Halliford Mere Lakes - Spelthorne

Have passed the sign on number of occasions finally tried it out. We went with another couple today for lunch, very good venue, young lady serving friendly and polite, booking over the phone answered correctly by text as requested. Food was good, not a cheap meal but I think it was good value. We will definitely be going back. My only observation , the fish stock in the soup was a little bland, but that is just my opinion, I like a little kick, but otherwise my meal was good.

We arrived on a bank holiday lunch time. whoever was managing the place looked surprised that clients were coming, there was another couple that arrived at the same time, the manager told them to follow him and left us in the entrance, we could see that they didn’t have any table set so they moved 2 tables on the terrace, we eventually went to the terrasse too as no one was coming back for us, it’s a big terrasse, and yet we were seated the furthest possible from the sides with the nicest view even though the terrasse was almost empty. we then had to wait for the other couple to decide what they wanted to eat because the restaurant only had 1 menu hand written on a slate. We eventually ordered and went to enjoy the lake views, the waitress came to us to tell us that what we ordered wasn’t available, so we changed. The food arrived, the quantities were absolutely ridiculous, i took a monkfish dish that was a tiny square portion with about 7 fried baby potatoes slices, 1 steamed mini carrot and 1 tiny broccoli and about 2 teaspoon of sauce on the monkfish, the monkfish was ok but the vegetables were completely tasteless, except the broccoli piece that tasted like raw fish which wasn’t really pleasant. My partner had lamb with the same potatoes slices and the steamed baby carrot and broccoli. While we were eating one staff started to varnish a table next to us, so we had the pleasure of super strong varnish smell while trying to enjoy the food that had no taste. I really don’t understand how a place can have such a beautiful scenery, pretend to do Mediterranean food and yet make the worst food and give the worst service, and it wasn’t cheap! The monk fish was about £19 and the lamb was about £24…We were super hungry leaving this place, we walked arround the lakes and went to eat some cake somewhere else. I very rarely leave reviews, but seeing such a nice place which huge potencial is a bit sad, and also I am pissed off because I feel I have been ripped off, if I could go back in time I would have left when we were serve the food. Yet, the waitress was very friendly and we talked to someone managing the lakes who seemed very nice too, please sort this restaurant out as, as per our experience it is currently a good candidate for Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen show.

I had an excellent meal at this restaurant. The staff were friendly and the service was great. Overall, it was a pleasant experience and I will definitely recommend it.

We enjoyed pre dinner drinks overlooking the very pretty trout lake. We both ordered calves liver for main course which was cooked well and tasty. It was a Saturday night and the restaurant was quiet which we felt provided little atmosphere.

The restaurant has a stunning location and I have dined here before. However, the quality of the food this time was not great. My seabass was tasty but served with boiled broccoli and tasteless, overcooked carrots that did not complement the dish. The menu stated it came with boiled potatoes but they were fried. The seafood platter was very disappointing for the price of 28.50, with no marinade on the mussels and prawns still having poo tracks on them. Additionally, we were charged 29 pounds for 2 small bottles of prosecco and 2 pints of still water. It is now clear why we were able to get a table last minute.