I had a large family dinner at the Lamp Room last week - the entire experience was excellent. The service was top, the ladies delivered unbeatable hospitality.Choosing the tapas dishes was difficult because they all sounded delicious. I think the variety of the tapas menu gives options for all, and dishes were absolutely tasty.The restaurant itself has a warm, welcoming atmosphere, shedding a glimpse into the areas rich history.Thank you to the Mel and Russ, as well as your staff at the Lamp Room for making the family meal so special.
gregbojke
Everything was absolutely perfect - quick and friendly table service for breakfast, nice amount of options for both veggies, vegans and those requiring gluten free food. Nice drinks menu too! Ordered the eggs and halloumi Benedict and it was literally perfect - would travel 45 minutes from home to return solely for the food here !
Phil H
Was told 15 min wait for a table but could sit and wait inside on the stools near the window. More people turned up and had to wait outside. Thirty minutes later and numerous tables came free and they were filling them with people who were waiting outside. A lady came and asked us if we wanted to order and we said we were waiting for a table. She said thats fine as they were already clearing another two tables...so we ordered. They then filled the two tables again with new people from outside. We asked again when would we have table and it suddenly became a massive issue. We were now told quite firmly we would need to eat in the window seats. I'd have left but we had already ordered on promise of a table. Anyway food arrived and the Craster Benedict was missing Asparagus. They added a hash brown in replacenent. The poached eggs were rubbery and it was all a bit cold. All in all a poor experience that was not worth the £37.50 it came to. It was very busy but thats not an excuse to treat customers badly. I've been numerous times before as I am local. Unfortunately I can no longer recommend the Lamp Room. It used to be nice but my last two visits have been very poor.
Joanna Lunt
The Lamp Room hosted a wedding anniversary celebration for my parents with all the family. We ate from a Saturday evening tapas menu and everything was delicious! The staff couldn't do enough for us and even let us serve the celebration cake we brought for dessert. Highly recommended.Breakfasts here are fabulous too!
Juli Tegtmeyer
Food was great. Unique little place with beautiful decor.
Rachel D
We had a booked a pre-Christmas little family dinner and were really looking forward to the evening and the tapas. We ordered however two tables who ordered after us, were served first and we needed to remind the staff of our order. Food was tepid and some of the dishes had evidently been sitting for some time. Lots of staff having a great time themselves but poor service on the whole. Really disappointing.
Claire S
I’ve been here several times over the last two years. Three times this year. We usually go as a couple with a 7 year old child. Never had any problems and the foods always been good. Booked up for just after Christmas and someone rang me to ask how old my child was I said 7 and she said we couldn’t come with him We always come with him and even one of the times booked at the same time as now this year. They don’t want your kids in the restaurant past seven. It’s hardly a party restaurant and I’ve never had any issues before or anywhere else where age has been a problem when booking for food. My child’s well mannered and fine with adult company even if it’s rowdy over Christmas. There happy to loose a table for 6 and leave me scrabbling to get a booking elsewhere. Not happy, I would leave it up to parents to decide on whether this is a problem rather than make an issue out of nothing. There no law in it so it’s pretty petty to enforce it. Well done for spoiling what would have been a nice night out for us and our family.
Scott
Nice enough place (decor wise), great location, staff were friendly initially, unfortunately though my food (and the service after it had arrived) left quite a bit to be desired. I ordered chilli beef burrito, in hindsight I'm not too sure why as they did have some better sounding dishes on the menu, but I wasn't all that hungry and thought a burrito would suffice. When the burrito arrived it was wrapped in tin foil, however upon unfurling it I discovered that the contents of it were cold. The chilli beef consisted of more rice than anything else, and was basically just the same as if you'd pulled a bowl of cold chilli and rice out the fridge at home from the night before (made up of mostly rice) and not heated it through for long enough in the microwave. Then tossed it in a supermarket wrap with a little bit salad and a dip. I was disappointed as I'd heard good things about the lamp room, yet I could have easily knocked up what I was served a lot better at home, as could anyone, and saved themselves a small fortune in the process. I didn't bother to complain whilst in the restaurant for two reasons, firstly I actually didn't get to speak to another member of staff once our food had arrived. No-one bothered to ask us how things were once we had our food, or offer us further drinks to the ones we'd ordered on arrival. And secondly I had to leave in a bit of a hurry to be somewhere else. Since Google reminded me to submit a review though, I feel it only right to leave an honest account of my experience at the lamp room. Can't say as I'll be rushing back any time soon anyway....
Ema Linaker
It's my first but it 100% won't be my last trip to The Lamp Room in Seaham! What a phenomenal local restaurant with exceptional good, even better staff. Leanne in particular was amazing. Sadly we were both TOO hungry to take any photos of the food but I can highly recommend the Korean BBQ sticky ribs - having lived in Asia for 4 years I had high expectations. They didn't disappoint! But the stand out dish for me was the moules/clams with a beautiful white wine, garlic and cream sauce - DELISH. I'll be back for sure! So will be my bestie, Julie - probably next week. HA!
Nicki R
Lovely food piping hot great menu and good service. Nice atmosphere lively and warm. Been several times our favourite place in seaham
I was staying in the area with family who kindly took me out for dinner at the Lamp Room. On arrival the restaurant was busy with a mix of Christmas parties and smaller tables but the atmosphere was good and the setting lovely. Service throughout was excellent and the tapas delicious. I particularly liked the patatas bravas and the Korean pork. I could not get over how reasonable the bill was. So, all in all, a great place to eat and extremely good value for money.
James B
As we had heard good reports about this restaurant so after visiting Dalton Park cinema we decided to try the restaurant ourselves. The menu on an evening is mostly steaks, tapas, and lobster. As someone who eats no red meat , I was extremely in the limited choice that was available and decided on the lobster. The lobster is served on top of prawns and chips, I feel that very little imagination is used (if any) in the serving of this dish. I did ask if there was another menu and was informed by the unpleasant member of staff that it was the only menu available and did not ask if there was a problem. My husband and brother in law did enjoy their steaks, but mentioned that they wouldn't return to this restaurant and needless to say, nor will I.
Charlie Porter (portobear65)
Best breakfast I've ever had.The food was excellent, first class service and the room has a really nice relaxing vibe.Highly recommended!
GBaggs
Superb place for coffee, brunch, lunch or evening. Varied & exciting menu, atmosphere & service, all top notch. The chowder was amazing; 'dirty fries' really good. We'll definitely be back
Millie D
Food was really nice but the staff are terrible. The waitress raised her voice and told my 2 year old not to touch the plastic menu which was absolutely ridiculous I could understand if he was banging it off the table or throwing it around but he wasn’t! Then she was complaining to other staff she couldn’t be bothered and was tired. All the staff stood chatting at the bar right next to our table complaining about other customers that asked where their coffee was. Everything seemed like it was too much of a hassle for them and they didn’t want to be there!
I had a large family dinner at the Lamp Room last week - the entire experience was excellent. The service was top, the ladies delivered unbeatable hospitality.Choosing the tapas dishes was difficult because they all sounded delicious. I think the variety of the tapas menu gives options for all, and dishes were absolutely tasty.The restaurant itself has a warm, welcoming atmosphere, shedding a glimpse into the areas rich history.Thank you to the Mel and Russ, as well as your staff at the Lamp Room for making the family meal so special.
Everything was absolutely perfect - quick and friendly table service for breakfast, nice amount of options for both veggies, vegans and those requiring gluten free food. Nice drinks menu too! Ordered the eggs and halloumi Benedict and it was literally perfect - would travel 45 minutes from home to return solely for the food here !
Was told 15 min wait for a table but could sit and wait inside on the stools near the window. More people turned up and had to wait outside. Thirty minutes later and numerous tables came free and they were filling them with people who were waiting outside. A lady came and asked us if we wanted to order and we said we were waiting for a table. She said thats fine as they were already clearing another two tables...so we ordered. They then filled the two tables again with new people from outside. We asked again when would we have table and it suddenly became a massive issue. We were now told quite firmly we would need to eat in the window seats. I'd have left but we had already ordered on promise of a table. Anyway food arrived and the Craster Benedict was missing Asparagus. They added a hash brown in replacenent. The poached eggs were rubbery and it was all a bit cold. All in all a poor experience that was not worth the £37.50 it came to. It was very busy but thats not an excuse to treat customers badly. I've been numerous times before as I am local. Unfortunately I can no longer recommend the Lamp Room. It used to be nice but my last two visits have been very poor.
The Lamp Room hosted a wedding anniversary celebration for my parents with all the family. We ate from a Saturday evening tapas menu and everything was delicious! The staff couldn't do enough for us and even let us serve the celebration cake we brought for dessert. Highly recommended.Breakfasts here are fabulous too!
Food was great. Unique little place with beautiful decor.
We had a booked a pre-Christmas little family dinner and were really looking forward to the evening and the tapas. We ordered however two tables who ordered after us, were served first and we needed to remind the staff of our order. Food was tepid and some of the dishes had evidently been sitting for some time. Lots of staff having a great time themselves but poor service on the whole. Really disappointing.
I’ve been here several times over the last two years. Three times this year. We usually go as a couple with a 7 year old child. Never had any problems and the foods always been good. Booked up for just after Christmas and someone rang me to ask how old my child was I said 7 and she said we couldn’t come with him We always come with him and even one of the times booked at the same time as now this year. They don’t want your kids in the restaurant past seven. It’s hardly a party restaurant and I’ve never had any issues before or anywhere else where age has been a problem when booking for food. My child’s well mannered and fine with adult company even if it’s rowdy over Christmas. There happy to loose a table for 6 and leave me scrabbling to get a booking elsewhere. Not happy, I would leave it up to parents to decide on whether this is a problem rather than make an issue out of nothing. There no law in it so it’s pretty petty to enforce it. Well done for spoiling what would have been a nice night out for us and our family.
Nice enough place (decor wise), great location, staff were friendly initially, unfortunately though my food (and the service after it had arrived) left quite a bit to be desired. I ordered chilli beef burrito, in hindsight I'm not too sure why as they did have some better sounding dishes on the menu, but I wasn't all that hungry and thought a burrito would suffice. When the burrito arrived it was wrapped in tin foil, however upon unfurling it I discovered that the contents of it were cold. The chilli beef consisted of more rice than anything else, and was basically just the same as if you'd pulled a bowl of cold chilli and rice out the fridge at home from the night before (made up of mostly rice) and not heated it through for long enough in the microwave. Then tossed it in a supermarket wrap with a little bit salad and a dip. I was disappointed as I'd heard good things about the lamp room, yet I could have easily knocked up what I was served a lot better at home, as could anyone, and saved themselves a small fortune in the process. I didn't bother to complain whilst in the restaurant for two reasons, firstly I actually didn't get to speak to another member of staff once our food had arrived. No-one bothered to ask us how things were once we had our food, or offer us further drinks to the ones we'd ordered on arrival. And secondly I had to leave in a bit of a hurry to be somewhere else. Since Google reminded me to submit a review though, I feel it only right to leave an honest account of my experience at the lamp room. Can't say as I'll be rushing back any time soon anyway....
It's my first but it 100% won't be my last trip to The Lamp Room in Seaham! What a phenomenal local restaurant with exceptional good, even better staff. Leanne in particular was amazing. Sadly we were both TOO hungry to take any photos of the food but I can highly recommend the Korean BBQ sticky ribs - having lived in Asia for 4 years I had high expectations. They didn't disappoint! But the stand out dish for me was the moules/clams with a beautiful white wine, garlic and cream sauce - DELISH. I'll be back for sure! So will be my bestie, Julie - probably next week. HA!
Lovely food piping hot great menu and good service. Nice atmosphere lively and warm. Been several times our favourite place in seaham
Restaurantji Recommends
I was staying in the area with family who kindly took me out for dinner at the Lamp Room. On arrival the restaurant was busy with a mix of Christmas parties and smaller tables but the atmosphere was good and the setting lovely. Service throughout was excellent and the tapas delicious. I particularly liked the patatas bravas and the Korean pork. I could not get over how reasonable the bill was. So, all in all, a great place to eat and extremely good value for money.
As we had heard good reports about this restaurant so after visiting Dalton Park cinema we decided to try the restaurant ourselves. The menu on an evening is mostly steaks, tapas, and lobster. As someone who eats no red meat , I was extremely in the limited choice that was available and decided on the lobster. The lobster is served on top of prawns and chips, I feel that very little imagination is used (if any) in the serving of this dish. I did ask if there was another menu and was informed by the unpleasant member of staff that it was the only menu available and did not ask if there was a problem. My husband and brother in law did enjoy their steaks, but mentioned that they wouldn't return to this restaurant and needless to say, nor will I.
Best breakfast I've ever had.The food was excellent, first class service and the room has a really nice relaxing vibe.Highly recommended!
Superb place for coffee, brunch, lunch or evening. Varied & exciting menu, atmosphere & service, all top notch. The chowder was amazing; 'dirty fries' really good. We'll definitely be back
Food was really nice but the staff are terrible. The waitress raised her voice and told my 2 year old not to touch the plastic menu which was absolutely ridiculous I could understand if he was banging it off the table or throwing it around but he wasn’t! Then she was complaining to other staff she couldn’t be bothered and was tired. All the staff stood chatting at the bar right next to our table complaining about other customers that asked where their coffee was. Everything seemed like it was too much of a hassle for them and they didn’t want to be there!