Lympstone Manor Hotel Restaurant & Vineyard - Relais & Chateaux

We booked dinner at The Pool House and were disappointed from the moment we walked through the door. Three staff members looked at us as we entered and ignored us. A waitress finally took us to our table and offered us water. It never arrived. No drinks order was ever taken. The waitress finally returned 20 minutes later to take our food order and seemed surprised when we asked for some drinks. All of the other tables were served bread while they were waiting for their food to arrive but we were not. The restaurant seemed to be short-staffed and had a young trainee on duty who was receiving little or no guidance. Our starters were served so quickly after ordering that our drinks still hadn’t arrived. We made another request for water which then arrived, along with the bread. The main courses were underwhelming. My husband’s seafood curry had the sum total of 3 prawns and 2 very small pieces of salmon in it and a very small portion of rice. Incorrect cutlery was provided for the thin, Indonesian-style sauce. My burger was mediocre at best. We were charged £60 a head despite the menu stating that two courses was £48 (still ridiculously expensive for such basic food). The choice of main courses was similar to that in a gastropub, not what you would expect at Lympstone Manor, albeit The Pool House is more relaxed. We queried the bill on departure and were apparently refunded the difference but it is yet to reach our account. An exceptionally disappointing meal and very poor service for a hefty price tag. We will certainly not be returning.

Not a place I’d rate highly very disappointing. This was booked as surprise birthday present by my wife. The hotel and the rooms are amazing but as this is a foodie place this did not live up to expectations. We ordered a cod main in the pool house restaurant but what came was far from good quality fish this had a blood line running throw both our main courses. We asked the waiter to check with the kitchen that this was not right, and this was brought back to us with the waiter to say its fine and it won’t kill us! Not what you’d expect from a 5-star hotel. We had some of the cod but did not finish it as it was not very appetising. Due to this my wife then fell sick in the night from having the fish. My wife then had a questioner sent to her she filled this out explaining what a disappointment the meal was. This was filled out a few weeks ago and she had no acknowledgment back from the hotel that is why I’m putting this on here as we didn’t have a very good experience. Plus, some of the staff not all need to be a bit more customer friendly. Not a great experience. We won’t be going back.

We had an really lovely set birthday meal for my mum here. Food was gorgeous. Had a walk around afterwards & the garden is nice. Pool bar area looks nice aswell although didn't go in. Would definitely go back. We saw Michael Caine after the meal.