Mallows Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells

Lovely place, great staff, top food

Mallow’s is the Mercure Hotel’s restaurant. It is open for lunch and dinner but I solely used it for breakfast. It is on the ground floor and you can access it via the hotel’s bar and it comprises a large single room with about 15 tables in a typical hotel coffee shop style setting. Breakfast is composed of a buffet style continental and English breakfasts. Depending on what you opted for you can just have the continental or have both. For the continental, it has cut fruit, juices, ham, cheeses and pastries and it has its own toaster. Hot drinks is DIY via a coffee machine. For the hot food, this is similar in style to Premier Inns’ breakfasts but is superior in quality, especially with regard to the sausages and bacon. Eggs can be made to order. For the clientele, there were a lot of singletons and couples. Occasionally parts of the restaurant would be cordoned off to cater for tour groups. Service was friendly and efficient with tables rapidly cleared by the staff. Overall, I cannot comment about lunch or dinner but can recommend it for breakfast. Cost was UK12 per head if you wanted to book at reception upon checking in. It was cheaper for me as I pre-purchased a half-board package.

I had purchased a Virgin Experience voucher which included a one night stay at the 4 star Mercure Hotel and a £50.00 food credit to be used at The Mallows restaurant within. When visiting any food establishment, I always like to look over the menu prior so I have a good idea as to what I want.. . I am one of those that can take ages to decide so, for the sake of my poor partner... it is good to have a good idea as to what is on offer. I had made my tentative decisions and was looking forward to my meal. Upon our entry to the restaurant, we were greeted by 'Tim'... who's very first words were a very stern 'wait there, I'll be with you in a minute'... no hi, hello, how you doing?...sorry I'll just be a real quick moment, then I'll be with you. I work in a customer based industry and found both his wording and tone to be very demeaning and quite, frankly rude! Once we were finally seated, we were then handed a piece of A4 paper with a 3 course menu and advised that the restaurant was 'currently changing its menu' and this is what's left.... none of which was what I had decided on, having spent time choosing from the menu on the website. The food itself, was very average... nothing to get excited about and probably just taken from the freezer. Having since checking the menu online nearly a week since my visit... the 'new' menu is not to be seen! Leading me to believe that, being a Virgin Experience customer... I was fobbed off by a cheap, inferior menu which was made up of the cheap bits from the actual main menu. This sort of practise is very poor, to discriminate someone for using a voucher instead of actual money! Now, my 'Experience' voucher, then also included a full breakfast the following morning... unfortunately, at the same restaurant, this would normally cost in the region of £20.00! This would include both full English and continental options. The full English was pre cooked and left to fester under heat lamps, cooked on the outside but pink on the inside sausages, rubbery hash browns and overcooked eggs! It was at least something to see where a previous review had been acknowledged and both beans and tomatoes were now included with the full English... At what point would these items not be included?? However, I will give credit where credit is due... the continental options were actually quite good, you can't really go wrong with cold meats and cheese! The service for the breakfast was much much better by a chap who was very friendly and gave good advice regarding how to get to our place of interest. The decor was dated. The chairs were tired, flaky leather and required replacing. And there is no place for cheap, fake candles and plastic plants anywhere these days. In short, Tim certainly requires more customer service training. His initial greeting put us on a bad setting from the start and the food needs to be more becoming of a 4 star hotel the restaurant is located is located in. I feel that value for money was not received. I feel cheated by the menu swapping. I will not be returning. I will not be recommending.

Typical mid range hotel restaurant, but not good food and lack of service, don't bother booking a table or eating in Mallows, just eat from the menu in the bar, or go out into Tunbridge Wells. Can't and don't really want to say more about this hotel restaurant, as it's just worth steering well clear of!

We had a lovely meal here whilst staying. the menu had a reasonable choice and the portion size was good. One of us had burger, the other gammon and a steak. All cooked well. The staff were very attentive. The restaurant did lack atmosphere as there was no music on and very few people in there

Lekkere gerechten, zeer goede wijnkaart, uitstekende bediening; helaas niet verwarmd en versleten ramen: koud binnen.

Buena comida, con opciones sin gluten excepcional degustación, a un precio muy razonable. Si reserva a la llegada te dan un descuento.

First impression was that the restaurant looked okay, but was very cold. Starter ordered was a 'crispy chilli beef', when it came out it tasted okay, but it certainly wasn't 'crispy'. I explained this to the waitress who said that it looked okay to her and that was how the chef always did it! I was asked if I wanted to get the chef so see if he could make it crispier and I had to explain that it was too late now as cooking it at this stage I'll burn the sesame seeds and sauce. I explained that if I order something from the menu I expect it to be as described and asked fort an alternative starter. They kept trying to talk me out of it and the fourth time they finally relented and brought me the black pudding scotch eggs. Well, I've made black pudding scotch eggs myself - the point is that you get the ball with the meat in it and a nice warm oozing egg in the middle.... ..... unless, like these, you get them out of a container in freezer and deep fry them and put a poached egg on the plate! Not impressed - they were utterly tasteless, no seasoning whatsoever. Wish I had stuck with the non-crispy beef which at least had some flavour. :( On to main course. I pushed the boat out and went for the fillet steak, which normally comes with a mushroom sauce, so I asked if I could swap it for the peppercorn. 'Of course' I was told. Steak came out drenched in the nastiest, least subtle peppercorn sauce I've ever tasted. I expected it in a small jug so that I could decide how much I wanted. The steak itself was cooked perfectly though, but again, no seasoning. The potato was luke-warm, not seasoned. Again, not impressed at £25 When the bill came we discovered that they had included a 10% service charge that they really didn't deserve. Service was bad. No-one offered drinks refill or checked to see if the meal was okay, just complained that I had complained about a starter. What annoyed me was that they still charged for the more expensive starter, and even though we were paying for most of the meal using a voucher, they added the 10% to the full cost rather than what we were paying for. I don't recall seeing any mention of fixed service charge on the menu. I wish I had paid more attention. Wouldn't eat here if I came back to the hotel.

Okay so the price wasn't drastically expensive, but for £15 you don't expect to have a dry burger.. chips were amazing though! the waiters are great, cannot fault them at all. Best part of the whole night was the white chocolate ice cream, one of the best deserts i've actually ever had. so i guess the ice cream made up for the dry burger!

Nice setting adjacent to bar area. Reasonably priced meals. Unfortunately (for us) we were not allowed to take our dog into the restaurant which is absolutely fine. We were, however, offered the chance to eat in the bar area with the same menu as the restaurant and the dog could stay with us in that area - an excellent compromise. Breakfast in the restaurant was excellent. A great choice of hot and cold plates. The staff were very pleasant and helpful adding to a great experience at the hotel overall.

After an evening flight into Gatwick and the drive to Pembury, it was just after 8.30pm, when we finally got to go to Mallows for our evening meal. There was quite a lengthy wait at the waiter station/front desk as the staff tried to rectify some problem with a group of men who had just dined. Never mind, these things happen, however the 2 staff members were both quite engrossed in the problem and seemed unaware that we were waiting for a table. Finally we were seated and left with menus to choose our meals. After calling a passing staff member to order a drink (we had not had any lunch or anything to drink since 11.30am that morning) and no-one seemed to come near us, we eventually got to quench our thirst. The next problem came when we placed our order for dinner. My husband had seen the Sea Bass on the menu and as that is his new favourite fish, he was happy. I noticed the Chicken Tikka Curry and that appealed to me as husband is not a curry lover and when we are out I can indulge my passion for spicy foods. Our waiter took our orders and disappeared through the swinging door. Before long, he re-appeared with the message that unfortunately, there was no Sea Bass left, "would you like to choose something else?" Husband perused the menu again and came upon his 2nd favourite food, Lamb Rump. He was still happy and we eagerly awaited our dinner. The kitchen door again swung open, and our waiter then informed us that there was no longer any lamb rump available and by the way, the Chicken Tikka was also unavailable. After perusing the menu again and subtly suggesting that he tell us what WAS available, we made our choices which were far from what we felt like. All in all, the presentation of the food was OK - what can you do with Battered Fish & Chips and 1/2 Roasted Chicken anyway and not the food we would normally choose at a Restaurant.

Myself and my husband re visited the restaurant to celebrate our first wedding anniversary having held our reception at the hotel- this was part of the wedding package. We were quickly seated in the restaurant and were pleased with the menu choices. My husband chose crispy duck followed by lamb rump which we had for our wedding. The duck was tasty though not crispy and the lamb cooked to his choice of rare. I enjoyed the chicken breast with potatoes and seasoned veg which was delicious. We left room for dessert of sticky toffee pudding which was wonderfully light! The waiters were attentive and efficient in their service and we enjoyed our evening very much. The menu was a little more expensive than perhaps you may find in other places but as a celebration worth it. We will come back again.

The quality and presentation of the meal was excellent but let down by the young inexperienced staff. We were shown to the table and then had to wait a least 5 minutes before being asked if we wanted to order any drinks (we had to call the waitress over). Another 10 minute wait and still no drinks ar order for food taken, we again had to call the young waitress over. The restaurant was not busy as there was only 8 people dining but the three waiters and waitress were standing talking most of the time. Not the sort of service you would expect in a 4 star hotel. We did not eat in the resaurant on our second nights stay because of the bad service.

Food was nice but a little pricey for what it was. Good choice of drinks to choose from and staff very keen to please.

A wonderfully scrumptious breakfast. The hot buffet was fresh and tasty and included a variety of foods such as black pudding, fried bread, beans, eggs, tomatoes, bacon and sausage. The mushrooms were the best that I have tasted at a hotel. The cereal and fruit were fresh and very tasty. Thank you goes out to the chef and kitchen staff.

Really enjoyed our meals very good menu choice looked good and tasted good served by friendly staff and a relaxed setting.

The food was delicious, reasonable and good sized portions, and deserves a 5 star rating however the service was not so good and we had to call over on several occasions to get anyone to see to us, and so in my opinion bought the restaurant down a star.

Excellent event / banqueting venue. Great food, served efficiently by happy staff! Breakfast was good too for a Self Service style arrangement, well cooked and fresh as 'Hot Plates' not over stacked and regularly replenished

Had an evening meal as staying at the hotel. Started with drinks in the bar which was nice, good selection and friendly young batman. Moved to the dining room and ordered. Dining room typical hotel decor etc but was well done and well laid out. There were two young waitresses and a front of house. Place about half full. Starter was a shared plate of nachos, £6ish. Was a good portion and looked and tasted good. This place has a menu built round burgers, fish & chips, pie, pizza etc. it isn't fine dining, more towards very well presented pub fare. We both ordered different burgers, these cost around £14. I have to say when presented they were good. Brioche toasted buns, thick slight pink in middle soft meat served on boards with small portion of fries (chose skinny or normal), good relish etc. if you have read this far you must be thinking why only two stars? Well the service was shocking! We waited 20 plus minutes for starter which only requires two mins under the grill to melt cheese. After we finished it took 15 mins for the empty plate to be collected. Mains arrived well ++ over an hour after we ordered, 35 mins after our starter plate was eventually collected. During this time more diners had arrived also. During the wait I asked a waitress to chase the mains but she never returned. I think the waitresses fully understood that diners were unhappy so I guess they waited in the kitchen for food to serve. By this I mean there were massively long periods where no staff were seen at all! At least that was my impression. On each course nobody came over to check the food was ok, nobody was feeding back the delays, apologising or even present. Surely this is the function of the front of house!!!! On leaving with empty plates still on the table I moved to the entrance with the till and couldn't find anybody to pay! After 5 mins a waitress was seen and I was able to settle. I asked where the supervisor was (front of house) and he wasn't where I was told so was unable to voice my concerns, not that it should have ever got to this point in the first place!!!!!! In summary - very good food, disorganised kitchen and very poor service.

We had 2 evening meals and 2 breakfasts.The food is excellent and the helpings are quite large. We struggled to finish our portions.Starters and mains are first class and cater for vegetarians as well.We cannot rate the desserts as we were too full to try one.The service was friendly and efficient.We were not so impressed by breakfast. It was completely self service, including tea & coffee. The quality was quite good but we would have preferred some service.

This is the Mercure hotel's dining room and used for their breakfasts and evening meals. Evening meals are very good but cooked breakfasts are not as good as other hotels in the area. Scrambled eggs seem to be of uniform consistency (without the dark brown flecks associated with those nice bits of scramble scraped form side of pan) suggesting made from powdered eggs.

Stay in the hotel and the first night in the restaurant.Food was excellent, environment just a bit lacking.Used my Gourmet Society card which gave us 3 courses at 2 for 1. Brilliant!The menu was good, the food came quickly and was very well presented.Overall I would recommend eating here if you are staying.

Have been to this hotel for Christmas lunch twice before and loved it, mainly to do with themarvellous italian maitre de. So full of festive fun and laughs.Sadly he has left and what a poor show this year.Zero Christmas decorations, not even a tree in reception.. No Christmas songs.Really expensive drinks and poor food. At £65 a person a real disappointment and very poor value for money.Having said all this the staff were great, attentive and helpful. Well done to them but an extremely poor effort by the hotel.

Food was great and served hot. Generous portions and plenty of extras, including the first glass of wine, bread sticks & salsa sauce. But service was a bit slow and by the time the coffee arrived more than half the guests had left. A real shame. But we will go again.

Was a little apprehensive as the menu seemed rather limited but the food served was easily the best my wife and I have eaten in the last couple of years and that includes restaurants, a cruise and other hotels.For 3 courses expect to pay around £30 exc.drinks and whilst that's not cheap it is worth it I promise you.

Very poor food. Undercooked pork on our entire table of 6. No satisfaction.We were in a coach tour of older persons and we felt like we didnt exist.We think they thought they could get away with poor quality food with older people!

You advertise a carvery on your website and the 6ft sign out side. After visiting your resturant it was clear its just a set menu and not a very good one at that. Make that clear to your customers in future for less disappointment

Myself and my partner drove past the mercure in pembury and saw a 6ft sign outside advertising a sunday CARVERY for £6.99. We then went home and called the hotel to book a table for the CARVERY for the following sunday, the person that answered the phone said yes there were tables available for the CARVERY so we booked, on the sunday my partner called the hotel to find out what meat would be served and we were told beef, pork and salmon, on arrival the staff were very pleasant and well presented BUT a lady came over and handed us a menu?? Now I've been to a lot of CARVERYS and have never needed a menu so I questioned the lady and she told us that they no longer do a CARVERY only a set menu! Myself and my partner called the hotel twice prior to going and both times the staff failed to tell us this information!! Then we got to the meal, the pork was chewy, the veg was rock hard, there were only 2 potatoes and the portions were minuscule...never again!