pleasant but probably fed up with complaints. NT do you read these reviews and can you address these issues from your customers????

Great food and service, recommend here for a nice lunch.

Hot food used to be excellent but on recent visit was very disappointed in the very poor quality, small portion and high price of their Italian sausage casserole. Hot food used to be on country so you could see it but now you have to order off a menu at counter so you can't see it on advance.

Lovely authentic place to eat. Food really enjoyable. Big kids and little kids Ice cream parlour spoilt for choice. 😋

Good quality food, we ordered frittata, order at the till and they bring it to the table. We had a problem while in the restaurant and the staff responded excellently, with genuine concern. Thank you.

Not able to get a sandwich and wedges to take out. Was told by Alan that takeout does not make money and I would have to go all the way back to cafe. Wheelchair user and national trust properties not good at best of times and then they put more obstacles in your way. Please reconsider this new policy of only sit down cooked meals in the stables not everyone wants such a large meal and lunch time. Was told by Alan I should have got sandwiches from cafe on way in or brought a picnic. Please cater for your customers and not what makes it easier for the restaurant manager, surely a small good quality selection of snacks would not be that hard. I feel that customer service at dunham is non existent they just want the money. PLEASE RECONSDER.

Surprised to find it open today, so decided to pop in for lunch. Staff were friendly, very helpful and the service was excellent. Our meals were brought to our table within minutes of ordering at the counter. The food was hot and tasty. Keep up the good work!

Unfortunately the restaurant at the Stables doesn't seem to be what it once was, sadly. Whilst we didn't eat in the Stables on this occasion so cannot comment on the food quality, the reason why we didn't eat here was due to the limited menu and seating system. Food options seem much reduced and attributing this to staffing availability whilst pointing out the food options would be similar over at the visitor centre cafe, seemed a bit weak really. Obviously you expect wait times and queues both at a popular venue and at peak times but having to wait for a table before even seeing the food options in the servery area was a bit off putting, compared to the previous system. It's not fine dining and never was, but we used to enjoy the home cooked, substantial meals and variety on offer. However on our most recent visit we struggled to see much of interest on the menu (and no, offering most of your menu as veggie or 'health conscious' is not really going to cut it for everyone!) Yes the queues could get long when there was no system to await tables coming free but generally don't ever seem to recall it being that much of an issue. Staff did kindly provide menus at the door on request whilst we queued to even be allowed in to the serving area, at which point we decided to abandon ship to The Swan with Two Nicks, where there was a much more comprehensive menu available. So sorry National Trust, but bring back the Stables to how it was before and we'll come back :)

Expensive. Jacket potato extremely hard not cooked long enough and the baked beans cold. Will not be visiting the stables restaurant again!!

A lovely cafe up the stairs, very busy at half-term. We just had coffee.

Absolutely fantastic staff. So helpful and accomodating. Very tasty food would recommend. Thank you.

I was very disappointed with the restaurant on visiting today with my friend. We thought there was lovely food to be had like before Covid. But no it was awful the pies we had were hard and stale. You had no real home cooked food at it was no different from the cafe. I definitely won’t be eating at Dunham again. Visit yes bring own picnic. But no way will I recommend food at Dunham Again.

Restaurant is accessible by lift, but entrance can be crowded by queue for ice cream on ground floor. Canteen style service with seating in farmhouse style area. Very little veggie/vegan options outside of the usual cheesy jacket/cheesy pasty etc. It was nice to see deer outside the window but overall wasn't too impressed.

Had a cornish pasty and salad with tea here. Pasty was good and meaty and looked hand made. Tea was in a tea pot with hot water and milk. This was brought to the table in a couple of mins. Enjoyed it very much.

Varied choice of dishes on menu served by really polite, helpful staff. Really clean restaurant with tables being regularly cleared and cleaned . We enjoyed a coffee each and shared two delicious cakes... Victoria sandwich and flapjack because we couldn't decide which to choose!

We had an excellent lunch, of today's special , a delicious Pea and Mint Quiche with salad and new potatoes and tea for two. The choices were good and the service excellent in a restarant area which had been cleared of probably half its usual tables, so was very comfortable and felt Covid secure.

Had lunch there last week and everything was amazing. The place is beautiful, the employees are very polite and friendly. The food was very good and the price is fine. I will definitely go again!

We had a lovely visit to the splendid Dunham Massey this week with a good long walk before calling in at the Stables Restaurant for lunch. It was lovely and inviting, clean with measures put in place to make you feel safe in these times. The staff were pleasant. My sister, her husband and myself chose the goats cheese and caramelised onion tart. It was absolutely delicious but what a tiny portion,couldn't even describe it as a child sized portion, more like a taster. Wish I'd have taken a photo.Shame as it was good, just not enough! I would have given an excellent rating otherwise. Cake was good and needed that after such a meagre main portion!

My hubby and I had lunch at the Stables restaurant today and I chose a tuna/mayo jacket potato with green salad and coleslaw. It took twenty minutes to arrive and when it did the potato was barely warm and I realised afterwards that there was no coleslaw on my plate either. I didn't wish to complain about the jacket potato being cold, but had I realised that I was also missing the coleslaw too, I would have mentioned it. The restaurant was very busy (and very chilly), presumably because of the new lockdown tomorrow more people went there today, but all in all it was a bit of a disappointment being there today.

Two sandwiches left at 1.10, no more being made, bread was stale. Soup wasn't flavour ordered, it was tasteless and bread was stale. No sausage rolls due to 'staff shortages', they must have found a random stranger to put some in the oven as the table next door received some. Service was slow, dire really. Come on National Trust, get a grip. This should be part of the experience of visiting your properties. We paid £39 for poor quality food where the packaging cost more than the ingredients. Get more staff in, it was a weekend!!

Great food, reduced menu at the moment but it was a good choice. It wasn't overly busy, and felt very covid secure. A great option instead of a picnic!

Good food and a nice building. The cafe could be nicer tho. Feels abit like a school dining area

Hot meals are all home made with local ingredients. Selection of sandwiches and snacks. Lovely cakes and good variety of hot and cold drinks. Friendly and helpful staff. Nice tables and looks very near CE when decorated at Christmas.

Had the chilli with a barm (had to ask what this was - it's a roll or bap) which was flavoursome and filling. Other choices didn't seem to be as good though. Self-service so don't expect any help, particularly frustrating when you're trying to carry 4 trays full of food and drinks for a group of 7.

Great place for a pit stop when in Heaton Park

Purchased hot meals, but then unable to find anywhere to sit, eventually managed to find space in the families area, but had to clear the table myself, by which time our food was practically cold, staff not very helpful. Suggest they need system in place where you get your table number before purchasing food to stop tables filling up whilst you are queueing to purchase food. Would not buy hot food here again.

Seriously what's happened to good old reliable national trust grub . Have gone here for yrs as a member now kids are older happy to pay to park but at £7 and then no choice of good grub think it's thoroughly disgraceful charging what a they do . By 12.15 today one major meal sold out left with choice of quiche , chilli and pies, no veg no potatoes what has happened , very disappointed and total rip off especially with a 30 minute wait . No hit desserts either , could always rely on this for great dinner out and worth the price but not anymore .☹️😠

How can you get service so wrong? We stood and queued for close to an hour for a poultry choice of soup, barm or jacket potatoes. Filthy tables on exiting the restaurant, ahem canteen Servery. Possibly the worst service ever. Mrs. Overall would serve "2 soups" better than the NT staff. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TRAIN YOUR STAFF.

Excellent Scones the best I have ever had by far .

Food is cold by the time you get to your table.... park is fab

So two of us visited on a wet Monday afternoon. For once, no long queue to get served, so good start (previously just given up waiting and left). Paid £30 for 2 x casserole dishes, 1 bottled water and 1 slice of cake, so on the expensive side. Once we paid and sat down, both our meals were barely lukewarm, sent mine back for reheating (which on return was fine), my partner changed hers for soup instead, which again, barely warm and laced with salt...that too was sent back and And a refund and apology issued. Lots of staff stood around not doing a lot, dirty tables etc. This place should be (and probably is) a gold mine, it’s a fantastic building and setting, just so poorly managed, the NT really need to up their game with the food and drink offering at Dunham Massey, the other cafe near the main entrance isn’t much better, I won’t go into that! Premium prices, with poor quality and always seem to be over or understaffed! It should be SO MUCH BETTER than this!

I loved this place, had a vegetable curry, very delicious and you could taste the freshness. Definitely going back.

understaffed, big queues and a long long wait

Had a great lunch at Dunham Massey

Great Staff Value for money lovely location in Dunham Park

A great place to have refreshments whilst taking a break from visiting the house and gardens. Very busy on dry sunny days.

called in here when visiting the house. Good selection of cakes and a nice seating area which is attached to the visitor reception and shop

I don't know what I was expecting when I walked in but I thought it was well set out with plenty of seating, I only had coffee and a scone but both were very good. I am gluten free (not by choice) and they had cakes and I tried their cheese scone which was lovely. Just what I needed and I was very impressed. The staff were lovely and helpful which is always a bonus 👍

Excellent lunch although busy served promptly.Good atmosphere easily found table and staff efficient in clearing tables.

Tasteless soup that should have been hot, but not.

Normally the food is very good with no complaints. This time around not so good. I had what was supposed to be chicken enchiladas. However I had to go back and check that it shouldn't be chick pea. I only found 1 small piece not chicken. My partner had the cottage pie, but this clearly lacked a portion of gravy, which shouldn't be hard to provide and very cheap. Slightly disappointed, you pay a decent price you expect more. Won't stop me returning

we visited both cafes at the park, good selection of nice food, helpful staff, pleasant surroundings ,

Clean, comfortable and good choice of food and drinks. Great place to stop after a long walk round.

Nice restaurant situated in the old stable block of Dunham Massey. Serves a good selection of meals, snacks, cakes and drinks, there should be something to suit most visitors. Plenty of seating available and very friendly attentive serving staff.

Hasn't changed over the years I've been going and always great quisine

Renovated to a high standard the Stables is a very pleasant location for lunch. We had sandwiches, scones and a selection of hot and cold food and all was good. You could visit without paying to visit the house and gardens I believe. I'm told it is extremely busy at weekend particularly on a summers day.

Food good but this is a self service place and there was only room for 2 trays at the till resulting in people having to stand holding their trays if there is even a small queue. Trays with food and drink start to get heavier when you are stood for a while holding them.

Self-service cafe/restaurant that offers a small selection of hot meals along with sandwiches and snacks, including a good selection of cakes, scones, etc. Friendly service, if a little slow - at the time of our visit the it wasn't particularly busy but the queue moved pretty slowly at the hot food counter. Within our party we had baked potato with tuna and the vegetarian curry - both were delicious. Prices are reasonable.

Food is home cooked and very tasty, vegetarian options,

Went in for lunch after walking around the grounds. Choice seemed limited and not particularly value for money. Very average

There's a newer cafe with more food, but it doesn't have the atmosphere of this one. It's nice for a coffee and cake after walking around the estate.

More a cafe than a restaurant but really impressed with the food. My quiche meal was delicious and my daughter's lamb with vegetables also enjoyed. Nice scones too.

Beautiful one pot lamb and a big crusty chunk of bread fabulous food great service Thankyou.

Soup was good but sandwiches only on white bread!

Excellent quality food but quite a slow service. But worth the wait

Nice cafe / relaxed and informal 'restaurant' upstairs in a converted old stable block - accessible by stairs or lift.

Well it was a sunny day so being very busy was expected. The long queue did keep moving and there were some free tables. Food was very good and plenty of it. Hassled staff still cheerful and welcoming.

Super service by enthusiastic and efficient staff even when busy, clean and tidy, good atmosphere and quality tea and cakes at reasonable prices for the NT. Highly recommended.

We visited Stables Restaurant whilst on a day out at Dunham Massey deer park and gardens. The staff were friendly and helpful, including clearing a table and providing a high chair for our granddaughter - it was busy at the time we visited . We decided on the curried vegetable one pot dish that came with a chunk of bread - it was hearty and tasty.

Arrived at 1.30 stood in a line waiting for food for 25 minutes to be told no turkey barm, no beef barm.. and lots of other items that were on a board being advertised. Got a packaged sandwich £3.95, mine was chicken that tasted funny so I left it. And a piece of fruit cake in a wrapper £3.25... I did complain to the girl on the till but no one was interested. I was with my elderly dad, the place was cold and I was sad I wasted our money and time there. Restaurant shuts at 2.30.. Waste of time opening really either cater and open or don’t botherin my opinion. And paid £7 to park. Welcome to rip off Britain .

Went for a Christmas lunch with about 40 friends pre-booked. Food was appalling, service was by untrained temp staff. A disgrace to the National Trust trying to making a killing over Christmas. Last time!

Popped in for a "quick" takeaway coffee and sandwich whilst the family were out and about.... Very slow service despite only one other customer, 15 mins. Staff chatting away with each other paying customers no attention.

With a queue out of the restaurant you would think that the service would work at speed to clear the backlog, but when you reach the front you realise that the slow service is the reason for the queue in the first place. Two staff seem to compete to see who can go the slowest and just when you think the winner is to be crowned the other disappears back into the kitchen for 5 minutes only reappearing with a glass of water for herself, the winner!

Visit every week after Nordic Walking. Food and coffee lovely.

Lovely hot meal on a chilly day!

Rustic self service restaurant situated inside Dunham Massey grounds. We visited for a late, light lunch during a midweek day out in the park and gardens. The hot food options looked appetising and we opted for the veggie curry with crusty bread - whilst I don't normally select vegetarian curry, this dish was hearty, delicious and good value. The staff were friendly and helpful. At the time that we visited (around 1:45 pm) the restaurant was fairly quiet so there were plenty of tables to choose from and lots of high chairs available (ideal as we had our 11-month old granddaughter with us).

Excellent food selection the hot food options are always tasty and fresh. Love the ambiance of this place and views if you sit by a window are so lovely! Always feel it's a treat 😁

Went to get hot food. Very poor selection. Mac and cheese was cold and sausage roll wasn't cooked enough. Wouldn't go back.

We were disappointed, surly front of house staff who were rude and appeared intent on disrespecting customers

Visited on a half term Sunday, Dunham Massey was very busy as expected, however it seemed the restaurant team didn’t expect it. A huge queue which we were in for 30 minutes just to get some lukewarm fish pie and stew. Absolutely chaos with a severe lack of staff.

Rubbish food and linn wait wouldn't recommend

Good quality food and drinks. Popped in here after our visit to the house and grounds. Very popular.

Standard National Trust. Drinks reasonably priced. Cakes are pretty standard now, but OK.

A good brisk walk followed by warming, wholesome locally sourced food at really good prices satisfied the family as part of good quality family time

This restaurant is practically placed inside the Dunham Massey park. I liked its apropos decor and the variety of its food and drink offer.

Set within the stable block (hence the name) it is very rustic and charming. There is a lift or stairs and toilets on the ground floor and first floor. The choice is not massive but the majority of everything is home made. The emphasis seems to be on more healthier choices (no chips!) but I really enjoyed my bean soup!!. There is also a fab Ice Cream Parlour downstairs.

Visited with my young children and sat in the area clearly meant for kids. Tables were dirty, seemed a little forgotten about as it's slightly separate to the rest of the seating. It did have a nice kids table with crayons and kid sized chairs meant for kids to sit and colour in, but absolutely no colouring books or paper anywhere so it just resulted in a sulking 3 year old. Food was fine but it was all a little disappointing compared to other national trust restaurants we have visited. Also slightly disappointed to see it only has a 3 out of 5 food hygiene rating.

Good food. Good variety. A little pricey.

Nice little cafe / restaurant. Good selection of hot and cold food, drinks, cakes and kids meals. Ample seating, with a separate area for families, including a play table with drawing materials. Also a microwave and milk bottle warmer. Our coffee and cake was delicious. Everything clean, and staff friendly.

Absolutely lovely converted barn and lovely food with friendly staff. Just behind the ice cream serving area opposite the toilets.

As National Trust members, we utilise our membership to the full, visiting Dunham Massey often.

During our visit it was very busy but the service and food were very good. The prices at NT properties are not cheap but at least the profits go back to looking after the properties.

We arrived at the car park to yet again find the parking charge had increased - £7 for our car. Way too much.

When we visited Dunham Massey , it was a busy Sunday , therefore the Restaurant was busy too . It is fairly basic but seemed to suit Families & ladies who lunch equally . I would suggest deciding what you want from the menu before you go in if you are having a hot meal , as when you get in & are presented with the choices it is confusing . We started off in the ice cream queue downstairs before realising the Restaurant is upstairs !! The food was quite good !

We ate here when visiting the National Trust property over the recent bank holiday. The meals are fairly priced and there is a good, not large, selection. We found the jacket potatoes a good mid price option and the free drinking water much appreciated.

We enjoyed the ice cream from the parlour downstairs and later had lunch in the upstairs restaurant. There is plenty of room and a lift for access. I enjoyed a tasty cheese sandwich and lemonade, very welcome on a hot day.