Lives up to expectations every time. Staff attentive but not intrusive. Lovely food.
Andy Clark
As always a superb meal with great service and great food, can't recommend it enough. Lovely people and a fantastic atmosphere.
archie_parrot
Another fantastic Sunday lunch at Beatson House. We visit regularly, both in the evening and for Sunday lunch, because finding somewhere that provides high quality food and great service consistently is rare. Add beautiful surroundings plus a friendly welcome and it’s easy to understand why we visit so often. Today’s choices were scallops with cauliflower purée, cauliflower pakora and curry oil plus ham hock terrine with quail’s egg, minted pea purée and crispy pancetta to start followed by roast turkey and lamb plus all the trimmings. Dessert for me was warm cherry bakewell tart with cherry ice cream and cherry compote while my husband had the cheese selection. Everything was beautifully presented as always but even more important tasted superb. Thanks to all the team at Beatson House for making it such a lovely place to eat, with special thanks to James and Lee who between them make sure both front and back of house run smoothly. We’ve both eaten out extensively in this country and overseas and rarely find anything to come close so we feel lucky to have this place on our doorstep. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks!
Keiran Waite
I'd say for what it cost the food on the Christmas set menu was a tad cold, hard and tasteless.
Bows04
Following our visit to Beatson House last week, I wanted to thank you and your staff for a super evening. The steak & Seabass were delicious and cooked to perfection, the vegetables obviously fresh and the service just fantastic! The Sticky toffee pudding is to die for! It felt to be a lovely cosy evening in a quaint and unique restaurant! I can also strongly recommend you have a look at the cocktail menu - who doesn’t love a cheeky cocktail! We’ll definitely be back soon.
David B
Very disappointing Sunday Lunch at Beatson House 7/1/24. We have had memorable meals here in the past, but this time it was memorable for the wrong reasons. To make matters worse we had recommended it to the friends we were with to celebrate a birthday so it involved an extended journey when with hindsight better options would have been available more locally providing a better experience and value. The service was inattentive (though there was only one other table with two people in the downstairs restaurant), my wife and I arrived shortly after the other friends and shown straight to the table, after 15 minutes I had to ask a passing member of staff if we could order drinks. After we had finished the first course the dishes remained on our table for quite a long time before someone collected them. Similarly with the main course. The food was mediocre at best. The beef sirloin was no longer available and I accept that’s a risk of attending the second lunch sitting. Two of us opted for the ‘Rack & Black’ special which was described as ‘rack/loin of lamb with black pudding’. It was nothing like any rack or loin of lamb I’ve had previously and looked very unappetising on the plate. It consisted predominantly of a thick fat rind with a small section of not very tender meat, accompanied by a lot of black pudding. Most of the vegetables were ok with the exception of the roast potatoes which were soggy pale imitations of roasters. What I think should never happen in a restaurant of this purported calibre is the meal being served with the gravy already on the plate. One lunch had to be sent back because there was just too much of it. How can the chef know how much gravy each individual prefers? Even the website shows an image of lunch being served with a gravy boat. I expect this of restaurants and pubs charging much less than the £30 Beatson House charge for their 2 course lunch. At the time we didn’t complain because we didn’t want to make a scene as it was a friend’s birthday. However the lunch was poor. It is such a shame because we had come to view Beatson House as a place to go for a fine dining special occasion, but that is no longer the case. That is unless we were unfortunate to catch them on a really bad day. From Sunday’s experience it would seem that they are living on a past reputation.
DMR501
We visited for Sunday lunch around Christmas as a family. We came on the recommendation of many 5* reviews. Firstly the restaurant was very busy, as was the car park which was double parked. We parked in a nearby street. We were seated in the bar area. The restaurant is nicely decorated and it had a busy vibe. Staff were attentive but we all commented that it was a “false nice”. It felt forced & unnatural, calling our teen son ‘sir’! The waitress had been noticeably trained as she repeated the phase of “excuse me for interrupting” numerous times. (I prefer this to experiences elsewhere to be fair). Food - the reason for the average score is simply the food was very average I am sorry to say. Nothing special that we had expected from the many 5* reviews previously noted. To provide depth of detail, I had a prawn starter. It was literally about 15 small prawns in seafood sauce, 2 lettuce leaves, half a slice of cucumber, half a small plum tomato and half a slice of buttered brown bread presented on a side plate. My son & daughter each had a fondue with baby dipping vegetables. It was very basic & presented as something you’d give a toddler (a few chopped veg & melted cheese). They both laughed when it came! My main was roast beef. It was unremarkable and in no way special. The vegetables were a small bowl to share as a table, the sprouts were cold (had it been left by the window?) The roast potatoes were clearly ‘pre-cooked’ and were rock hard, as were the Yorkshire puddings. The beef was alright but quite tough & chewy. For £30 for the two courses it was disappointing. I did expect something more special and remarkable. My son is vegetarian and the choice was extremely limited. We were that disappointed in the starters & mains that we did not have a pudding. Staff seemed to congregate in the small passageway between the bar & main restaurant area which was a little off putting. I would recommend you request a table away from the bar area as it seemed an ‘overspill’ area with customers going just outside and smoking by the doors you sit by. We enjoy meals out and don’t mind paying that bit more but over £150 for a two course meal for four was not good value for the food and experience we had. We won’t be returning anytime soon. I’m unsure if the lacklustre food was due to the pre Christmas rush and we went on a bad day ?? I suspect customers who have had a less than positive experience are put off reviewing by the zealous responses provided to previous reviewers. We didn’t complain as it was ‘ok’, plus we didn’t want it to totally spoil the start of the holidays for us. It was just nothing like we expected it to be. Disappointing experience.
Sue Smith
Great night Xmas dinner with a group of us. Food great and plenty good service. Couldn't do enough for.
Brent Wheywell
We had heard excellent reports about this restaurant and looking at the numerous 5 star reports I guess we must have come on the wrong day.In fact when we commented that the meals were not particularly hot we were advised that the usual chef was not working ( Sunday 19th November).We had pork loin which my wife found to be quite fatty and with sinew.The Yorkshire puddings were difficult to cut and the knives were not particularly sharp. It begs the question of how long the puddings had been cooked before being served.We were offered complementary sweets to compensate for the problem with the main courses.We have had much better quality Sunday lunches for half the price we paid.The staff and service were friendly and efficient which partly made up for the quality of the food.
Bedfordmj
Great from the welcome when we walked through the door. Food was amazing and staff were amazing. Our steaks cooked exactly as we’d asked for, no sinew, no fat, perfectly trimmed and cooked. Our peppercorn sauce, delicious and no silly games of upselling. Delicious food, perfectly cooked and served by amazing staff.
We had a lovely meal here last Friday night. We haven’t been to Beatson House for many years and so we noticed lots of changes, including the decor and table spacing, much improved since our last visit. I couldn’t help peep in the upstairs private dining room and thought what a beautiful space in which to have a special dinner party. The staff are courteous and professional, our two waitresses were particularly smart, so nice to see young women look as if they are happy to serve! A lovely evening, thank you
Hannah Elizabeth
Had many large party meals here and always been brilliant! Gorgeous food, lovely service and such a nice homely place! Highly recommend
LindseyPaul
Lovely place and food, relaxed settings and the staff are excellent. Loving the cocktail of the week idea .. try the honey pear fizz ?
The Pecking Order 23
Follow The Pecking Order 23 on Facebook for all our reviews.Overall experience 9.4/10Food 9/10Service 9.9/10Cleanliness 10/10Atmosphere/Setting 9/10Value 9/10This House is through the roof!!A nice location. Ample parking at the back.Overall this was a very satisfying experience.The service started brilliantly.We were greeted at the bar by the Head Waiter who instructed his staff to seat us at our prebooked table. Our drinks orders were taken and then the Head Waiter came over to inform of the Specials on the menu and the soup of the day.A short wait for our drinks followed by our usual mix of starters.We had the scallops which were on the specials menu. These were cooked perfectly, sat on a cauliflower puree, a thoroughly enjoyable dish.. The Duck Orange Pate had a good flavour and was seved with a chutney, which slightly overpowered the pate and bread.The wild mushroom arancini, the only real disappointment of the meal, was a little bland, we couldn't really taste the mushrooms and garlic if there was any present though great texture. The marinara sauce they sat on was a good strong clean and fresh flavour.We had the beef sirloin Sunday Roast main course served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes , mash and vegetables.The beef was cooked to perfection and the gravy was exceptionally delicious. Mash was smooth and creamy and well cooked vegetables.The horseradish served with it had good kick, and seemed to be homemade with real grated horseradish.We had to try the seasonal bonfire parkin cake. Although nice and a bit different from the usual menu desserts it was in need of some more sauce or ice cream.The sticky toffee pudding was light and full of flavour.The blackberry parfait was a little bland lacking the punch of blackberry I was hoping for, but pleasant enough.Although the food was very good overall, it was the service which was outstanding at this place. We were offered drinks at exactly the right moment, we were checked on to see if everything was OK, the staff were all courteous and respectful, taking care to apologise for any interruptions they needed to make to offer drinks etc. The chap running the team was meticulous in his work and orchestrated everything impeccably.This would have been our first 10/10 for service but one of the waitresses brought our last drink holding the glass by the top with her fingers all around the rim.We will definitely be returning to try the midweek menu .The Pecking Orders final verdict.Being just a few minutes off the M1 motorway it's definitely worth a detour if you're passing.
Anita Fridlington
A fabulous evening with friends last Friday. The food was the best we've had in a long time, the staff were welcoming & friendly. I can say No.1 service being attentive, informative & timely delivered. We will certainly return - many times. Thank you Beatson House xxParking: Adequate number of parking spaces plus on street parking across from the restaurant
Lives up to expectations every time. Staff attentive but not intrusive. Lovely food.
As always a superb meal with great service and great food, can't recommend it enough. Lovely people and a fantastic atmosphere.
Another fantastic Sunday lunch at Beatson House. We visit regularly, both in the evening and for Sunday lunch, because finding somewhere that provides high quality food and great service consistently is rare. Add beautiful surroundings plus a friendly welcome and it’s easy to understand why we visit so often. Today’s choices were scallops with cauliflower purée, cauliflower pakora and curry oil plus ham hock terrine with quail’s egg, minted pea purée and crispy pancetta to start followed by roast turkey and lamb plus all the trimmings. Dessert for me was warm cherry bakewell tart with cherry ice cream and cherry compote while my husband had the cheese selection. Everything was beautifully presented as always but even more important tasted superb. Thanks to all the team at Beatson House for making it such a lovely place to eat, with special thanks to James and Lee who between them make sure both front and back of house run smoothly. We’ve both eaten out extensively in this country and overseas and rarely find anything to come close so we feel lucky to have this place on our doorstep. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks!
I'd say for what it cost the food on the Christmas set menu was a tad cold, hard and tasteless.
Following our visit to Beatson House last week, I wanted to thank you and your staff for a super evening. The steak & Seabass were delicious and cooked to perfection, the vegetables obviously fresh and the service just fantastic! The Sticky toffee pudding is to die for! It felt to be a lovely cosy evening in a quaint and unique restaurant! I can also strongly recommend you have a look at the cocktail menu - who doesn’t love a cheeky cocktail! We’ll definitely be back soon.
Very disappointing Sunday Lunch at Beatson House 7/1/24. We have had memorable meals here in the past, but this time it was memorable for the wrong reasons. To make matters worse we had recommended it to the friends we were with to celebrate a birthday so it involved an extended journey when with hindsight better options would have been available more locally providing a better experience and value. The service was inattentive (though there was only one other table with two people in the downstairs restaurant), my wife and I arrived shortly after the other friends and shown straight to the table, after 15 minutes I had to ask a passing member of staff if we could order drinks. After we had finished the first course the dishes remained on our table for quite a long time before someone collected them. Similarly with the main course. The food was mediocre at best. The beef sirloin was no longer available and I accept that’s a risk of attending the second lunch sitting. Two of us opted for the ‘Rack & Black’ special which was described as ‘rack/loin of lamb with black pudding’. It was nothing like any rack or loin of lamb I’ve had previously and looked very unappetising on the plate. It consisted predominantly of a thick fat rind with a small section of not very tender meat, accompanied by a lot of black pudding. Most of the vegetables were ok with the exception of the roast potatoes which were soggy pale imitations of roasters. What I think should never happen in a restaurant of this purported calibre is the meal being served with the gravy already on the plate. One lunch had to be sent back because there was just too much of it. How can the chef know how much gravy each individual prefers? Even the website shows an image of lunch being served with a gravy boat. I expect this of restaurants and pubs charging much less than the £30 Beatson House charge for their 2 course lunch. At the time we didn’t complain because we didn’t want to make a scene as it was a friend’s birthday. However the lunch was poor. It is such a shame because we had come to view Beatson House as a place to go for a fine dining special occasion, but that is no longer the case. That is unless we were unfortunate to catch them on a really bad day. From Sunday’s experience it would seem that they are living on a past reputation.
We visited for Sunday lunch around Christmas as a family. We came on the recommendation of many 5* reviews. Firstly the restaurant was very busy, as was the car park which was double parked. We parked in a nearby street. We were seated in the bar area. The restaurant is nicely decorated and it had a busy vibe. Staff were attentive but we all commented that it was a “false nice”. It felt forced & unnatural, calling our teen son ‘sir’! The waitress had been noticeably trained as she repeated the phase of “excuse me for interrupting” numerous times. (I prefer this to experiences elsewhere to be fair). Food - the reason for the average score is simply the food was very average I am sorry to say. Nothing special that we had expected from the many 5* reviews previously noted. To provide depth of detail, I had a prawn starter. It was literally about 15 small prawns in seafood sauce, 2 lettuce leaves, half a slice of cucumber, half a small plum tomato and half a slice of buttered brown bread presented on a side plate. My son & daughter each had a fondue with baby dipping vegetables. It was very basic & presented as something you’d give a toddler (a few chopped veg & melted cheese). They both laughed when it came! My main was roast beef. It was unremarkable and in no way special. The vegetables were a small bowl to share as a table, the sprouts were cold (had it been left by the window?) The roast potatoes were clearly ‘pre-cooked’ and were rock hard, as were the Yorkshire puddings. The beef was alright but quite tough & chewy. For £30 for the two courses it was disappointing. I did expect something more special and remarkable. My son is vegetarian and the choice was extremely limited. We were that disappointed in the starters & mains that we did not have a pudding. Staff seemed to congregate in the small passageway between the bar & main restaurant area which was a little off putting. I would recommend you request a table away from the bar area as it seemed an ‘overspill’ area with customers going just outside and smoking by the doors you sit by. We enjoy meals out and don’t mind paying that bit more but over £150 for a two course meal for four was not good value for the food and experience we had. We won’t be returning anytime soon. I’m unsure if the lacklustre food was due to the pre Christmas rush and we went on a bad day ?? I suspect customers who have had a less than positive experience are put off reviewing by the zealous responses provided to previous reviewers. We didn’t complain as it was ‘ok’, plus we didn’t want it to totally spoil the start of the holidays for us. It was just nothing like we expected it to be. Disappointing experience.
Great night Xmas dinner with a group of us. Food great and plenty good service. Couldn't do enough for.
We had heard excellent reports about this restaurant and looking at the numerous 5 star reports I guess we must have come on the wrong day.In fact when we commented that the meals were not particularly hot we were advised that the usual chef was not working ( Sunday 19th November).We had pork loin which my wife found to be quite fatty and with sinew.The Yorkshire puddings were difficult to cut and the knives were not particularly sharp. It begs the question of how long the puddings had been cooked before being served.We were offered complementary sweets to compensate for the problem with the main courses.We have had much better quality Sunday lunches for half the price we paid.The staff and service were friendly and efficient which partly made up for the quality of the food.
Great from the welcome when we walked through the door. Food was amazing and staff were amazing. Our steaks cooked exactly as we’d asked for, no sinew, no fat, perfectly trimmed and cooked. Our peppercorn sauce, delicious and no silly games of upselling. Delicious food, perfectly cooked and served by amazing staff.
Restaurantji Recommends
We had a lovely meal here last Friday night. We haven’t been to Beatson House for many years and so we noticed lots of changes, including the decor and table spacing, much improved since our last visit. I couldn’t help peep in the upstairs private dining room and thought what a beautiful space in which to have a special dinner party. The staff are courteous and professional, our two waitresses were particularly smart, so nice to see young women look as if they are happy to serve! A lovely evening, thank you
Had many large party meals here and always been brilliant! Gorgeous food, lovely service and such a nice homely place! Highly recommend
Lovely place and food, relaxed settings and the staff are excellent. Loving the cocktail of the week idea .. try the honey pear fizz ?
Follow The Pecking Order 23 on Facebook for all our reviews.Overall experience 9.4/10Food 9/10Service 9.9/10Cleanliness 10/10Atmosphere/Setting 9/10Value 9/10This House is through the roof!!A nice location. Ample parking at the back.Overall this was a very satisfying experience.The service started brilliantly.We were greeted at the bar by the Head Waiter who instructed his staff to seat us at our prebooked table. Our drinks orders were taken and then the Head Waiter came over to inform of the Specials on the menu and the soup of the day.A short wait for our drinks followed by our usual mix of starters.We had the scallops which were on the specials menu. These were cooked perfectly, sat on a cauliflower puree, a thoroughly enjoyable dish.. The Duck Orange Pate had a good flavour and was seved with a chutney, which slightly overpowered the pate and bread.The wild mushroom arancini, the only real disappointment of the meal, was a little bland, we couldn't really taste the mushrooms and garlic if there was any present though great texture. The marinara sauce they sat on was a good strong clean and fresh flavour.We had the beef sirloin Sunday Roast main course served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes , mash and vegetables.The beef was cooked to perfection and the gravy was exceptionally delicious. Mash was smooth and creamy and well cooked vegetables.The horseradish served with it had good kick, and seemed to be homemade with real grated horseradish.We had to try the seasonal bonfire parkin cake. Although nice and a bit different from the usual menu desserts it was in need of some more sauce or ice cream.The sticky toffee pudding was light and full of flavour.The blackberry parfait was a little bland lacking the punch of blackberry I was hoping for, but pleasant enough.Although the food was very good overall, it was the service which was outstanding at this place. We were offered drinks at exactly the right moment, we were checked on to see if everything was OK, the staff were all courteous and respectful, taking care to apologise for any interruptions they needed to make to offer drinks etc. The chap running the team was meticulous in his work and orchestrated everything impeccably.This would have been our first 10/10 for service but one of the waitresses brought our last drink holding the glass by the top with her fingers all around the rim.We will definitely be returning to try the midweek menu .The Pecking Orders final verdict.Being just a few minutes off the M1 motorway it's definitely worth a detour if you're passing.
A fabulous evening with friends last Friday. The food was the best we've had in a long time, the staff were welcoming & friendly. I can say No.1 service being attentive, informative & timely delivered. We will certainly return - many times. Thank you Beatson House xxParking: Adequate number of parking spaces plus on street parking across from the restaurant