The Garden Room in Derbyshire Dales

Visited for dinner with family for my wife's birthday on 24.08.23. I have never posted a bad review before. These are tough times for the hospitality industry. But I am compelled to warn anyone else thinking of eating here. It was the worst restaurant experience we have had for nearly 20 years. The service was initially mercenary - the first question from the oleaginous but thereafter invisible Maitre d' was 'would you like sparkling wine', and when I requested a drinks menu I got a wine list which was simply bottles of wine, no wines by the glass, other alcoholic / non-alcoholic drinks. Which, if nothing else rather overlooked my 8 y.o. and 12 y.o. We ordered 2x glass champagne, 2 x red wine, 1 beer, 2 x kids drinks, 4 starters and 4 mains including (for the kids!) a lobster and muscle risotto at £32 each, and lamb and beef also around the £30 mark. We are plainly not millionaires, but equally plainly we were intending to spend a decent amount... Thereafter service was slow to non-existent. The starters were mediocre at best. A soup of the day was beetroot soup. Literally a pureed beetroot, no seasoning, cream, nothing else bar an already buttered slice of bread balancing on the side of the (admittedly v. tasteful) crockery. I can't put into words the audacity of the pricing of this bowl of soup. I thought the bowl ought to have been included. It was a sign of things to come. The sirloin of local beef I ordered had a glaring rind of unrendered fat, like one of the early rounds in Masterchef. The meat was, extraordinarily, simultaneously underdone and tough. The waitress assured me that the chips had not been reheated but prepared freshly as she had seen it done. What can I say? When you eat something, you know when you know, right? Forgive the already TLDR nature of this review, but the kicker was the lobster risotto. I am frankly incandescent that I was stung for this. They were bland mush. I can't comprehend how a seafood risotto for which premium prices are charged can be (a) noticeably lacking lobster, and (b) not taste of seafood but rather like tuna from a tin mashed in with boiled American white rice. My wife and kids left after the mains; just walked out leaving me to pay. Still took the waitress 5 mins to come over. I was civil as she is just an employee doing a tough job. But I told her it was really poor, and it was obvious I was extremely dissatisfied. 5 mins still passed, no bill, no more senior employee. Left to me to walk to the reception, bite my tongue at bit but not enough to conceal that I was on the cusp of Gordon Ramsey-like language at being so mugged-off and paying £265 (without even getting to dessert and coffee, and with half the family walking out during the meal). Avoid, avoid, avoid, and do not be mislead by any platitudes posted by this place if they deign to post a reply.

As we wanted a light dinner after a long day's drive we chose for the Garden Room. The place has got brilliant views across the fields. Service was swift and friendly. My sirloin was cooked to perfection and the chips were great. Husband had a chop which was equally good. A lovely bottle of red rounded off our quick dinner, we were happy.

Having eaten in the Garden Room at the Cavendish on several occasions, I took my aunt as a treat. Sadly the experience wasn't a particularly good one. The food, as ever, was good, but it was the service that let the luncheon down. The lady who took our order wasn't a natural customer-friendly-type lady, I thought that she came across as quite brusque. When both my aunt & I decided to have just one course - the starter choice (made into a main meal), we both sat in eager expectation of what was to come. From memory, the staff always brought out a bread basket and butter to nibble in anticipation of what was to come. This didn't happen, so am unsure whether cost-cutting or they just forgot? Maybe their smart new uniform cost needed to be off-set somewhere along the line? When our meals arrived, my Moule/M was a main portion size, but my aunt's smoked salmon was a (very small)l starter size. When I enquired why one was the correct portion size & the other not, the brusque waitress gave some woe begotten excuse that she has misunderstood/our fault/poor communication. In all fairness, the male waiter (maybe the manager?) did a good job of correcting the error & apologised, which was more than the brusque waitress could manage. Their mistake was corrected & they brought out a second plate of salmon (!)...all a bit odd really - my aunt pluckily ploughed through her first plate, to then move her empty plate away & tuck into a second plate. Not a terribly refined way to present food, I thought. It is the second time that I have experienced poor service in the Garden Room, and think that in future, we will stick to Charlie's in Baslow next time. There you will always find not only outstanding food, but also consistently good service to match. I was taught that service is always of equal importance to the food in any dining experience - it's as true today as it was when I was first given the sage advice. Come on Garden Room staff, you need to match the quality of the food.

Un grupo de 8 mujeres fuimos para el almuerzo para un cumpleaños amigos. Llegamos temprano sabiendo que no se podían hacer. Los platos principales son muy básicas en su apariencia y sabor. Uno de nuestro grupo tenía la venera taramasalata entrante y era tan salada que no podía comer. Los postres eran más como esperábamos muy bien presentado y muy sabroso.

Sin duda las opciones y disfrutamos de nuestra estancia allí después de visitar lugar de confianza nacional en el pueblo. Lo recomendaría sin dudarlo.

We were less attended to in the Garden Room. It is more cold...meaning that the temperature was low, and the staff less visable. The food we ordered was a disappointment, but still pretty tasty.

The Garden Room is the informal dining venue of the Cavendish Hotel in Baslow. You can't reserve a table so you may be disappointed at busy periods. Don't let this put you of trying though because it is well worth it. We were greeted at the door by long standing manager Eric Marsh, who is the consummate host. The room is a large conservatory with stunning views overlooking the Chatsworth Estate, tastefully decorated and very comfortable. The food was delicious and plentiful and service excellent. We will definitely return.