The Refectory Kitchen & Terrace in York

Fairly expensive for very average food, all well presented but flavours very bland, suspect a lot of frozen things been used in dishes such as starters, service is dreadful, restaurant very quiet around 10 tables in at the time with a good 4-5 staff serving, was left by the door for a good 5 mins, then was sat down and left with just water for around 10mins, ordered a bottle of wine so nothing fancy that needed to be made, just two glasses and a bottle to get, plates from starters taken as mains arrived, some plates left and had to be put on next table, whilst we ate mains, never asked if we wanted anymore drinks, bill brought over to say time to leave now as we was last of two couples in, we'd only been in an hour, shouldn't take tables at 9pm if your kicking out by 10pm, have the cheek to charge a service charge of £16 on a £130 meal, this wasn't paid as service is some of the worst iv had at this kind of price mark. Wouldn't return.

Had 3 courses - squid, chicken curry burger and cheesecake - and all were absolutely delicious. Staff were very friendly and incredibly attentive. Super quick service, would happily come back whenever I’m in York next.

Having rebranded the hotel recently and therefore this restaurant the new place was thoroughly disappointing. We went here as part of York Restaurant week. Part of the voucher was to get 2 courses each. The main dishes were bland to the point I didn’t finish mine. The dessert was stale. I’m not one to leave desert uneaten but this one I had to. After telling the waiter this, all he said was he would pass it on to the chef. It’s not somewhere I would return which is a shame given the beautiful premises.

Cenamos filete de solomillo hoy. Fue fantásticamente tierno y bueno. Peter era el mejor en servicio. Sin duda volveremos de nuevo.

Lovely food and atmosphere but portions size small even for a small female, let alone the men in the group. Vegan options available and a kids menu also available, although not the best for my vegetarian daughter there were options.

Excellent breakfast lots of choice n warm food

We ate here as part of York Restaurant Week. We thought it was a good opportunity to try the restaurant, having already had coffee outside on another day. We had the three course tasting menu for £30. It was excellent. The veloute was super smooth with other textures added that made it special. The lamb was tender and the chocolate parfait with blackberries was delicious. We will be back!

Atmosphere was great but the service was very slow. It took more than 30 minutes to get our food. Menu selection was fine but the steaks we ordered were not worth the money we paid.

The member of staff who served us was lovely and attentive without being intrusive. I would say there were a couple of other waiting staff who did come across more aloof and almost rude, so I understand what is meant in some of the other reviews. We had the 'Cheesemonger’s £28 Selection of cheeses from near & far, fruit cake,medjool date jam, apple chutney, celery, grapes, artisan biscuits  (v)' We had the serving for two, but it was enough for three of us for a light lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day, so a light delicious lunch on the terrace in the sunshine was just perfect. I would definitely recommend.

In this restaurant I ordered the "Bouillabaisse", a main dish from the menu. After some time I received what at a first look I considered an amuse-gueule (see picture). Alas, the waiter defined it to be the ordered dish. Apart from not being a "Bouillabaisse", the portion size was that of a starter. At a price of 26 pounds plus service charge I feel diddled.

Good food, friendly service & great setting for lunch outside.

Superb location set in some fantastic landscaping. We initially just wanted a drink but attentive friendly service meant that as the sun was shining, we could not say no to another drink and then food. The food was all delicious and a good range of choices as a vegetarian. Because our single drink had turned into three, along with food, it meant that by the time it came to desserts, there had been a staff change, presumably to the ones covering the evening. As a result we went from attentive service to the complete opposite. It was difficult to get anyone's attention, desserts took an age to be served. People around us arrived, were seated and were genuinely waiting 20 mins+ to have a drink in front of them. People ordering were not being listened to and so orders were coming out wrong. A table of people who worked there but had chosen to come and socialise there were quite happy to chat away about problematic customers they had experienced within earshot of everyone sat around them. I say problematic because this is how they were talking about people with dietary requirements. One person working was more than happy to repeatedly stand and chat to them whilst other customers sat there with empty tables. Where the problem lies, I do not know? Too few bar staff, poor management skills, lack of training? I know however, that if I owned this place, I would want to ensure the quality of service was like that in the afternoon, particularly when all staff were upselling, and attentive and respectful. Finally, if you cannot get uniforms that fit people, I would suggest you ditch them. The waistcoats only fitted about half the staff making the others look scruffy.

I totally understand all the negative reviews. I ordered the almonds with my wine. The excuse 30 minutes later was the chef made it with the scallop starter. Then a bread order with seaweed butter (yuk) took another 20 minutes. When I asked for a box for my extra risotto, they needed to check if "takeaway was allowed." Food was good but very, very slow service. Not the staff's fault but whomever the chef is. Not recommended

We enjoyed our vegan breakfasts. Enough choice. Also plenty of fruit . :)

Accidentally found this place on a hot afternoon. Tremendous food and service. Had the seafood platter. Loads of fish from Oysters, to salmon and shrimp and many others. Nice bar with cold Guinness. What more could one ask for. Service was excellent. Friendly and professional. The giant sundae my wife had was in her words "the best desert I have ever eaten."

Wanted to see this place so popped for a coffee at about 1.30pm on a Monday. Checked we were OK to just get coffee, waited a minute or so while a suitable table was cleared but to be honest didn't feel very welcomed by the front of house guy who attended to us. Waited for menus but had to ask for them, there was no refreshments on any of the menus anyway. Waited a bit longer and ordered two lattes, these were delivered both spilled into the saucers. They cost £9 including a £1 service charge which given the experience was a joke. Won't rush back as there are many, many nicer venues in York. Also a bit disgusted that the seats were being cleaned with the same cloths as the tables, not vety hygenic. Disappointed.

Beautifully sited cafe and restaurant opposite York Minster. Great tea and coffee, with decent cakes and very friendly service. Menu for lunch and dinner looks excellent and appetising. Outdoor seating with shade for some.

If you enjoy not getting served this is the place for you! Bask in the cobbled gardens as the waiters do their very best to ignore you and everyone else around. Enjoy the menu trying to charge a kidney for toasted bread and lettuce. Amazing 10/10

Ate here for New Year’s Eve. The food was nice but service needs a lot of work. People were being given the wrong dishes and we had a 40 minute wait for our main. So did a couple behind us. It was a bit Fawlty Towers and given the price, you’d expect a lot better.

We were staying at the hotel for a few nights and we celebrated our anniversary at this restaurant in the hotel. It was lovely, a bit expensive but the place was very nice and clean. Peter was our server and he was amazing. He was very attentive and helpful during all the evening we were there keeping an eye on our drinks refilling, if we were enjoying the food… Honestly, great service. He made the experience worth it. Thanks again :)

Very poor service. Have been wanting to plan a visit since it opened but happened to be in the area so popped in for a drink. Wasn’t welcomed, wet bar stools and then pointed to a table and told there were menus…sat at the table…carried on sitting at the table…sat at the table a bit longer …then left. It was a Weds night it wasn’t busy and there were plenty of staff! Won’t bother to plan a visit

We arrived for drinks only: we were shown to a table in the bar area, given menus and then ignored by the three staff. We didn't get to have a drink so cannot comment on quality, but undoubtedly it would have been lovely....if we'd had a chance to be offered one! PS They weren't busy - so no excuses!

As a party from Aviva York Fellowhip totalling 30 persons we had an excellent experience whilst having lunch today. The food was excellent and staff very attentive . We would not hesitate in recommending York Minster Refectory to anyone visiting York or indeed local residents

Excellent meal using grad local produce. Staff welcoming and friendly. A very pleasant experience with stunning views of York Minister from the terrace

Absolutely fabulous lunch in a beautifully restored old building. Everything was of the highest quality. As Kentuckians, we were thrilled to find a mint julep made with Four Roses bourbon which is made in our home county. Absolutely no complaints as to the food, surroundings or service. We would have appreciated some less pricey menu offerings for our lunchtime meal but overall we had a wonderful dining experience. Highly recommend for a special occasion meal beautifully prepared and presented.

Excellent food and service, best breakfast I've had in years!

This is an absolute rip off £9 for 2 cups of tea. Safe to say we won't be back make £450 from a box of 100 T bags disgusting

What an amazing setting on a beautiful terrace overlooking York Minster! The staff were friendly and super efficient and although we only had a sharing platter with a side it was enough to keep going until dinner.

Highly Recommend Unbelievable location and history Fantastic engaging staff Excellent food and ambiance

Poor service. We sat for 15 minutes then had to call someone to serve us. After finishing our drinks we still had to call someone to get the bill. Very slow indeed. Then finally the bill came with a service charge. Unfortunately won’t be going...

The inside atmosphere was so beautiful and the dishes were great too! However the best thing was the customer service!! Actually I left my phone on the table. The staff name Alex he ran to me standing at the platform in the station and passed...

Staff were amazing so kind and catering, food was lovely. Our server was called Alex he was amazing!! And the manager Roberto was so so kind!! Ate here with my mother and we had a fabulous night thankyou to all the staff and chefs for making this a lovely trip for us. Definitely be back here again!!!

Ii was treated to a set lunch for Mothets day. The foid was excellent and the service friendly. My terrine of duck and celeriac slaw was tasty, the excellent roast lamb was adorned with a selection of perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables and good roast potatoes....

How this place can decline from a superb Christmas Day lunch to the bilge of an effort offered for Mother's Day is beyond belief. Staffed, for most of the time by a skeleton crew who are 90% novices is tantamount to the lack of management here witnessed. Waiting an hour between courses is simply not good enough, especially as this is supposed to be 4 star hotel level. Food, when it did manage to arrive was no better than mediocre. A local cafe seemed positively Roux level in comparison. The attitude of the Maitre D, when challenged, was "couldn't care less". He should not be in his job! I would not recommend the Refectory to anybody until they get their act well and truly together and employ staff (with one exception of a young man at the end of the meal) who actually have a clue how a catering operation should work. Most disappointing as a treat for my mum , not what she deserved at all.

Not really sure what was happening. The bartenders told customers they weren’t doing cocktails.. even though it’s advertised as a cocktail bar? Then they run out of glasses (even though there were loads on tables just needed clearing) so were serving drinks in anything they could find - wine in a gin glass for example. Then they were telling customers the coffee machine had broken, even though it hadn’t. It was just lie after lie, it was bizarre. Service was incredibly slow, so perhaps the lies were due to being short staffed, customers kept catching them out at the lies and they seemed to get more frustrated. Very strange!

All seemed rude and not caring about the service… really slow and felt like we was been spoken down too…. Will NOT be returning! Vegetrain options are 2… 2 is shooking and then menu… omg days so tiny. Thanks for ruining our time there…staff on the saturday.

Could tell they ws issuecright away…. Pushed in to corner hidden away form everyone.. staff kept looking at us with disgust since we was a couple and spoke down to us… made me and my feel insafe

An absolute farce from start to finish, they messed up our starters and then tried to give is our mains while one of us still eating, took mains back only to bring the same ones out cold later, no organisation or communication between staff including the kitchen, they knocked all charges off apart from a bottle of wine which they then tried to over charge us for and had the nerve to add a £7.00 service charge, worst experience we ever had in a restaurant

Apparently we couldn't be served for a hot drink at this bar because it was 'very busy' with a Christmas party and only hotel residents could order anything. The bar wasn't exactly heaving, and one of the barmen was twiddling his thumbs behind the counter. I can only assume that the barmen wanted a nice easy night for themselves! Never heard of anything like it.

Good breakfast red hot meal at night lmited

Food was nice but very over priced, won't be going back

The vibe and decor was on point when entering, however that was the extent of it. When sat down you would expect menus to be handed once settled, yet 15 minutes pasted and no menus were handed. During this time, none of the waiters came...

Wednesday night REALLY nice, food was great. Went back Friday night, menu had changed food was no where near as nice and not value for money. If that had been our first night we wouldn't have come back. Both nights very quiet hardly anyone dining.

Expensive food was and dry and overcooked.

This place is lovely , food very good and worth a visit. Staff are very friendly and place is very clean

The refectory restaurant is part of the Principal Hotel in York,uk. Beautiful Hotel as well. We was agreeably surprise by the care of the staffs and the quality of the food. Straight away a lady call Mercedes took our order and explaining everything we want...

My family and I booked for a Sunday lunch prior to catching a train back to London. We had booked for 2pm but went in early as we had hoped for an earlier sit down. Open table only gave us 1pm option or later. We...

First, the space is lovely and the staff do their jobs well. The food, for the costs I was simply not blown away. The cheesecake was fantastic, but the appetizer and mains lacked real flavour, no complexity at all. I would return for the space...

Service 👍🏽 Decor lovely👍🏽 The food was quite nice...just missing flavour/moisture....i didnt like the parsnip puree in Lamb dish (my opinion) ...i feel some might like it A good evening out who wants abit of sophistication

Whilst staying at The Principal York we enjoyed Dinner and Breakfast here. The Set Menu Dinner was excellent (including Beer Battered Haddock and Triple Cooked Chips) and the Breakfast was a better than usual Hot and Cold Buffet

Came here for breakfast while staying at the principal. Beautiful room and atmosphere was lovely but the breakfast itself was definitely average and would have expected more. Had much better for the price but extremely handy when staying at the hotel.

Visited for dinner. It wasn't particularly busy and there were plenty of staff but the service was slow, especially for drinks. We waited 20 minutes for a couple of drinks that had been left on the bar and not delivered, we did get them for...

We went as part of a getaway for my birthday. The staff were extremely nice and gave amazing food and drink recommendations. Nothing was too much to ask. The food was out of this world and tasted and look amazing!

If it wasn’t for Marc, this would have been a very average stay. Marc has looked after us so well and is a credit to The Principal. He made sure everything about our meals and drinks was top notch and was attentive without being irritating. I hope his managers realise what an asset he is to the business and look after him. Grazie tante Marc.

We called for drinks after work and had a few. Our waiter was amazing. Marc thank you so much for looking after us and we will be back again.

I visited this place for the first time. The waiting staff were fantastic. The waiter Mark went above and beyond to ensure we were comfortable and will definitely come here again. And other members if staff also were very helpful to other customers around us. 10/10 will visit soon. Thanks!

We were able to get a table at the time we requested. Limited menu. The service & food was good & reasonably priced. The wind was expensive as expected in such a high end hotel.

My partner and I had a lovely dinner here whilst staying at the Principal Hotel which is adjoined. We opted for some calamari, truffles and cream cheese stuffed peppers which were all incredible. For our mains we had the rib eye steak and fish & chips which really hit the spot and utterly delicious. Our servers were all very professional, polite and extremely friendly and made sure we were having an exceptional time. Fatou imparticular was outstanding and looked after us for the whole evening. We would highly recommend having lunch or dinner here. It's right by the train station and a great environment inside.

Nos alojamos en el Principal por solo dos días y quedamos muy impresionados por la limpieza y las precauciones de COVID implementadas - todo el personal es muy eficiente y agradable, lo que resulta en un ambiente muy relajante y amigable. The Refectory Kitchen and Bar complementa el ambiente del hotel - personal atento y trabajador, comida de gran calidad y precios muy competitivos - haremos de este nuestro hotel y restaurante "al que ir" la próxima vez que estemos en York - Gracias a todos !

Came here on the Monday just for the meal, not being hotel guests. Lovely restaurant with a great atmosphere with very good and friendly staff. We knew there was a reduced menu, but it was fab with everything we wanted. Would highly recommend.

Como huéspedes del hotel, decidimos reservar también para el restaurante. Inicialmente nos decepcionó un poco saber que el restaurante tenía que quedarse sin un menú reducido debido a Covid, sin embargo, esto no se puede evitar. Compartimos algunos panes para comenzar, seguidos de bistec y tarta de chocolate. La comida era deliciosa y el bistec estaba perfectamente preparado.Sin embargo, el servicio superó con creces la comida. Nos atendió principalmente Oliver (o Ollie C como dijo que lo mencionara cuando le preguntamos su nombre para la reseña). Tenía mucho tiempo para nosotros y estaba dispuesto a entablar conversación a pesar de estar ocupado con numerosas mesas. No le importaba en absoluto que probablemente era un poco obvio que habíamos estado disfrutando de las celebraciones de cumpleaños en el Tipi afuera antes de nuestra comida y probablemente estábamos un poco demasiado ruidosos y habladores. Ollie C fue muy servicial y nada de lo que pedimos fue demasiado esfuerzo.Aparte de esto, otro camarero (también llamado Oliver), también nos brindó un excelente servicio y nos hizo sentir muy bienvenidos en el restaurante cuando teníamos algún compromiso con él.¡Definitivamente regresaríamos al restaurante solo por el servicio! Pero probablemente solo una vez que el menú completo esté funcionando nuevamente.Gracias Ollie C y la cocina del refectorio por hacer que el cumpleaños de mi pareja fuera bueno x

On a reduced menu, this was very decent food and very good value, cheerfully served. The menu would benefit from greater variety each night.

Disappointing. A limited, boring menu considering whats on their website. Food and alcohol was hugely overpriced. My steak was overcooked. Service was o.k. but not friendly or helpful. There was no atmosphere and I was really looking forward to going, such a shame.

Anunciado en línea como parte del plan de cenar fuera para ayudar, pero cuando llegó la cuenta, misteriosamente no lo fue. Comida mediocre y de un menú menos que mediocre con un servicio descuidado. Este es un restaurante que está cenando en su ubicación y edificio en lugar de su comida. Rara vez escribo críticas negativas, pero hay restaurantes mucho mejores en York, prueba en otro lugar.

Nos las arreglamos para obtener un cupón de descuento del 50% para el almuerzo del domingo, pero honestamente, el precio total habría sido una ganga. La comida era excelente, buena selección de platos, servicio amable y relajado (no lento), comida de excelente calidad y en abundancia. Definitivamente lo recomendaría, volveremos, con bono o no.

En circunstancias normales, un excelente restaurante, pero lamentablemente no en este momento.El menú anunciado, incluido el publicado en el exterior, no es lo que se ofrece. En cambio, había sido reemplazado por lo que parecía una selección de comidas básicas y baratas. . . . . ¡Sentí que estaba en el restaurante equivocado!La pizza fue posiblemente la peor pizza que he tenido. . . . . una de esas cosas de supermercado ultra baratas que cuestan alrededor de 99 p. Incomible.En su defensa, acaban de reabrir, así que estoy seguro de que esto es solo un problema inicial y volverán a estar en forma pronto, PERO no anunciar el menú incorrecto afuera es un espectáculo muy pobre.

Fantastic breakfast. Well done to you all. Great breakfast and a brilliant hotel

We went for Sunday Lunch 19/07/20. We had a half price voucher so the 3 course Lunch was £30 for two....I would happily have paid the original price and we will definitely be back. The restaurant itself is beautiful and really suitable for the current social distancing.The food was faultless, fresh, beautifully plated and generous. Everything we had was so tasty and there was not one complaint amount five of us. The children’s menu was one of the best I’ve seen with loads of options and the food was really good. We were mostly served by Oliver, he was very professional but also personable, funny and friendly - a real benefit to the restaurant.The restaurant seemed to have handled the new restrictions for Covid really well.Overall a great place too eat and we will be back.

We had a meal at the refectory kitchen to celebrate a special family birthday. From the moment we walked in, the staff made every effort to make the meal special. Considering we were a party of 11, the food came quickly and was delicious. Generous portions, beautifully presented & great flavours.The staff were great with my 5 year old son too!

Chose the house Merlot (£20) as we looked over the menu. For starters, we opted for Popcorn Chicken with Smokey Honey (£4.50) from the small plates and Tarragon and lime tiger prawns, carrot and soy remoulade (£9) from the starters. The service was impeccable and the wait staff were extremely attentive. Our starters were served quickly and were both freshly served and packed full of flavour. For our main courses, we chose the Double 4oz R&J Butchers beef burger, Maida Vale cheese and sweet chilli relish in a pretzel bun, chunky chips (£16.50) and 8oz hanger steak served with chips, vine-on tomatoes, Portobello mushroom and red wine jus (£16.50). The main courses were again served promptly (perhaps too quickly to really make an evening of it), the hanger steak (my favourite cut of steak) was a little too tough for my liking, the chips were tasty though as were the mushrooms. The burger was jam-packed and oozed with cheese, the patties were good in size and my boyfriend commented it was enjoyable, however not the best burger he had ever had.We shared dessert which was the warm chocolate and hazelnut brownie, chocolate crumble, blood orange sorbet (£6.95) which was our favourite course. The brownie was absolutely delicious worked perfectly with the sorbet without being too heavy. It was the perfect sharing size too. We did enjoy our meal, the pricing was extremely reasonable given the central location and location inside the hotel. With that said, it wasn’t our favourite meal we’ve had in York however a really great place to go for an intimate, romantic meal as the food was just average.

3 of us ate at The Refectory on 25th January at 6pm. Thr food was lovely and rrally good value with the set menu. Our waitress, Ami, made it perfect by being attentive, polite, helpful and really professional Thank you

Gran servicio de principio a fin, todos los campos, Yorkshires suaves y esponjosos, bellamente presentados, lo cual es una rareza, no hay verduras empapadas aquí, todo perfecto.

Beware this hotel allows dogs into their restaurant. I know that hotels often chase the pooch pound but I do not take kindly to eating an expensive evening meal in the company of DOGS. The servers even bring drinking bowls!!This practice is a deal breaker for me. Although in all other respects the hotel was quite good it is quite an expensive hotel so I have to judge it accordingly.

No sé por qué, pero nos sorprendió mucho lo buena que es la comida aquí. Tuvimos una cena incluida en nuestro paquete en The Principal y nos ofrecieron el menú festivo a 25 cada uno. Esto no pudo ser criticado y junto con el personal muy servicial y amable hizo una noche maravillosa. Muy recomendable.

Teníamos muchas ganas de probar la comida aquí, las críticas están muy lejos de lo que hemos experimentado. ¡Compramos un paquete de cupones con nuestra membresía que ama York y esta fue, con mucho, la peor experiencia de comida y restaurante que hemos tenido en York! En primer lugar, nunca podríamos comunicarnos por teléfono para reservar una mesa. Una vez allí, el servicio fue muy deficiente y tuvo que llamar al personal en más de una ocasión desde detrás del mostrador donde estaban parados, ¡no estaba tan ocupado, a pesar de que era un sábado a mediodía! Nos dieron la botella de vino equivocada, que luego tuvo que ser devuelta porque estaba efervescente y no estaba destinada a ser. La comida principal era nadar en grasa y el entrante y el desierto mediocres en el mejor de los casos.El gerente que llegó a mitad de nuestra comida se aseguró de que no quisiéramos regresar, era muy inapropiado, constantemente preguntaba por nuestros números de teléfono móvil, haciéndonos sentir muy incómodos. Al tratar de redimir la situación, trajo a nuestra mesa, unos cuantos pedazos de barra de galaxia en un plato y una vez más trató de sugerir que dejáramos nuestros números. ¡Simplemente empeoró todo!

We had a 3 course meal here and the food was excellent. Don't be in a rush as the meal will be served over a 2 hour period, but this is not a negative as son often I go to restaurants and the food is served too quickly. Exellent quality, we had the set 3 course meal costing £25.00, good value

Absolutely lovely evening! Roberto was fantastic and made our evening so special! Excellent wine knowledge and truly passionate about the food, wine, coffee and general experience! It was my mums birthday and he brought a complimentary birthday platter! So attentive! Would return simply for the service! Beautiful meal and beautiful hotel!

Trying to book a festive menu in 2 weeks time has proved to be extremely difficult. Not living close by i rang The refectory to make a booking. The girl on the end of the phone asked me to ring the bedroom bookings 'where all reservations were made' she said. The bedroom bookings put me through to some music and after playing for quite a while i hung up and re dialled. I spoke to an operator who took details and said he would book me in. However after pointing out they would need a choice of menu and deposit he said would get someone to ring back after 3pm(my choice of time due to having to go out). After waiting til 9 pm I emailed the hotel but no phone call again. Still giving them the benefit of the doubt i spoke to someone the next evening at the refectory who was going to take my details and get someone to ring back once again. However when i pointed out that id been in this situation for the last 2 days and wanted to make the booking she said she would get the manager then hung up on me. Dont quite know why but I rang again and still waiting for someone to take my booking. Now ive booked somewhere different. I rang the new place who took my reservation, my deposit then sent me the menu order form by email. Consequently i filled it in and got confirmation email that the order was received all in 15 minutes. Perhaps this place has a lot to learn!

The food was lovely and worth the slightly higher than average cost, the ambience was that of poshness. I would definitely eat here again. The service however had some minor hiccups I feel necessary to point out, whilst I’m not complaining (because the food as I’ve said was very good indeed) the following points need some improvement:

We had a very nice meal here whilst staying at the hotel. The food (in particular, the soup and the creme brulee) was lovely and the wine selection was great. More vegetarian options would have been nice. Ben W, who served us, was was very friendly and helpful.

Two couples ate a variety of meals; meat, fish, vegetables and sauces. We shared the “sticky date pudding” with our significant others and coffees after. Thanks to Ben W. for his friendly, knowledgeable service ✔️.

caring staff. nothing too much trouble. choice of set menu for dinner , or a la carte. breakfast varied , hot or continental so whatever you prefer. prices reasonable for type of hotel.

Had a family meal here for 8 people the night before I got married. The food is beautiful, reasonably priced and the service from the staff is ideal. Very attentive but not too intrusive. Treat yourself

Good choice for breakfast, self-service. The evening meal was cooked to a high standard and the staff were very attentive and helpful.

Visited whilst staying at the hotel. The waitress may have been new as she had to keep checking things and coming back to us, but that's fine. Ordered drinks and the G&T; came in a small glass so was very strong as the tonic would not all fit in the glass, bigger glass next time please. Starter arrived and lovely and fresh and very tasty. Mains arrived and steak cooked to perfection, the side dish we ordered was the wrong one, the correct one arrived within 5 mins. We ordered desert and there wasn't anything we quite wanted so we asked for something else and they delivered. Perfect. Not a cheap meal but it was nice. Only thing it was a little cool in the room. Would visit again when in York.

Disappointing canteen style food. Hotel needs an a la carte restaurant also. Food was only served in the Conservatory.

My family and I held a 70th Birthday celebration here over Sunday lunch.

Visited this restaurant with friends for Sunday lunch. Having waited 15 minutes sat at the table waiting for a waiter to approach we had to flag down a waiter to take a drinks order. They were unwilling to make smaller childs versions of the Sunday lunch - real shame. Food was delicious - meat succulent, large Yorkshire’s and fresh veg. Took over half an hour to get the bill though which then arrived incorrect. First and last impressions count and if it wasn’t for the great food we would never return to this restaurant!

Stayed at the hotel so booked in for a meal and it was the launch night of their new menu. From start to finish it was a great experience. The staff were friendly, professional and fun. They were knowledgeable about the new menu as well. The food was served in a timely fashion and was delicious and plentiful. Three very contented customers and it was the highlight of my hotel stay.

After our memories of our previous visit 6 months ago, dining here was one of the many things we were looking forward to, and yet again the food and the staff were amazing! We ate breakfast and dinner here on both days and every time was exceptional, particularly with Aidan at breakfast and Phoebe at dinner-both were extremely professional yet friendly and approachable. Well done to everyone, we can’t wait to come back again!

We were very lucky that on the night we dined was the first night to their new menu. The food was lovely, served quickly and tasty. Even though it was a new menu the staff seemed very knowledgeable about it and was able to advise us on dishes etc.

When I booked a table at this restaurant (3months ago) I hadn’t realised there was a very limited menu on race days. However the garden room is very pleasant and close to the railway station so we decided to stay. On arrival I asked for a gluten free menu to be told they don’t have one but could adapt the dishes and had gluten free bread. When I asked the waitress if the burger was gluten free she said the bread would be, I asked again about the burger itself and when she actually checked with the kitchen she returned to say I could only have eggs or sandwiches but seemed clueless on the suitability of the fillings. Surprise surprise when the sandwich did arrive I asked the waiter (someone different serving us each time) to double check as it looked like regular bread to me. In fairness he apologised and took it away but had I accepted his first response and eaten it I would have been very poorly for the rest of the day. Either the staff aren’t trained in food allergies or they don’t care. It wasn’t particularly busy so they couldn’t use that as an excuse. The food was poor quality and overpriced. It cost £47 for two sandwiches with fries and a glass of wine. Such a shame because I’ve always enjoyed the place many times for drinks in previous years, although never eaten there. Needless to say, I won’t be returning but would recommend that management train staff in food awareness because they owe a basic duty of care to their customers.

Lovely, fresh food, good variety catering to all diets, and friendly and helpful staff. The breakfast food compotes were outstanding!

We had 40 minutes to spend at the York train station m and we decided to grab a quick bite. It was amazing . Beautiful well lit place, ee ordered cod and chips, the barley risotto , burgers, and macaroni n cheese . the kids over it and the food was very good.

We visited on Sunday using a great offer from the Yorkshire food guide which was 2 three course dinners for £30 bargain! The hotel is quite impressive as you walk through to the restaurant which is also impressive on entrance. We spoke to the staff at the bar and were asked to pick a table as it wasn’t too busy which was great, what wasn’t great was the sitting in what is effectively a large conservatory for 10mins when it’s over 25c outside and then having to ask if we can order a drink! Starters were nice, beef dinner was average but the desserts were very good. All the time though the whole experience was let down by the slow and at times poor service and there seemed to be a lot of standing around chatting whilst we were sat surrounded by stained seats and the floor next to our table had a large soup stain on it. This place has great potential and is a great venue but a bit more proactive approach from the staff would have been better! Don’t get me wrong the staff were all very welcoming and friendly but I came away feeling I’d missed out on eating at another restaurant in York as there are so many good places to eat, standards should and must be high especially somewhere like the Refectory.

Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner here over the 2 days we stayed in the Principal Hotel. Staff were very friendly and welcoming and very happy to help with a table when we forgot to book one night. Food was excellent and it was a shame we could not fit more in as we would have loved too.

Food was average but the venue was welcoming, relaxing and the staff were lovely. We also had breakfast the next morning which was very nice.

We stayed two nights and had breakfast and evening meals in there.

My boyfriend and I booked this place well in advance for my 22nd birthday meal. He’s in the military, so we don’t see each other very often, but we’d made a week’s worth of reservations traveling down between Scotland and Cornwall.

The Refectory is an overpriced hotel restaurant in York. We were staying at The Principal Hotel and wanted an easy, relaxed evening after a busy day (we were a group of 5 ranging from 6-84 years old). We booked a table using OpenTable but when we arrived we were told they didn’t used OpenTable anymore and wouldn’t honor the booking. The server and restaurant manager told me this happened frequently but it wasn’t their problem as they didn’t use OpenTable anymore and I should talk to OpenTable. Not the most helpful response when you are trying to feed your family! We were staying in the hotel—which until this point had done an amazing job of taking care of us and making us feel welcome—and, after making a fuss, we were seated in the bar. The young staff in the bar did a great job, and improved what had become a stressful, upsetting evening. That said, the food was decidedly average and overpriced. There are much better places to eat in York with better customer service and greater respect for their guests. Cannot recommend.