The best restaurants in Esh County Durham North East

Took a friend here today for her birthday, had coffees, it wasnt very hot, orderded the sausage with caramalised onion and cheese cibatta,drank our coffee, still no food, waited over half a hour for our sandwich, when it eventually came, i presume it was the manager, he said smile and took a photo of the sandwich, i made a comment that we had waited half a hour and he went and spoke to the member of staff who served us, he came over and said the kitchen is only small, that is no excuse, they had forgot about what we had ordered, because when i said what we were waiting for it was only warmed up then, i have put comments on here before, and they have always been good, but unfortunately today was a different matter, We even had to get a drink of water to drink with our sandwich, has we had finished our coffee in five minutes, We like this cafe and live about 10 miles away from it, wernt even offered another drink. POOR SERVICE on this occassion, they started talking in italian when i complainted, very unprofessional.

Aroy is a hidden Gem of a Thai cafe/Restaurant . We have visited many times and the food has always been fresh and very tasty. The service is excellent and the staff are very friendly and always get a warm welcome.

we visit this pub on weekends and thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere .there is always something going on singers or turns.the staff in here are extremely friendly and professional obviously enjoying their work..always get a nice pint reasonably priced..keep up the good work

Delicious food and reasonable prices! I tried a Lamb Shank and it was amazing!

Original review was "Really nice tearooms - I'll definitely call in again if I'm passing. Lovely food and really cosy atmosphere with very pleasant staff." EDIT reduce from ⭐⭐⭐⭐ to ⭐⭐. The owner has changed since my last vist. Called today and was very disappointed. Walked in and the owner and manager were sat at a table talking. It took 5 minutes before anyone approached. The manager was friendly enough, and directed us to sit at one of the tables. The table had crumbs and jam on it - we had to ask for it to be cleaned. Food served, though expensive, looked okay, until I bit into a shard of plastic (see photo). I couldn't finish meal, and have felt nauseous since. To be fair to cafe they didn't charge for the jacket potato with the shard in it. When I told my wife about today, she told me she visited a few weeks ago and saw the cook enter the toilet wearing the apron 🤮 and wouldn't visit again. Neither will I.

Called last minute to ask for a room and revived a warm welcome.Heard lots of interesting stories about the pub and the area. Hosts efficient, helpful and friendly.Room very clean, and bed very comfortable. Breakfast- a simple but excellent selectionThank you for your hospitality and warm welcome.

Fantástico descanso en el Royal Oak. Gente cálida genuina, pub encantador, habitación acogedora con todo lo que pueda necesitar. ¡Y la comida! Cocinado en casa, abundante y delicioso; eso incluye el desayuno! Muy recomendable ☺️

Delicious food. Great atmosphere. Excellent service.

Friendly staff. Fantastic views if you’re lucky enough to get the window seats. Have eaten a few times here and always accommodating to add or change things to meals on menu. Had turkey sandwich with home made chips on last visit which was delicious. Dogs are allowed in an area of the pub with water bowls supplied.

We haven't been here for a while and 5 of us came for Sunday lunch. We hadn't booked and they were pretty busy. Four of us had roast dinner and one a toastie. Two had smaller dinners. The food was very nice indeed, we couldn't fault it but unfortunately the service wasn't great. We had 3 waitresses in all. We had to wait quite a long time to place our order and also to wait for the food. But when the food came we didn't get cutlery, then insufficient cutlery and we didn't get any vegetables. When we questioned this we got a few - eventually - but not really enough for 4 roast dinners. So excellent quality food but the service didn't match. Also when we paid they didn't charge us correctly for the 2 smaller plates.

Very comfortable delicious breakfast & a lovely atmosphere, have only had breakfast here but would highly recommend

We booked our stay on line. Didn’t read much about it, just checked it was all on one level. Wish we could have stayed longer than one night! Out 2 rooms were lovely and clean, warm and welcoming. Reception explained everything clearly to us. Our only criticism was the bed was very low. Comfortable but low down. If we had stayed longer I would have asked to change room. Breakfast was amazing, everything you could ask for and more. All that we had was of good quality. We will definitely be back! Thank you for a lovely stay.

Amazing service and food is delicious highly recommend. Also the pizzas are amazing nice crust

We came for dinner on a Tuesday. They weren't as busy as usual. I had a fillet steak which was lovely and perfectly cooked. The portions are ridiculously large and the quality of the food is excellent. Value is great.