Keswick Park Hotel & Seafood Restaurant

Very clean. Good friendly staff. Excellent breakfast.

Firstly, I never complain in restaurants and I think this is the first negative review I've posted of one. Also, I go to all kinds of restaurants, chains, posh ones, takeaways, so I don't think this is because I've accidentally wandered in to somewhere with unrealistic expectations.

We booked for a birthday meal and, while the service was attentive and the wine very nice, unfortunately the quality of the food was very poor tonight (I say tonight because I hope it wasn't the usual chef - I also notice it's not long since they started branding as a Seafood restaurant). I did start to worry when I saw they had a four course Table d'Hôte for under £15. The Å La Carte, however, was absolutely in the range of "proper restaurants", with starters at £5.95 each and the mains at £11.95 (fish stew) and £17.95 (crab and scallop linguine).

The basic trouble is that the place is branded as a seafood restaurant, and that implies they're specialists, but the chef we had tonight just didn't deliver on that. I guess I was probably comparing with Loch Fyne, which is a chain with similar pricing. My starter was coronation crab, which was crab (always a delicate flavour) completely drowned in curried mayonnaise and sultanas. It might as well have been chicken or shredded tofu for all the crab contributed. It just didn't taste of crab any more.

The presentation of all the dishes was pure Cookery in Colour circa 1970. The salad was dressed with peach juice, which sounds OK, but somehow wasn't. My fish stew seemed to be done in a dark brown gravy, possibly thickened. It was like someone had taken a beef stew recipe and just replaced the main ingredient with squid and clams. The latter were cooked OK but the gravy (plus chunky carrots and potatoes) again just drowned them out because they were the wrong thing to serve with them.

The salmon starter that my husband had was fine. The presentation wasn't great, but I can always forgive that if it tastes good, and it tasted good enough. Again, we bore in mind that we weren't in a top-dollar place, so we weren't expecting the very best. My husband's main was a crab and scallop linguine in a creamy sauce that he described as the worst dish he'd ever had in a restaurant. The creamy sauce tasted of nothing but cream. The garlic on the garlic bread was raw.

I feel mean writing this up in such critical detail, but for a birthday meal it was way way below what I'd expect even from a Harvester or a regular pub (I had a nice Trout in a nearby pub two nights before, in fact). I am too inhibited to send meals back/refuse to pay (and anyway it's mean to the staff). We've paid the bill in full and left a tip for the helpful staff. I think it would do this restaurant good to modernise their offer, or just narrow it down, or stop describing themselves as a seafood restaurant. The couple next to us seemed very happy with their fish and chips and maybe pub grub style food would work best here. The fish menu, I'm afraid, doesn't even come close to cutting it, even when comparing to the average pub menu.

The staff were really friendly and eager to please. The place seems nice and friendly. But the food - no.

We loved our stay at the Keswick Park Hotel. Having stayed here for many years and seen quite a few changes I can only say that the recent owner, Tong, has undertaken some lovely updating with the rooms, which now having a clean modern finish. There's also a very relaxing lounge area which was, for us, a very welcome place to chill out after our evening meal. The staff are really friendly, always helpful and very caring for all our needs. A special mention to Sue, who is professional and approachable, she gets the job done - but that's not all - she will go the extra mile for any of the residents and always does it with a smile. Well done Sue, we thank you sincerely. Our meals were made to perfection, and once again the chef, Ali, was very obliging to cater for our needs. All in all ,a wonderful holiday in a superb hotel and we will be back again next year. Well done to everyone, and thank you very much Tong, who has become a dear friend, we wish you many successful years at the Keswick Park Hotel.

We went for lunch - there was an offer for two/three courses for £8/10. It was quiet, the food was tasty and the staff were friendly.

Really nice room in a good location, however you only get a 1 hour window for breakfast which I thinks a bit too short

Great value for money as its a very nice hotel with great facilities but a very reasonable price. Just refurbished April 2017.

Management and staff where very friendly and very helpful, food is amazing and room very clean, we look forward to coming again next year for our anniversary

Good food and very quiet. Shower was only luke warm though.

I stayed at the Keswick Park Hotel for five days and I couldn't be more satisfied - the staff is really nice and helpful, my room was small but very clean and tidy, breakfast was superb. The location couldn't be any better as it's a stone's throw from the town centre.