Elegant dining... shame about the service

Jun 18 2011 By Ladies Who Lunch

Cornhill House, by Biggar.

AS we approached Cornhill it was immediately obvious why Cornhill House would appeal as a wedding location.

The country house (architect William Leiper of Templeton's Carpet Factory fame) resembles a French Renaissance chateau with a long avenue sweeping up to a beautiful building set in equally beautiful landscaped grounds.

Few may be lucky enough to use the helipad artfully incorporated into the gardens between the newer ballroom wing and the original house, but fortunately there is also plenty parking since most people visiting this location will travel by car unless they fancy the walk from the nearest bus stop. OK if the sun shines but in our unpredictable climate...?

However, we weren't here for a wedding, we were here to enjoy lunch.

We were shown to a high-ceilinged, traditionally decorated lounge bar with delightful views where we enjoyed soft drinks and browsed through the fixed price lunch menu (two or three courses for £12/£14) and the wine menu which offered half-litre and litre carafes as alternatives to half-bottles and bottles of both white and red wines. After about 20 minutes we asked to place our order and were then shown to our table in the quiet Bistro dining-room also overlooking the immaculate grounds.

The tables were well-presented and thoughtfully spaced so the general ambience was that of an elegant country house save for occasional intrusive 'background' music.

Our starters (ham hough terrine, duck pate and melon and pineapple cocktail) were all enjoyed, especially the terrine with its moist leek layers. The glass of Riesling and half-carafe of Shiraz-Mataro which eventually appeared also met with unanimous approval.

The main courses - Chicken Diane, Smoked Turkey Salad and Roast Rib of Beef duly followed. Of the three the chicken was rated highest - for its excellent sauce - the beef was tender, well covered in gravy and reminiscent of Sunday lunches past.

Individual dishes of carrots and green beans were provided with a large shared platter of 'chef's potatoes' - scoops of soft (mashed?) potato made tasty with lashings of what appeared to be butter and herbs. The smoked turkey salad was accompanied by fresh and plentiful salad and a generous helping of golden chips. Sadly the uniform, thin slices of smoked turkey were unappealing at first sight and even less so after tasting, so left untouched to one side of the plate - more of that later.

Desserts (sticky toffee pudding, cranachan meringue nest, tablet ice cream with caramel sauce) met with unanimous approval although more raspberries to balance the sweetness and creaminess of the cranachan ice-cream and meringue would have been welcomed.

The caramel sauce which accompanied large portions of toffee pudding and also the tablet ice-cream was judged delicious by those who have tasted many versions. Lack of time prevented us from ordering coffee to finish.

Overall the surroundings, inside and outside, of Cornhill House are as beautiful and as architecturally interesting as the website describes, and the menu for the reasonably-priced lunch offers choices to suit most tastes. The wine list was quite comprehensive and the carafe option a welcome addition.

Food was attractively presented and every dish was enjoyed with the exception of the smoked turkey salad.

Unfortunately the service, at first satisfactory, became progressively less attentive (we're beginning to think there are Health and Safety rules now against offering to take coats).

Unless bringing or clearing plates the staff huddled by the door talking in lowered voices, with occasional backward glances towards our table, aiming perhaps, at discreet and unhurried waitering.

It was unfortunate that we needed to cross the room to ask for our (forgotten) wine order and especially unfortunate that no-one came to check all was well with our main courses. Had this happened the customer's dissatisfaction with the cold meat could have been quickly spotted and equally quickly remedied with the offer of a substitute - fairly standard practice in our experience.

A 'better late than never' expression of regret and offer perhaps of a complimentary drink or, even, a very last-minute, good-humoured, spontaneous reduction of the bill tendered would have been much preferred to the unfortunate, unpleasant scene with management when the complaint was discussed on leaving.

Would that our departure from Cornhill had been as happy as our arrival!

Our scores:

Location 9. Ambience 9. Menu/food 7.5. Service 5.5. Value for money 7. Overall score 38/50.

Today's tip: good customer service makes all the difference.