The Kestrel - Harrogate

I was quite disappointed with my experience at this restaurant. The atmosphere was nice and the service was good, but unfortunately, the quality of the food has declined rapidly. It seems like they need to make some changes in the kitchen to improve the situation.

The Sunday lunch was just okay in terms of quality and portion size, and at almost £20, it was not budget-friendly. All the dishes were piled high on the plate. The vegetarian option was especially disappointing, as it was small and had fewer vegetables compared to the meat option. The service was not very attentive, despite the restaurant being busy.

Four of us made a reservation for 12:15pm at the restaurant. Our drink and food orders were taken promptly, with one starter and four main dishes. The starter arrived after about 20 minutes, but our main courses did not arrive until 1:15pm. When we inquired about the delay, we were informed that the kitchen staff did not receive the orders for our main courses until 20 minutes after the starter had been served, as it was part of "the system". We expressed our dissatisfaction, and a manager or another staff member acknowledged that the delay between starter and main course was 30 minutes. We felt that we should have been informed about these time gaps when we placed our order. Despite the food being good once it arrived, we opted to skip dessert due to the additional 20-minute wait time. The atmosphere in our section of the restaurant was also uncomfortably cold. Overall, we decided not to return to this restaurant.

The ambience of the place was lovely. The staff were attentative, and the food was extremely good. Wendy couldn't do enough for us even though the place was busy. The food was more than adequate belly pork delicious, as was the gravy. Lasagne well presented and full of flavour. Well done guys when we're next in the area, we will return.

Being regular visitors to the Kestrel we visited last night for a nice saturday evening meal. I asked the waitress what the specials were and was told what the soup was, the pie of the day was chicken and pancetta but there was only one left and then the pie would be beef. Unable to decide I asked again was she sure there were no specials, oh she said there is belly pork and mash! My husband ordered the fish and chips and I asked if it was possible to order the beef pie, she told me no that couldn't be ordered until the last chicken pie had been sold, which seems bizarre! I reluctantly ordered the Hunters chicken which when it arrived didn't look appetizing, there was a small amount of cheese on which was dried up, the bacon was so crispy it crumbled when cut into. My husbands fish was poor, the edges were very crispy and little fish, the middle was OK! When the waitress came to ask if everything was ok we said it wasn't up to the usual standard to which she pulled a face and said sorry!!! When we had finished she came and said did we want the dessert menu, the bill or another drink, which seemed a bit abrupt and as if we were being rushed. We said we would like more drinks and that we had a complimentary cocktail, I ordered as Mojito and was asked what flavour (strawberry, passion fruit or another). I said I didn't know you could get different flavours? Anyway ordered a passion fruit one, she came later and said she was sorry for the delay but they had to get margarita mix to make the mojito, I was even more confused by this as I understood mojito's contained bacardi, mint, sugar, lime and soda??? We got the impression that the staff were not of the usual standard and experience that we usually experience when visiting the Kestrel which is a couple of times a month.