Stones Restaurant in Derbyshire Dales

First time visiting this hidden gem Been recommended by friends Our first anniversary wanted somewhere special Was not disappointed,a warm friendly welcome,beautiful decor,and a menu to suit someone seeking a gastronomic experience ,could not pick fault with anything,the appetisers in between courses were an unexpected surprise equally as impressive as the main event There was no rush to get our food to the table ,didn’t feel pressured to vacate our table ,all in all a wonderful experience will certainly be visiting again as many times as possible.

Every time we come to Stones, it is such a marvellous experience. Today was my birthday lunch. The service was spot on. Efficient yet unhurried. Knowledgeable staff but never overly formal. You feel at ease and ready to enjoy the exciting menu. Beautifully presented and well-balanced gourmet dishes and the extra touches with canapés, bread and amuse bouche just made it so special. The cocktails were delicious and perfect to start with while we were perusing the menu. Thank you to all who work hard to keep the standards so high. It’s not hard to see why this restaurant is always full and that booking well in advance is a must if you’re planning a trip to Matlock.

Returned after a gap of a year or so for a 5 course tasting menu at lunch. The food and service were utterly flawless. Verging on Michelin star territory IMHO.

Fantastic, as always! Another delicious meal with outstanding service and ambience.

Just as good as ever. We were a little worried after the recent spate of reviews criticising portion sizes. I don't know where those people normally eat, but I'd guess that they always stop on the way home for chips. Portion sizes are normal for a restaurant of this type. I wouldn't have minded an option to add some more veg, but that's a separate matter...

Great meal, I had been recommended the pigeon starter and beef fillet main but assume the menu is changed regularly as neither were available . Still a great meal

Fabulous food ,professional attentive service and a great atmostphere. Can’t recommend enough

The quality of the main meal was excellent and the gluten free also. Suggest to have an option to adapt starter and main for KETO option

Fantastic food as always, lovely staff, and ambience. What's not to like

Brilliant. We had the taster menu and the wine flight and everything was explained and superb. Thanks for a great birthday evening.

Lovely lunch, great service and delicious food as always.

Went at lunch got a table overlooking the river Fabulous meal Loved the little bits in-between Canapes, em buse, bread and petit fours Definitely going back

Excellent 3 course winter lunch, with additional tasty canapes, soup, and lovely fresh bread included in the price. Scottish waitress as helpful as ever, friendly and always smiling. Nothing to much trouble. Will return again - looking forward to another visit in the near future.

It was my wife’s Birthday and the service was excellent. Only comment was the soup was a little bit too oily.

Delicious food in perfect surroundings with brilliant service. Thank you

Absolutely lovely for a special occasion. Has become a tradition for my mums Birthday. Both had a great time as always. Really lovely staff and great atmosphere x

Cannot fault this place! People were lovely, service was fantastic, food was stunning. Would 100% return.

Wow what a find. Fantastic food from start to finish, tasting menu excellent value. This was as good as some one star restaurants we’ve been to. We will definitely be back, highly recommended. We came away very full and very happy.

Had the tasting menu which was pretty much perfect. Every course was very tasty and the flavours complemented each other. This was better than some 1 star restaurants we’ve been to. A great find for us & we will definitely go back.

Loved it. Couple of negatives 2 soups and 2 croquettes on a 8 course taster which I thought should be a bit more varied. Bread was average. Service was great, everything was full of flavour., drinks very reasonably priced, food slightly overpriced. Atmosphere great. Would definitely go back.

The whole evening is an exceptional experience. The Tasting Menu makes your taste buds dance! We always receive a welcoming atmosphere and attentive service - we will be returning!

Unfortunately on this occasion there was a high pitched whistle sounding continuously during our visit. The staff were very understanding when we asked to move table due to my wife having tinnitus. I wonder whether this noise was caused by faulty heating as the room was quite cold and by the time we left we were both considerably cold. This however did not spoil the quality of the food which as always was excellent but explains why I’ve not given 5 stars.

A delicious meal, with beautiful service. So much attention to detail, nothing being too much trouble. It was my wife’s birthday and she felt really special.

Izzy was an incredible waitress. The experience would not have been as enjoyable as it was without her A* service. Food was sensational, drinks a solid 10/10. Will 100% return for the third time! Thank you Izzy!

Stones never disappoints us - as always we had an exceptional 3 course meal with all the special complimentary extras. The menu offered a great selection and we were both really pleased with our choices as all of the courses were stunning. Jade and the team were attentive and welcoming as always Thanks all - great evening once again

We go to Stones for special occasions and it never disappoints. Five star food and service every time. Highly recommended.

A lovely Birthday lunch. We had the five-course tasting menu which we really enjoyed. Excellent service and all the extras make it a great choice for a special occasion. Thank you.

We really enjoyed our lunch. It was my birthday and we could not fault the meal or the service .

Yet another lovely meal . Excellent food , wine and service . Already planning next visits.

Fantastic food - 3 course dinner menu plus canapés and a muse bouche, brilliant service from Abi and Owen and a beautiful riverside setting. No wonder you have to boom months in ad ance!! Highly recommended.

This place never disappoints. We’ve been dining here for a few years now, mainly for ‘special’ occasions due to the cost, but it’s worth every penny. The quality of food served is exceptional and some of the best I’ve ever eaten. The service is always excellent with the perfect level of attentiveness. Can’t wait for our next visit. A little hidden gem!

Lovely food and excellent service (as always). Thank you.

Excellent, high quality food and drink as ever. Favourite restaurant for miles around. A lovely treat.

We have had, yet again, the most fantastic meal with, excellent and friendly service. Can the Christmas pudding be on all menus throughout the year?

The food and service during our meal were of the highest standard we will be visiting the restaurant again and recommend it to all

Lovely food and service as always. Highlights were the amuse bouche of pumpkin & mushroom soup, the cauliflower cheese veggie main and my husband said the pork wrapped pancetta was absolutely excellent. We'll be back for the tasting menu very soon!

Fabulous, as always. A real treat. Venison & Sea Bream were excellent, amazing service and attention to detail.

It's always a lovely experience to dine at Stones with excellent food and wonderful staff :)

We celebrated my son’s 30th at Stones. My starter and main were 3/5. I really think Stones have gone down in quality. 30th birthday freebie was a bit ridiculous- two crouton size pieces of cake with Happy Birthday written in chocolate on the plate. Is that all a £400 bill justified? How about a free cocktail or a coffee for the birthday boy? Oh well, it was a great night out, service was lovely so all good but nothing to write home about.

Beautiful food, lovely presentation. Very friendly and attentive staff. Lovely bottle of wine. Went for lunchtime and was very relaxed, did not feel rushed and had a very pleasant time.

Always a great experience at stones. Great value for a special night out. We come every Christmas!

Had a wonderful evening with good friends celebrating my 60th birthday food was delicious as always thank you 😊

Enjoyed all of the courses of the taster menu along with the wine flight which were a fantastic match for each course. The only slight winge would be that we all thought was that between each course the food came out a little faster than would have liked

Absolutely fabulous I was here in May and given a gift voucher to come again what a fabulous present the whole experience is truely fabulous from the ambiance to the lovely friendly curtious staff topped by sensational perfect food what can I say other than I’ll be BACK please try this awesome experience thankyou Lisa Jorgie & Tyler 🎄🎅🏼🍾🥂🩷

Fantastic food Excellent prompt service Staff made you feel at ease and very communicative throughout. Polite and friendly A great atmosphere for a Friday lunchtime to put us in the Christmas cheer

We just love dining at Stones. The food is absolutely wonderful - beautifully prepared and presented. The staff are welcoming and attentive and professional in their approach. The restaurant has a lovely, inviting ambience. One of our favourite places to dine.

BRILLIANT - but don't tell anyone as it is hard to book!

We go to stones a lot, especially for our annual Xmas get together. We had a wonderful time the staff were fantastic. My only criticism would be that we felt the food fell a little short this time. The bread was just a slice rather than a full roll, and the fillet plate was a little bland. But overall we had a fabulous night and I really enjoyed the food and drinks. The pumpkin corse course was amazing!

A superb experience, one I will repeat very soon, took family with us this time would suggest this will now become thier go to treat restaurant

This was an amazing experience. The food was excellent and beautifully presented. The portions were small but because of all the extras in between the courses I came away satisfied and replete. The staff were friendly and efficient and the overall ambience was exceptional. It was my first visit but will not be my last. I have already told other friends about it.

Great special lunch with friends. We choose Stones for celebratory get together due to friendly helpful welcome from wonderful staff and consistently high culinary standards. Today did not disappoint. Fine food with interesting extra touches. The squash soup with truffle oil and wild mushrooms was amazing. It can get a bit noisy if fellow diners are excitable, but we managed! Thankyou to all.

Fabulous tasting menu with wonderful paired wines. Superb service and very good value for money. Strongly recommend.

The food was lovely as usual though it remains a fairly expensive venue

Delicious meal and excellent professional, friendly service.

Had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the food, the wine and the atmosphere. For a Wednesday night the restaurant was buzzing as it should be! We had the 8 course tasting menu and every dish we had was delicious. Will be returning thank you so much!

Everything is at the highest level

Have dined here on several previous occasions and enjoyed the experience but last nights visit was exceptional. The menus were varied and the food chosen was excellent. A lovely setting and staff were knowledgeable and attentive without being intrusive. The little extras between courses are also a lovely feature of dining at Stones. Will be back soon!

Spot on, lovely tasty meal, service great, felt really special and festive. Truly outstanding

New menu for winter with an excellent variety of dishes including a Christmas menu. We had a starter from the Christmas menu (chicken liver pate) and mains and dessert from the main menu. All excellent as usual.

Fantastic experience for our lunch party. The food was excellent as always, the menu exciting from a choice perspective and the service by all the staff, warm attentive and gracious. Well done Stones.

Lovely meal, food was excellent. Felt slightly rushed and had to ask if we could slow down the pace a bit which they did. Most staff extremely friendly, quite expensive but a very nice experience. Will definitely go again.

As always we have had an amazing evening. Beautiful food, wonderful waiting on staff and a fantastic atmosphere.

Love this place - from the cocktails to start with, to the petits fours with the coffee at the end. It’s all brilliant. AS well as the menu there is homemade bread and butter, canapés, soup. Great as well that we don’t need to drive.There’s a bus from Sheffield (x17) which takes you straight there so you can taste the cocktails and drink from the lovely wine list. Non-alcoholic cocktails brilliant too. There are separate vegetarian and vegan menus not just ‘vegetarian option’ added at the last minute. All in all a great meal out with high quality food at a reasonable price. Not cheap - but the quality is worth the spend.

Nice food. It's expensive but the food is different so don't mind paying extra. Staff attentive.

We treated ourselves to the 8 course winter tasting menu and “wow”!! The wine pairing were perfect and complimented each dish perfectly. Excellent service and all very knowledgeable. Thank you for making a cold winters Wednesday such a fabulous evening!

Amazing food and top notch service! Had a wonderful experience with a tasting menu and wine pairing.

We had the most delicious meal here today. We will most definitely be back, thank you

Well it was another fantastic meal , the service & staff were outstanding & what a lovely atmosphere, we love this restaurant & would definitely recommend visiting, keep up the good work guys 👍👍👍

A lovely experience, so much so we rebooked whilst we were there.

The food was awesome as usual on the recent winter menu. In addition to the courses listed on the menu canapés, amuse bouche, homemade breads and petty fours are included. The staff are great - friendly and professional. Definitely a fine dining restaurant but not uncomfortable for those not used to such establishments. We will be back.

Stones is special. It is a restaurant in its own league. The food is outstanding. You don't just get what is listed on the menu there are canapés, amuse bouche, home made bread and petty fours. The complete package. The staff are great. Friendly but very professional. The atmosphere is a good balance. It is fine dining, somewhere special to go but not "stuck up".

We have been here many times but this was next level. One of our group had a dairy intolerance and they catered for him by adapting the tasting menu to suit. The changes were explained and where alterations could not be made he was served dishes from the vegan menu. Staff were attentive as usual and the ambiance relaxing without any pressure.

We really enjoyed our experience at this venue . We had not eaten here for some years , and for our wedding anniversary decided to have the sample menu with one wine flight ( I was driving ) . Every course was exceptional both in taste and presentation , and whilst the portion sizes weren't large , they were perfect for us . The service was attentive and friendly , and each course was explained . Really cannot fault the food , and we will definitely recommend this to others , and will be returning ourselves. The only slight niggle was that as we were sitting in the conservatory it was slightly cold , and the radiator was not on . To be fair it didn't affect our enjoyment and we didn't mention it to the staff , who may have been able to do something.

Quite simply a stunning experience. The standard of food is exceptional and genuinely there is nothing like it anywhere around. This is a top quality dining experience.

Excellent all round ! I will go back !

Food excellent but lacking in atmosphere, very bright.

Always a pleasure to go to Stones. Food fantastic as normal. Great service and fabulous dining experience. Always recommended.

Lovely restaurant in a beautiful setting. The staff are very attentive and the food was excellent.

We have been eating at Stones for years, in fact we used to eat at that same restaurant even before it was Stones. We came away this weekend quite surprised and disappointed. We wondered if it was just us, but we can see other recent reviewers feel the same way. We have had the taster menu many times but this weekend we opted for the three course dinner menu. The food was, as always, presented well and delicious, but Chef seems to have lost all perspective between the size of a standard course and a taster course. The pork main dish was one very small medallion of pork, not much bigger than a bottle top and a 1” cube of belly pork, half a roasted carrot and a small spoon of mashed potato. The beef fillet, with a £4 supplement was two small strips of beef, about a quarter of a small fillet steak - in fact the £4 supplement would have easily covered the cost of the steak served. The set cream dessert, a small teaspoon quenelle of set cream, a miniature scoop of ice cream and a piece of shortbread smaller than the pork medallion if that were possible. Two ladies on the next table were having the taster menu and their set cream dessert was served at the same time. In retrospect I’m sure the one served at our table must have been plated at the same time, it’s difficult to see how it could have been served any smaller as a taster course. If we are noticing the change then other regular, loyal customers must be noticing too. Our memories aren’t incorrect either, previous pictures on this site show substantially larger portions. In fact the restaurant advertising picture shows double the amount of beef than was served this weekend. Stones has always been our ‘go to’ restaurant for a special evening out, it would be such a shame if after all these years we are forced to consider pastures new.

A real evening experience out. Not simply just a meal.

The food and service were both amazing. Would certainly return.

Wow what a meal can not recommend enough I've paid twice the price for food of this standard

Excellent, just fantastic. The food was amazing, service very professional. A fabulous restaurant.

The small quantity of food was tasty however the main course was ridiculously small . Had duck breast which was one month sized piece. We were offered a refund which was appreciated but the evening was not a good experience.

Lovely staff, great food, cosy ambience. So grateful to have this restaurant in Matlock. Our waitress Anna was professional, friendly and not pretentious, we would go every week if we could afford it, but will be back soon.

We had the most amazing time, the congratulations plate for the proposal was brilliant and the service from Alicia was top end, she was amazing through out and couldn’t have done anymore if she tried. The food was incredible and the complimentary dishes were fantastic.

Again another fantastic experience of culinary mastery from Kevin and his great team. Tasting menu and wine flight amazing as always.

Great Lunch today at Stones. Food and service were both exceptional.

The food and the service at Stones is second to none. Absolutely delicious

We have had some smashing meals at this restaurant over the years, always top notch, delicious and something special. Tonight, we were treated to a meal at Stones and sadly, we were left disappointed. We have to highlight the wonderful service, front of house and welcome from the friendly helpful staff . However, as tasty as the food was I have never been served a main course which was smaller than my starter! A sliver of duck breast, 4 X tiny balls of potato and a sliver of carrot! Very disappointed to say the least. The toilet was on first glance suitable until, on further inspection there was a layer of grime around the corners and skirting boards.. I am no Hyacinth Bucket,but I don't run a Michelin star restaurant! We will have to find a new special place to celebrate, unfortunately 😔

Fabulous! Tasting menu and pairing wines amazing. Loved the cheese cake course. Lovely service.

Fabulous place for a special treat. The food is outstanding and never disappoints. It’s amazing. Highly recommend. The service is great, staff are welcoming, not intrusive and very quick.

My husband and myself have the tasting menu for a birthday celebration. The food was fantastic. Each dish served by staff that clearly cared about setting the right tone and environment with great attention to detail. Thank you for a lovely meal out.

Beautiful lunch for a special birthday. Impeccable service& wonderful food. Perfect!

Lovely meal for 4 on a Friday lunchtime. Everything was good. Pity access is down steep steps otherwise I would be there more often.

Consistently excellent- 4th time of coming in 2 years

Superb as always. Excellent value for money. Lovely well balanced menu

Fabulous restaurant in Matlock. We had the tasting menu and pairing wines,amazing. There was nothing that wasn’t a delight. Big shout out to the stilton cheesecake . Service a delight.

Best food I have ever had. Amazing service too, beautiful restaurant.

No doubt the best resturant I’ve been to. Everything was world class