The Oak Room at Danesfield House

Amazing location, great food, light decor and unobtrusive service. Not the least expensive place to eat but that doesn't stop me coming back time and again!

I had to put 2 stars for the food although it's better than that but I had to include the wine in the rating. We are local and have always loved Danesfield House Hotel, We've been going there for over 15 years and have always recommended it to all our friends and associates. We've had many beautiful dinners there and although the food has declined slightly in recent years, it's always been good. However, we turned up there on Thursday evening around 7.30pm for my partner's birthday celebration - just the two of us. Interestingly it was almost deserted - we were to find out why later. As it was romantic situation, when we casually ordered 'Two glasses of Prosecco please' I didn't check the cost first - big mistake! We sat down outside and started to browse the menu and The Wine List. Well, the menu looked interesting and the food prices seemed reasonable. So, as it was to be a romantic meal we opened The Wine List. The cheapest, that's the cheapest, wine was priced at £40.00, after that it went up into the stratosphere £90.00, £110.00, £175.00 and beyond. A glass of wine in the bar seemed to be about £12.00. We asked the waiter if they had a House Wine and he said yes and brought a card - it was £40.00 a bottle. Months ago we'd been there and the 'cheapest' wine was £29.00 a bottle which was just about acceptable. So, we got up and decided to go somewhere else. I went to the desk to pay for the two glasses of Prosecco and the waiter handed me a bill for OVER £29.00 - that's £14.50 a glass! I said no and they took the 'service charge' off and to avoid further spoiling the evening I paid them £26.00 and we left in a rage. When challenged, the waiter in his halting English explained that the management was 'shooting for ze luxury market'. I said no, they are shooting for the expense account market, where one idiot tries to impress a bunch of clients by buying wine at £120.00 a bottle. The charge of over £29.00 for two small glasses of Prosecco seemed so outrageous I even suspected the waiters were running a scam - but they weren't because the hotel manager later confirmed the price. I would urge all of you who are not on an expense account to avoid this place in future!

…starters being simple and average didn't indicate great promise. Moving on to the duck main course and chicken which had been placed on gritty spinach in a heavy sauce with a tasteless potato fondant did little to lift our experience, which overall was lack-lustre and very disappointing, given the delights we had experienced at the hands of former chef Adam Simmonds. Standards have slipped significantly, except prices have not. I am not sure who was in the kitchen the night we dined, but apart from the spinach being served unwashed, the cooking style resembled that of quite a few decades back which wouldn't have mattered too much if it had been done with some care and skill. It was a struggle to find something to commend the Oak Room.

We ate here last Friday having booked last minute into the hotel. First impressions are excellent. We decided to go to the bar first for a drink and the staff took excellent care of us, even transferring our aperitif to the table. The Orangery is like a century old conservatory with an elegant feel which overlooks the hotel grounds and river. The service was excellent throughout, topping up wine and water glasses without intruding too much on your meal. So after setting such a lovely scene, the food was quite disappointing. My boyfriend had the celeriac soup which was lovely and the highlight of the whole meal. My fois gras and quail terrine however, was decidedly lacking in flavour. For mains my braised beef and my boyfriend's chicken and mushroom pie really weren't anything special. It seems a great deal of time and care is taken over the presentation – every piece of meat or veg is placed just so – but this appears to be at the detriment to good old fashioned taste. We bypassed dessert and coffee and our 2 course meal with a bottle of wine came in at over £120! This seems quite extortionate for such average food.