Van Dyk - Bolsover

We went to the restaurant for a friend’s birthday celebration. Although we have been there before and the food is excellent, our experience was tainted by the poor quality of the waiting staff on our second visit. When we asked some simple questions about the vegetarian curry, the waiter responded with ‘I don’t know.’ We had to request him to go and find out. Additionally, he couldn’t locate my friend’s drink on his tablet and simply handed it to her to look for herself. This disappointing service continued throughout the evening, despite the delicious food. Most of the waiting staff seemed young and inexperienced, and would benefit from shadowing more experienced employees. One of the full-time staff members, dressed in a shirt, tie, and waistcoat, stood out for his knowledge and politeness.

Came for a meal food was average. Tried a few times to get clarification on what the ribs signature sauce is as mine was covered in cumin seeds which is a strange choice for seasoning and no mention of this on the menu. 3 emails and no clarification. Disappointing have been wanting to give it a try for a while. Sadly didn’t live up to the expectation and poor customer service when trying to provide feedback. Should be mentioned on the menu

The Restaurant in the evening was absolutely freezing I had to keep my coat on throughout the meal . The waiter plonked the bottle of wine on our table unopened with glasses and walked away !! Serve yourself !! Then the food arrived by a robot which was better service than most of the staff ! The only thing which was good was the food, credit to the chef who cooked the meal . I like to talk but felt that the table distance was to vast and I hate shouting across, but we had noise from the disco and table and chairs scrapping across the floor as the staff were setting up for breakfast. I will not be returning again due to lack of care/ service from most of the staff are untrained for a restaurant of this standard . It is such a shame as my family have used this hotel/ restaurant for over 40 years with some great memories from my childhood.

Sunday dinner food was outstanding!! The customer service however was terrible. I don’t mind being served by actual robots I think the novelty is great but I do mind being served by arrogant staff who ignore the customer and are rude. The only waiting staff who showed any integrity and authenticity was a staff member who was being trained. We waited 10 mins for drinks, they didn’t come, then reordered when we gave our dessert order, 5 mins later the drinks came and another 10 mins later the same drinks order came again. The waiter assured us they would be taken off the bill. They weren’t!! my husband asked for them to be removed, the bar manager said he would need to verify my husband identified which waiter it was the waiter then blamed it on some one else! Again we waited 20 mins for the bill, my husband lost his patience and went to the maitre d desk where he was ignored three times!!! Very poor there is a negative culture here amongst staff. Such as shame as the food is excellent and the setting and the surroundings are lovely. Looking at the response from management on other trip advisor reviews I don’t think there is any serious reflection on what is wrong with the service no urgency to act on feedback!

If you're looking for an upmarket afternoon tea with good service, adaptability and a friendly vibe then seek a nice little independent cafe elsewhere. We were so disappointed with this place. There was no atmosphere in the restaurant, the waiters didn't greet us, we had 2 people serve us, both of who told us conflicting advice on the drinks included in the tea for 2. They brought the wrong drinks out, we'd only ordered 2 drinks at this point. Nothing seemed to flow. The kitchen weren't adaptable to our requests with the food. It all just felt very impersonal, rushed, back street cafe. I took my mum, sister and our children and it felt like a very expensive, mediocre buffet unfortunately. There was nothing on the plates that wowed us for the price we paid..... and that was in the half price offer!