Gardenia

Review summary

1. M

   Martin

   VIP

   London

   12 reviews

   3.0

   12 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Great Valentine’s Day Meal, but totally ruined by my partners £450 scarf being stollen from the restaurant coat stand .
   

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2. T

   Terence

   Kent

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on February 8, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 1

   Very overpriced for the food you get. The restaurant was absolutely freezing cold. Even the customers sitting beside me said they were frozen and didn’t take coats off. I had the lamb rack. 2 measly cutlets with a small amount of mash (about a dessert spoonful) . The hottest thing on my plate was the chips from my partners meal. Not impressed. Also badly signposted once inside eastwell manor, we were searching for 15 minutes to find out where the gardenia restaurant was. Definitely won’t be returning anytime soon
   

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3. K

   Kate

   London

   10 reviews

   4.0

   10 reviews

   Dined on February 2, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   We waited a while for our meal. Then a large group which arrived sometime after us was ultimately served their main courses well before us. The starters were excellent. (The salmon rillettes and pig cheek were both tasty). The meats on the main courses were very good. (Tho we had to ask for the cracking to accompany the pork). There was a selection of accompanying veg, which were cool on arrival and quickly became cold. It was busy…but we believe we really should have received our main courses before the large group. Wines by the glass were perfectly acceptable. .
   

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4. S

   Susan

   London

   5 reviews

   2.0

   5 reviews

   Dined on January 28, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   The serving staff were sweet and tried, but we had to ask for the bread we’d ordered four times before it arrived. Our first course also took over 45 minutes to arrive - tables that had arrived and ordered after us were being served their main course before we had received our first course. So unfortunately this all rather spoiled our “relaxed” dinner. The cost of the bread and the service charge were removed from our bill, but only after we’d asked - politely - for our poor experience to be acknowledged in the bill.
   

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5. M

   Michael

   Yorkshire

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 26, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   we found service very slow between meals,it took 45min from main to dessert. the room was also cold just a open fire which was not lit until about 12.30.
   

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6. G

   Graham

   London

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on January 26, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Had a table for four for Sunday lunch (celebrating two birthdays) Restaurant was cold, you expect that it would be difficult to keep an old building warm, however there was no attempt to heat this room ( the bar and reception area were heated). We were greeted by very pleasant restaurant staff and shown to our table, our order was taken in good time, we were a bit surprised to be told that we had to order all three courses but we complied assuming that this would ensure a slick service ( we couldn't have been more wrong. The table of four next to us arrived around ten minutes after our order had been taken, imagine our surprise that they had eaten their starter and had received their main course before our starters arrived! Was this because they were a la carte and we were on a travelzoo voucher, we wondered! After another longish wait our main course arrived, three roast beef meals were really nice the Salmon was OK but lukewarm (we did not send it back as we had waited so long for it) by this time our neighbours had their desert and coffee and paid their bill and left! Next was the worst part, 40 minutes from finishing our main course (plates cleared away) and having chased members of staff twice our desserts finally arrived, no apology for the delay. As we looked around the room other tables were also experiencing the same issue. We questioned one of the young waiting staff as to what had gone wrong, she was clearly embarrassed and very apologetic, her comment was "it is always like this at the weekend". My advice is to avoid this restaurant at weekends (especially Sunday lunch) as it would appear that the weekend cook has not got sufficient experience in running a kitchen service. Waiting staff were exceptional - Kitchen organisation was poor.
   

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7. M

   Melissa

   Kent

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 25, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Excellent food and service even though it was extremely busy. Quality ingredients and attentive staff. Would thoroughly recommend.
   

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8. K

   Kimberly

   London

   8 reviews

   2.0

   8 reviews

   Dined on January 25, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Food was ok. Dessert was a disappointment. The ‘delice’ was rubbery. Portions were a bit small on the goats cheese starter and the main. Service wasn’t great. No one asked about drink orders after the initial round of cocktails. We ordered a bottle of white just before the mains arrived and we were nearly done eating them and still no bottle of wine had arrived. Ended up cancelling the bottle.
   

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9. K

   Kathy

   London

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 17, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   The menu offered a good selection of delicious meals to choose from. The portions were good and the staff were very friendly
   

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10. N

    Nichola

    London

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 15, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    Excellent set dinner included with the Winter Escape Deal plus a bottle of wine. First class pea soup with truffle oil with just the right consistency plus a chunk of bread on the side. We both had the salmon on a bed of pea purée, just the right amount. Also, unusual to get 3 courses on a set complementary menu. A choice of desserts but also a cheese plate that didn’t entail a supplement and was a generous portion. Lovely helpful and friendly staff with a log fire to add to the ambience. A lovely surprise to get such good quality food in a historic hall.
    

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