The Coniston Kitchen - Swale

This was the worst dining experience I have ever had in terms of both food and customer service. I went with my work colleagues for our Christmas party on a Thursday evening in December. We paid £40 per person, so I had certain expectations for the quality of the food. Unfortunately, the starters were lukewarm, the turkey was full of gristle, and the cheesecake was inedible. The vegetarian in our group was told they had run out of her pre-ordered option and instead given a plate of plain vegetables without gravy. Despite asking for vegan options in advance, another member of our group was given a poor meal on the night. When we requested to speak to the manager, he initially declined and later blamed the event manager and an agency chef for the issues. He was extremely rude, insinuating that we only wanted free drinks. The waiting staff, however, were polite and apologetic. Overall, it was a terrible experience and I will not be returning. It reminded me of a scene from Fawlty Towers.

Food was ****! Only one person behind the bar during the meal. A Muslim colleague had a sausage on his salmon meal and the turkey meal was swimming in gravy. Staff were couldn't care less. Not very helpful. The poor fellow behind the bar was run of his feet.

Lovely Christmas meal , staff tried so much , especially Sandra , who was concerned about every aspect of our celebration meal , we come here every year lovely service they really do try , food is good considering the amount of people , really good time ...

We decided to give the restaurant a second chance to see if it had improved since our last visit shortly after its opening. Unfortunately, it has not. The staff was seen shouting at each other, promised ingredients like fresh raspberries were missing, and the so-called "Rustic" chips were clearly just reheated frozen ones. The Gourmet Burger I ordered was dry and flavorless, almost as bad as something from McDonald's, topped with what was supposed to be cheese. The dessert, labeled as Death by Chocolate, was a bland brown cake with a drizzle of sauce and tasteless ice cream. Overall, we do not think we will be returning anytime soon.

I’ve never come across such a surly and miserable waitress as I did in this place. Unbelievable! We then heard her telling other patrons at the bar in a loud voice that she was leaving. Well, hurrah for that. I bet the management are delighted. God, she was grumpy. Such a shame as after she plonked the plates down in front of us, the food was actually quite tasty. I had the salmon which was perfect. Food great..... shame about the service!