The Curious Mr Fox in County Durham

Ended up here after some searching around; because of the time of day. Food was good enough, but the guy that served us was really nice; bit of a chat while serving and a chat at the end of our visit; makes a difference.

Nice bar completely spoiled by bar staff accusing my self of using abusive language while they were serving someone else. All I can say is I did not. I will not be using this place again.

A fantastic cocktail making class led by Phoenix. Delicious charcuterie platter. A high quality experience that is also excellent VFM. Highly recommended. Thank you

Disappointing afternoon tea experience. We paid extra for the Prosecco option utilising a wowcher deal. Unexpectedly we were informed as we had picked Prosecco we would have to pay extra for tea. We have had afternoon teas in numerous places and never had this happen. The afternoon teas arrived immediately after the Prosecco’s. The waitress never asked us about any allergies , my partner has an allergy to eggs and there were egg mayonnaise sandwiches , we told her about the allergy and quite abruptly she said to me can you eat them and will get some other ones. We mentioned to her about the smallness of the cakes , she told us they were what they provide, these cakes were dry. The whole experience was very disappointing. I complained to wowcher & the venue , the girl who replied from Curious Mr Fox was very unprofessional and implied that I was lying about our experience.

I’ve never heard of an afternoon tea where there is no tea, we ‘upgraded’ to the prosecco Which we paid extra for, but we were told no tea or coffee included in the afternoon tea at almost £50 I would not recommend, very small amount 2 finger sandwiches each 2 tiny cakes just above dice size, a decent enough scone, but no butter, but no tea was very disappointing, We left hungry, even the prosecco was a short measure,

Had a great afternoon drinking cocktails. Great drinks, lovely staff and nice atmosphere 👌

Held a baby shower here and was blown away with the service presented on the day, the afternoon tea was delicious (and a great price) and the room (Ivy) was perfect.

Turned up later in the night after looking for this place most of the night walked and was greeted by a very pleasant Geordie lad behind the bar asked us what we wanted I went with the curious Mr fox which was basically servers choice I have no idea what I got but this lad was a genius with a cocktail shaker it was easily the best cocktail I've ever tried honestly his knowledge was superior absolutely fantastic experience thanks to this young Geordie in his pink cowboy hat honestly I think he deserves a raise or a bonus and his ideas listened to and put on the menu didn't catch his name but couldn't thank him enough and hopefully he'll still be working there when we next visit as we definitely will be back great bar great chilled atmosphere very impressive

I had my 50th birthday afternoon tea with some of my work friends on Saturday from start to finish we couldn't praise the staff enough .The food was so fresh and tasty ,the atmosphere was spot on . Definitely recommend the venue to anyone . We will definitely be back . Thank you to you all .

Fantastic Sunday Roast for Mother’s Day! We came here for a Sunday roast on Mother’s Day, and it was excellent. The food was delicious, and everyone really enjoyed it. We’ve had the Sunday roast here before, and it’s always a great experience.

Lovely afternoon tea for my birthday

I came here for afternoon tea with a friend and it was absolutely delicious, couldn't fault it. The atmosphere, the service and the food were perfect. Would highly recommend to anyone and we will definitely come back again

I hired the Oyster Room for a work function this week and the staff were Absolutely incredible. In particular, Phoenix, our bartender could not do enough for us. He had great conversation and was interested in our work and what we do. They made it a fantastic experience for all and I would certainly use them again.

Went for a drink but wasn't allowed in tonight as the bouncer said I was drunk and a threat. I was a little tipsy having had 3 prosecco but not drunk. I am 5 1 and 110 pounds. Went to curious mr fox and they wouldn't let me in.

Lovely bar! Cocktails were delicious and our server Josh was very chatty and helpful, would definitely recommend!

We had a cocktail making class with my sister and partner. What a great afternoon we all had. Made three delicious cocktails under the expert guidance of Phoenix our expert Mixologist. A sharing platter was served with a lovely mix of fresh nibbles. Great afternoon. Will definitely do another class and would buy a gift voucher for friends and family to enjoy

💯 definitely worth a visit you won't be disappointed, we had afternoon tea on Sunday it was delicious, cocktails were the best, stunning restaurant. amazing staff, definitely will be returning

Lovely place. Beautifully decorated and staff very friendly.

We did the cocktail making masterclass. The host, Phoenix, was excellent. Great food, cocktails and atmosphere! Highly recommend.

Just popped in for a few drinks, but staff are friendly and engaging.

Expensive for what you get. Small cup of coffee served half an hour before food then almost £5 for a refill

Club sandwich is second to none. Travelled around the world but this sandwich is there in the top three. Booking had an issue but still managed to get a table. Returning very soon.

Phoenix is the best bartender ever - best experience i’ve had in a bar amazing so lovely and impressive cocktails ☺️

Came in for some cocktails and served by phoenix. Great recommendations, knowledge, and so friendly. Ordered off-menu and he delivered. Amazing bartender, really knows his stuff and wants to accommodate every customer from what I saw. Made our night. Music playlist - needs to be changed!! Not the vibe!! Regardless, everything else, 5* !!

Service and atmosphere was great, the Sunday roast beef was below average. The beef was just really really bad quality

Excellent atmosphere, lovley friendly staff, beautiful food and cocktails 🍸 highly recommend can't wait to return next month for my daughters birthday 😀

Fabulous food brilliant service good value we will certainly be back

I have coeliacs disease and my gluten-free afternoon tea was perfect. The gf bread was like usual bread (which is an achievement). The staff were polite, friendly and attentive. I will definitely dine here again.

We received a very warm welcome here today and enjoyed a delightful afternoon tea with prosecco. The sandwiches were gorgeous and the sweets nicely present. Surroundings were smart and it was cozy on a chilly afternoon. Will be back.

Got afternoon tea at this venue and can say it wasnt worth the money paid and we were left disappointed. We had got it from wowcher but chose to upgrade to ‘ADD’ prosecco as well as tea and coffee to then be told in person you now have to pay extra for hot drinks as we paid extra for prosecco which is listed completely wrong on wowcher. The manager serving us on top floor had really bad customer service skills and she could be in the wrong profession.

Went for Sunday Lunch in early January - great experience overall! Bigger place than I expected (lovely upstairs area) and the atmosphere and decorations are very nice. Quite quiet at first but tables start to fill up a bit later. Hot chocolate was solid. Sunday Lunch was amazing, huge portions and fresh ingredients. Only minor con is the pork is a bit dry. Will definitely come back again and will recommend this place to everyone.

Bigger than expected and good drinks, nice decor and atmosphere

This place is more like a pub it gets loud at times I thought it was a natural restaurant apart from that and it's quite expensive but it's a lovely place

Popped in for lunch on the 3rd Jan 2024. We had the 4oz burger and chips and the chicken club sandwich, both of which were lovely. Very dog friendly as photo shows. We would be back more often if we were local!

Excellent breakfast price is good thankyou😊

Wow, amazing venue and friendly staff. Came for a Sunday dinner. It was fully booked but still managed a table for 2. We got the roast sharing platter which was huge and perfect for a couple. It has to be the best roast I've had in years.

Popped in for a few drinks before moving on to play pool lad behind the bar made a great effort with both me and my friend don't know his name but he had long dark hair. He deserves a customer service award was friendly and hard working throughout the night.

The most amazing cocktails! We enjoyed breakfast and drinks on a fabulous table overlooking durham cathedral and castle. The interior design on this place is 10/10! X

Supercool place, awesome decor, pleasant staff, and the best chips we have ever eaten.

Small and elegant with a privately owned feel to It. Just been for drinks

Beautiful food, choose the lamb kofta flatbread.

Afternoon tea was booked.place looked and felt amazing until seated.told 1 pot of tea to share but would be charged more if we wanted top up.cups were dirty/sticky given no spoons to stir tea.once food arrived the 2 young staff decided to chat about everyone at work ect quite loudly while we tried to have our meal.criticsing another customer about how they asked her to make a hot drink.constantly on mobile phones which is not nice to see when you want to enjoy your time there.we had chance to have 1 hour and half but after half hour we had enough of constant complaining of other staff members so we left.maybe trying better training in hospitality is needed with younger staff

I came here for Sunday lunch yesterday, and the woman who greeted me downstairs was absolutely lovely and very accommodating on arrival. Once we were at our table, yes the service was still good and very polite. When the food arrived it was quite a shambles to say the least. The plate was placed on the table and gravy went everywhere including mine and my friends clothes and we were left to clean the mess ourselves.. The food itself was below average.. it looked pretty on the plate but to eat it, it wasn't very nice.. I left nearly all my meal and when asked if it was nice, I did make a point of saying how I did not enjoy it at all - to which I was asked if I would like dessert? I absolutely said no. We asked for a glass of wine with our meals and it took ages to come to the point we had to ask twice.. I understand it can be busy but the person we asked had actually forgotten.. I can't justify paying £62 for two lunches and one glass of wine which were completely below average - and am still unsure how the price even came to this? Either way I would not recommend the Sunday lunch! I will most likely go back in the future and try the weekly lunch menus as it is a beautiful place inside!

Heard good things about the Sunday lunch but the food was a wet as service. Server was lovely taking us to our table but after that they disappear. Food was bland we might as well have went to spoons. At least you know it’s mitcrowaves there. Spoilt a good day out, when we complained she asked if we wanted pudding…. No thanks it’s took me long enough to get a glass of wine. I won’t be back 🙄

Lovely place. Lovely food. Lovely staff. Thankyou.

We booked this restaurant a week in advance only for the to cancel the night before. We visited them to clarify and they reinstated our booking. When we turned up the booking had been cancelled again leaving us without a table for dinner on Saturday evening. The manager was rude and defensive and offered to put us in a small room with a hen party. Really poor communication and service, as well as no apology.

Very nice bar, nice pint of Guinness, staff friendly and attentive.

Was ok, table service slow and freezing sitting under air con. Asked for it to be switched off but kept coming back on.

Amazing Party Venue Where to start! I couldn't recommend this place enough. They stepped in last minute when our original party was cancelled and went above and beyond. From the first meeting Corey listened to what we needed, made suggestions we would have never thought of and made the whole process effortless. The venue was beautiful and perfectly sized for what we needed. It's in an amazing location. The food was specialised for our requirements, taking into account what we and the birthday girl liked. All was delicious and there was so much. Corey even developed a specialised cocktail menu designed around my daughter's life which all guests thoroughly enjoyed trying. Abi, Alex and Ace, the bar staff on the night, also made my daughter feel so special - she never stopped smiling! If you are looking for a gorgeous party venue with a team who feel like friends - then this is the place!

My friend had a party there and it was lovely the staff were perfect especially Corey, Alex , Abby , and ace.

It’s the 1 night a month me and the Mrs get away form the little one and I have to say it’s been fantastic. Sam the bartender has been some boy. We have done true bottomless brunch and I am well and truly sauced.. food was bang on too. We went of the burgers. Very good. Owners of the bar.. give Sam a bonus because we will be back thanks to his great customer service.

Amazing night , so friendly and helpful. Will return. Alex was amazing.

We booked as a party of 5 for afternoon tea which was advertised as finger sandwiches, a fruit and plain scone, cakes and a glass of Pimms. When booking we advised that 2 of the party didn’t want butter on their sandwiches. When we arrived we were told that mayo was used and did they want no mayo, which they said they didn’t. What arrived was 2 plates of mixed sandwiches for the table of plain egg, cheese and chicken, with no mayo on any and difficult to tell what type sandwich you were picking up as they were all mixed up. All the scones were plain, when I queried this I was told “nobody eats fruit scones they just get left or people ask for a box to take them home which costs us money” The cream in the Eton mess had turned watery. Despite asking on arrival about the Pimms we still hadn’t been served it when we were finished eating and had to ask again! Staff started clearing the plates away before we’d finished. Sorry but wouldn’t go back, shame as beautiful decor and views!

Lovely food. Friendly staff. Quick service.

Gorgeous place with multiple rooms in different themes. Amazingly decorated and the atmosphere was sublime. So relaxing - will definitely go there again.

New cocktail on the drinks menu. A French Pornstar Martini. A must for those who like blackberry flavours.

We had a fantastic afternoon doing the cocktail making class for our friends birthday. Corey was brilliant, and so patient with us, given we were pretty useless at it! He was really funny, very professional and he absolutely knows his stuff! For a couple of them we didn’t know what we wanted we just gave him the vaguest of flavour profiles and he came up with the tastiest drinks for us to make. And poor Tim. And Sidney running back and forth having to get different things as we changed our minds. Bless them we kept them on their toes! Highly recommend

Well I would just like to give thanks to Cameron my sparkly man of the hour who made us some welcome from the time we walked In the door. We have also had excellent service from Sydney from America who took over after Cameron and did an amazing job!! Cameron is really fit too he deserves a pay rise xx

Now cocktail bars aren't exactly my cup of tea but this one was very nice indeed so i indulged in a rhubarb and custard cocktail and very nice it was too. Great range of spirits and wines , very pleasant indeed.

Came here for a couple of drinks with my partner and had phenomenal service. Lad called Corey definitely stood out and he made sure we had a great time. Was very polite and funny character. Will 100% be back. Thank you!

Absolutely loved my visit. The staff are incredibly friendly and the afternoon tea was delicious. It was great that they included plain scones as well as fruit, saving me from picking the fruit out 😀 We were so impressed with the quality of the food that we also had a meal there. It was equally delicious and good value..... as we're the cocktails. Highly recommend. We will most definitely be back.

Corey was lovely for us, attentive and professional as served us at our table with me on crutches!

Corey was the best at serving us for our first time in Durham!

Lovely afternoon. Great value for money. Good polite customer service in a lovely setting. Booked for a future visit.

After reading some of the reviews I wasn't sure what to expect 🤔 We were very pleasantly surprised The decor is lovely The staff were really nice and very friendly especially Corey and Ben We had Prossecco afternoon tea The sandwiches were lovely really fresh we particularly liked the chicken and tarragon The scones were home made and delicious some of the best we've ever had The cakes were mini Victoria sandwich cake raspberry macaron and mango cheesecake very nice indeed We thought it was great value for money we are definitely going again We were very pleasantly full

Excellent afternoon tea in a lovely venue. Atmosphere was relaxed and staff were always pleasant and helpful.

Visited establishment for afternoon tea with prosecco. We sat at our table and after a while the cake stand and glass of prosecco was put on our table but no tea plates. Eventually a saucer was placed instead of the tea plates. We waited to be asked if we would like tea or coffee. After a while we twigged this wasn't included. We regularly have afternoon tea at different places and this is the first place not to have this included. While the food was ok it was pretty basic.

We had afternoon tea and my teenage daughter said the vibe was giving. We had a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed all the food.

We had afternoon tea for 6 people. It took an hour to come but was nice once it did. Scones a bit overdone but these things happen. Lovely venue and nice ambiance

Gorgeous bar, it's really nicely decorated and had lots of little spaces to sit to enjoy food or drink. We had a bacon buttie and hot drink for £5 which I think is great value. Will defo like to visit again, maybe try Sunday lunch next time.

Lovely atmosphere, very busy. Food for afternoon tea lovely!

I had afternoon tea and the food was very fresh and tasty. Normally pots of tea are served and are refilled on request, but if we needed more we had to pay for it.

What an absolutely amazing place. The staff were extremely attentive, overall our experience was brilliant. Definitely coming again.

Lovely afternoon tea and great service. Fantastic cocktails! Special shout out to Cameron for excellent service and going above and beyond. Will definitely be back!

First visit here came with sister for birthdays had cream tea Really enjoyed food and drink beautiful venue great customer service

We had a lovely afternoon tea here and the owner made my 5yr old granddaughter very welcome she loved looking for curious then hiding him back in the window. Well done on a very warm welcome and delicious afternoon tea we will be back even though we travelled from billingham.

Surprised that 'Afternoon Tea' did not include tea unless purchased separately Photo on Wowcher voucher and website showed tea alongside food and prosecco.

Lovely afternoon tea variety of sandwiches and cakes. Only personal negative is I would prefer 1 savoury scone (cheese) rather than 2 sweet ones, otherwise very nice and staff were great.

Gorgeous afternoon tea, plenty of choice. Would have been nice to have a sausage roll/piece of quiche instead of two sweet scones each.

Lovely afternoon tea, however waitress said we had a savoury and sweet scones, both were sweet slightly disappointed. Could have done with something savoury to balance it slightly.

Very poor slow service and food wasn't nice. Avoid.

The Afternoon Tea was very enjoyable, the staff were extremely helpful and friendly and the occasion was very pleasant. Many Thanks To you all at the Curious Fox

Good food. Only complaint is the tea and coffee supplied with afternoon tea is in a very small cup. Which by the time the afternoon tea comes has been drank, and refill must be purchased. Also put in an empty room where only we were in it, which spoilt the atmosphere!

I took a recent trip to Durham and I’d seen this restaurant a few times in passing and thought it looked like a nice place for a bite to eat. This time I stopped. Visiting with a friend whilst on a day trip, it made for the perfect light bite and stop off. Food and service were brilliant and the decor really matched the vibe of this place. Perfectly situated in the city. Definitely recommend.

Couldn’t fault it. Food was delicious and service excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Had afternoon tea.

Lovely place right by the river. We had afternoon tea which was lush. Would recommend and will defo return.

Sat outside enjoying a refreshing drink in the sun. What a view of the castle and cathedral, towering of the River Wear. Staff were friendly and very helpful, a lovely place to go for a rest after a walk around the historic city. x

Good atmosphere. Great place for an afternoon tipple. Popped in for a quick drink. Will be returning for a longer visit.

We called in back in March and had a top notch Sunday dinner. So we just had to return today and we weren’t disappointed, food was excellent, atmosphere was relaxing and Jo our server couldn’t have been more attentive or helpful on the busy lunch time service. We will be back again for sure, especially as they are dog friendly too.

Went for afternoon tea and was put in a corner with stacked up baby high chairs next to our table which wasn't great why stack them next to someone's table looked ridiculous surely there's a better place afternoon tea was ok I guess and we were offered more sandwiches as there wasn't much on the plate anyway! Nice view from the table of the cathedral if you can see beyond the bars on the window! Overall wouldn't return.. Edited to reply to their response I was never offered another table at all!! And yes there was plenty of tables to choose from which remains the problem of why we were stuffed in a corner next to high chairs the cakes served were the size of a two pence coin so I cant say it was a bargain!

Worth a visit but try and get there when it's quiet, once everyone has headed over to the Gala side of Durham...

Lincolnshire sausage, streaky bacon, crispy hash browns all cooked spot on nice backdrop of the cathedral and castle. The staff were great.

Superb on every visit! An excellent place!

Waited 90min for eggs Benedict. They never arrived

Fabulous bar Charlie & Toby were amazing at the bar served all our drinks thank you 👍😘 x

Portions absolutely tiny for the price and the vegetables served on the Sunday dinner are basically non existent.

Very well located, good staff and really nice sunday roast, it was delicious!. The decoration its very original and the different "rooms" have a good atmosphere. 190% recommended

Lovely ambience, nice cocktails. Didn't get any food so can't comment on that. Nice seating area, good music playing. Staff very friendly and welcoming.

This is a gem of a place. The food is very nice. The staff were wonderful (even after our 10 year old had thrown milkshake all over the floor). Incredibly friendly and inviting. Dog friendly too. We will definitely be returning.

We were visiting Durham for a weekend and wanted a coffee. We loved the decor. It was such a change from anywhere else I'd ever seen. Loved the dog portraits. The food was delicious and very reasonable and the waitress friendly and super helpful. Thank you. It was actually my highlight of Durham. I'm now back home wanting to decorate my house!