Van Dyk - Bolsover

I am very disappointed with my dining experience today. I have been to this restaurant many times and have always considered it a top-tier dining establishment. However, today was a letdown. We were not provided with a drinks menu or even asked for our drink orders. Additionally, we were not offered any water for the table. The waitress seemed disinterested and unfriendly. To top it off, the wine we ordered was served late. Overall, it was not a pleasant experience.

My spouse and I visited this restaurant on a Tuesday night to celebrate our wedding anniversary. While there was a decent selection on the menu, we were disappointed with the food as it lacked flavor and my meal was lukewarm and had to be sent back. I waited 15 minutes for it to return while my husband finished his meal, resulting in a less than ideal dining experience. Despite the apologies from the staff, we were not offered any compensation for the inconvenience. The restaurant was noisy, even though it was not at full capacity, which we have noticed on previous visits. We have tried this place multiple times, hoping for a better experience, but unfortunately, the food was overpriced and mediocre. Regrettably, we will not be returning in the future.

We went to the restaurant for a friend’s birthday celebration. Although we have been there before and the food is excellent, our experience was tainted by the poor quality of the waiting staff on our second visit. When we asked some simple questions about the vegetarian curry, the waiter responded with ‘I don’t know.’ We had to request him to go and find out. Additionally, he couldn’t locate my friend’s drink on his tablet and simply handed it to her to look for herself. This disappointing service continued throughout the evening, despite the delicious food. Most of the waiting staff seemed young and inexperienced, and would benefit from shadowing more experienced employees. One of the full-time staff members, dressed in a shirt, tie, and waistcoat, stood out for his knowledge and politeness.

If you're looking for an upmarket afternoon tea with good service, adaptability and a friendly vibe then seek a nice little independent cafe elsewhere. We were so disappointed with this place. There was no atmosphere in the restaurant, the waiters didn't greet us, we had 2 people serve us, both of who told us conflicting advice on the drinks included in the tea for 2. They brought the wrong drinks out, we'd only ordered 2 drinks at this point. Nothing seemed to flow. The kitchen weren't adaptable to our requests with the food. It all just felt very impersonal, rushed, back street cafe. I took my mum, sister and our children and it felt like a very expensive, mediocre buffet unfortunately. There was nothing on the plates that wowed us for the price we paid..... and that was in the half price offer!

We booked a room for about 40 people and pre selected all three courses. The soup was nice and it was how although the fresh bread was not very fresh. The main course was so cold I could only eat about half the meal. In addition the potatoes needed longer in the oven and they were not cooked through and we pale and visibly undercooked. The desert was ok'ish. Not much vanilla or sweetness in the lumpy custard. A real shame and normally I would have sent the meal back to the kitchen buts its very awkward during a large gathering. Next drinks. What an absolute rip off. I live local so i know it is pricy but Morretti/Madri is £6.80 a pint. That is bad enough but should you order a half (for a lady) , it is £4.50 this is daylight robbery and should be illegal. We went to the bar a few times and order 2 or 3 halves and were never told of this extortionate scam. Watch out there are far better places in the area that don't rip you off and know how to server a basic dish at an acceptable temperature.