The best restaurants serving British food in East Midlands

I wish to start this review by saying I am a true advocate of spoons, especially the Bingham one. I estimate my average attendance to be atleast weekly spanning the last decade, and I always have a good time wether it be for a quick breakfast, a cheap and cheerful dinner with family or getting absolutely slaughtered on a Friday night so this only adds to the disappointment of my evening. I attended with my family for a quick and easy dinner, I am aware of how busy the branch gets but this did not deter me from having a nice time. We sat down on a table that had only just vacated and was covered in the previous patrons plates, cutlery and used napkins. I do not have an issue with this and was more than fine to move them all into a pile myself and await for a staff member to clear this. We ordered in the app as usual, and to my bemusement, 3 x payments were taken for one order. I went to the bar to query this where I was met with the response of, verbatim “it’s only in your pending, we haven’t even taken it yet, and I finish in 5 minutes anyway”. I am no arguing man and gave the staff member who I will not name the benefit of the doubt and returned to my seat. I awaited patiently for our drinks and food to arrive, unfortunately the staff member delivering the drinks failed to see the mountain of 19 plates stacked right in front of me and walked off because I could manage to ask them to take it. We then waited patiently food to arrive, which took 55 minutes. ( again i understand how busy it was and this is not particularly important to me), however when it eventually did arrive, it was missing two pigs in blankets, and this was important to me as I had deliberately ordered this burger from the Christmas specials member because it indeed came with pigs in blankets. I raised this instantly with a staff member who was happy to rectify the situation. Another 20 minutes past and still no sign of any pigs in blankets, by which point I had finished my £31.89’s worth of burger. I also wish to add not a single mayonnaise with anything more than a tea spoon amount remaining could be found anywhere in the establishment. I was happy to let bygones be bygones, due to my usual content at spoons service, quality, atmosphere and general experience. I have then noticed that the so called ‘only pending’ transactions of £31.89 for ONE burger were no longer in fact ‘pending’ and had been taken from my bank. I rang the branch to ask how this would be rectified and yet again I was fobbed off to wait a few days or contact my bank to solve their mistake. It would appear the delegation of any kind of taking responsibility falls within the quality of anyone who wishes to work there. Disappointed, let down and expected better from my usual trusty local.

Had the Planter breakfast and my friends had the stack. Service was adequate, asked if I had a planters card - had no idea what this was so said no - wasn’t informed what it was and that was that. Couldn’t process more than a request at a time and felt like lots of questions asked for a simple request of an americano. After about 15 mins the food arrived, hot. My plate with baked beans appeared to lack the juice that goes with the beans and the tomatoes were chopped albeit fresh. The stack wasn’t worth the price, as for slightly note the breakfast was way better value. Hot drinks felt expensive - over £3 for a cup of tea!! Pleasant enough. Not worth a special trip.

Rockeado escuchar domingo de Pascua solo para encontrar aparcamiento y pub vacío pudimos ver al chef de pie sobre el carvery a través de la ventana pero no hay clientes, así que no entramos. Mi hijo entró habló con el chef que le dijo que había bajado colina así que nos fuimos y comimos en el agujero en la pared a la vuelta de la esquina.

We always came here with our granddaughter. She had a great time. Sad 😔 to see it go

Having visited several times over the past 25 years by car and narrow boat, we were somewhat dismayed to find that Parking Eye are now administering the Car Park and we therefore were obliged to pay. Whilst ordering food we mentioned the parking charges and were advised to see the barman. He asked for the parking ticket which I recovered from the car, and he refunded the amount we had payed, putting the parking ticket in the till. This is a great pub, full of character and the food was great. When we left we had a walk round the site before returning home. Some time later we were dismayed to receive a parking fine from Parking Eye for £100. This must be a common occurrence as there is a form to fill in on the Navigation Inn Website. Form duly submitted but with a nil result by the time discounted payment required, I appealed the parking charge - result that appeal refused because we had overstayed the time purchased by a few minutes. All attempts to contact the Navigation Inn unsuccessful, phone never answered and website now down for maintenance. Definitely not good enough, a good Pub now been spoiled by an over zealous parking administration, and a failure to be able to get in touch via phone or online. We will not be returning!

Cafe really run down! Staff rude! Coffee awful and so much noise from the staff clearing away! Tables dirty! It was not a nice relaxing experience! We will not be returning!

What a delightful find The Black Bull in Welton turned out to be! On a recent drive through the Lincolnshire countryside, we spontaneously decided to stop for Sunday lunch, and we couldn't have picked a better spot. Even though it was clearly a popular choice (we were allocated the very last table for four - phew!), the atmosphere was warm and inviting from the moment we stepped inside. The service we received was truly outstanding. Every member of staff was incredibly friendly and attentive, making us feel instantly welcome. Nothing was too much trouble, and their genuine smiles really added to the enjoyable experience. And then there was the food! Absolutely delicious and clearly made with care. Our Sunday lunches were excellent, with generous portions of perfectly cooked traditional fare. What's even better is that it was all so reasonably priced – fantastic value for such high quality. To top it all off, the locals were incredibly welcoming too, adding to the genuine and friendly ambiance of the pub. It felt like stepping into a proper village local, full of warmth and good cheer. We left The Black Bull feeling completely satisfied and genuinely thrilled that we stumbled upon this gem. We're already looking forward to our next visit, which definitely won't be in the too distant future! If you're in the Lincolnshire area, make sure to put The Black Bull in Welton on your list – you won't be disappointed!

I was enjoying a pint outside the Boardwalk in the afternoon on Sunday 27th October 2024 when one of the staff came around clearing the tables. She rather curtly enquired if I was ordering something as this was ‘the cafe area’ and the pub area was ‘over there’. It was a busy afternoon and I couldn’t see any places to sit ‘over there’. There is no signage to indicate the relevant cafe and bar areas – several types of tables are in use outside so the difference wasn’t obvious; it wasn’t evident that there even was a differentiation. Indeed, there were two vacant tables adjacent to mine, so it wasn’t as though I was preventing other customers from sitting down. I abandoned my drink and left the site immediately as I found the incident acutely embarrassing having taken place in front of other customers, and will not be returning. There is a clear need for improvement both in staff training in customer respect and courtesy; and in the signage outside the refreshment areas on the site. Subsequently, I contacted Mercia Marina who forwarded my e-mail to the relevant establishment on-site but they did not even deign to reply. Clearly, they have no interest in customer satisfaction. Mercia Marina needs to take responsibility for all the businesses in situ, as shortcomings in one outlet reflect badly on the reputation of the entire site.

We have been visiting the Green Dragon for many years now and we have always received great service and good food. They have recently updated their menu and the food is great quality as well as good value for money. Would highly recommend and is great for the family

¡Un gran hallazgo! Buen recorrido, algunos hoyos difíciles y un buen entorno. Acogedora y amable casa club con buena comida. Sin duda recomendaría.

We visited twice whilst on Holiday to watch the Play Off for League two, found the service to be excellent along with the food, the Chicken and Bacon Panini were really nice and very reasonably priced. We are back in August and will definitely visit again.

We visited on a lovely sunny early November late morning. The coffee shop is in an excellent location, opposite a car park -£2 for the day in winter and only c 70 yards from the sea. It is well appointed with plenty of tables and we had a nice window one looking out to the town. We just had a coffee and cake, both of which were very good. The lady suggested we had a half shot latte as we don't like it strong and she even came to check that it was ok which it certainly was. The sandwiches looked good and the food and drinks were very competitively priced. I am amazed at some previous, what I would call nasty reviews. It seems popular with the locals with a nice ambience and we couldn't fault it - we will certainly be back.

Terrible place, rude incompetent staff who leave people waiting and carry on chatting behind bar like you’re invisible, bar manager named Craig is useless doesn’t have a clue what’s he’s doing he couldn’t run a charity shop

Came her on New Year’s Eve for a drink, was a nice vibe. Nice cozy pub with friendly staff. They were also doing live music.

Absolutely delicious soup and bread. Great range of choice in a lovely setting. The waiter apologised for being slow as he was new, but was so polite we couldn’t be cross - I was a new waitress once.