The Canal House Bar & Restaurant Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "welcomed and attended to with great attention by a few amiable employees."
• "Exceptional and friendly service."
• "The staff fantastic."
• "Greeted by some very friendly staff who were very attentive throughout the visit."
• "The staff were very pleasant and attentive."
• "Daniel was serving myself and 9 friends all night as we attended the Aspall movie night. He was so welcoming, attentive, and accomodating such a nice waiter."
• "The staff were very attentive and made sure we were looked after."
• "Lovely food in a beautiful setting. Great choice of food & drink options and food can be ordered from your table via the QR code. Food was served quickly and was delicious 😋."

Cons:

• "They seated us downstairs to start with and once we were settled told us we had to move upstairs which was annoying with 2 kids and a dog in tow, most of the staff we had to deal with didn’t want to be there and were rude and miserable."
• "But the 2x of the cookie dough desserts arrived overdone. The cookie dough was fully baked and crumbly, not ‘actual’ cookie dough. Whereas the 3rd cookie dough which my friend ordered was extremely gewy (not consistent)."
• "We didn’t have a great experience - booked for an early Sunday lunch with 2 children and a dog."
• "However, most of the drinks order were returned on numerous occasions with dirty glasses, wrong drinks, or the drinks came out 1 at a time which for a table of 9 was frustrating."
• "We had to ask for the bill on multiple occasions and it was over half an hour from when we first asked to actually paying."
• "Service is adequate, nothing especially bad but nothing particularly great either."
• "As for my first time, it was a generally pleasant experience. All the staff including security on the door were super approachable and friendly. The decor and atmosphere was very homely and friendly. As some of our party had been to previous location before being, we mostly had snacks. Mine was the baked camembert with bread and I had the espresso martini."
• "Would go back to try the pork and Black pudding starter. Didn't order the "famous" hanging kebabs but although they look interesting, I couldn't see it being something to have more than once. Overall could do better. Service was fine aside that one of them thought the roast pork was lamb, took it away and then came back and said it had been switched to pork although he hadn't really changed it at all!"

Food Quality

Pros:

• "After ordering, the food was delivered quite quickly."
• "The food was served up extremely fast after ordering, impressively so."
• "We tried the Christmas drinks and the cocktails were lush. For food, we ordered the calamari in starters, sharing hanging kebab and cookie dough in pretzel and s'mores option."
• "The staff were so nice and accommodating. I went on a crowded Wednesday evening and I was afraid there would be no table availability but they made it happen! I got the katso hanging kebab, which I have never seen before but it was super tasty!"
• "The food was excellent, the service was fantastic and had those perfect, cosy vibes you would want going into the festive season! Highly recommend!"
• "Family gathering for a 70th birthday. Table of 12 in a private area they call the office. Excellent spot and excellently presented. Food great, especially the Steak Pie."
• "After a family fun day, booked here for a meal. Friendly attentive staff, lovely atmosphere, great food."
• "Lovely food in a beautiful setting. Great choice of food & drink options and food can be ordered from your table via the QR code. Food was served quickly and was delicious 😋."

Cons:

• "The chicken kebab was tasty and so were the fries that come with it but they were like warm, I was part of a large group to be fair and it could be because all the food got brought out at the same time."
• "The sharing kebab portion size was smaller than we hoped for the price and description but the dessert made up for this!"
• "One side note is that when I did order the sweet chili chips, the bottom chips were just swimming in sauce which made them a little too overpowering."
• "The food overall was okay although the roasts weren’t very hot and the kids meals were really well presented which is rare."
• "Nice vibe, friendly waiters, fast service and good food. What more do you want. Went to canal house as a group. Everyone enjoyed the food. The plant-based burger was great and the fries were seasoned very well 👌🏽 the raspberry and lemon tart was also the perfect finish to a heavy meal; light, sweet and refreshing."
• "The food options were excellent and importantly for us, Vegan 🌱 & Plant Based options were not only plentiful but incredibly tasty too. We will certainly be coming back here again."
• "Food is ok. They make a bit too much of a thing of the hanging kebabs. They’d be better if they came with some flat bread/pitta and salad to properly make a kebab. It was all pretty good and ok prices."
• "Good food but watch out for the service charge which is automatically added, They sneakily ask you again on the payment machine to add another gratuity without knowing that the service charge had already been added. Fortunately I noticed when I eventually got my final receipt and they refunded the second gratuity. I would not go back because of this deliberate subterfuge."

Ambiance

Pros:

• "Beautiful architecture makes up the restaurant; live music was playing on the bottom level and was amplified so you could hear it clearly in the background while you dined."
• "Firstly the building is beautiful with a really scenic location. The atmosphere inside was brilliant and the staff fantastic."
• "For atmosphere, the restaurant building itself is stunning, live music was on in the lower level but also hooked up to the speakers so you could hear it clearly in the background while eating."
• "An absolutely stunning spot with so much attention to keeping guests cosy, including great heating, cute throws and beautiful lights."
• "The farmhouse/barn kinda vibe against the canalside is perfect for a date night or any kind of friends and family meal."
• "Well what a great afternoon was spent at The Canal House. The staff were very attentive and made sure we were looked after."
• "This truly stands out among pubs with its cozy atmosphere, satisfying food options, and incredibly affordable prices."
• "We had our works Christmas do here last night and were seated in the Pergola. There is a really nice atmosphere with the lights and the live music."

Cons:

• "This place could be good, felt they only interested in 4 plus bookings, and 2 people get put downstairs in the B seats with no view, just a wall."
• "We were seated at the table closest to the door so it was quite cold with the draft. We asked if we could have some blankets but there were only 3 available."
• "The starters came with standard sliced bread rather than the sourdough which was advertised - this was not explained to us by any of the servers."
• "The desserts were tasty. We had to ask for the bill on multiple occasions and it was over half an hour from when we first asked to actually paying."
• "We had to moan 4/5 times. The manager did give us discount but by this time it had already put us in a fed up mood. If things had ran smoother this place would be ideal. But for the money you spend you expect it to be an amazing experience."
• "There wasn’t enough vegetables or gravy. We came here earlier in the year and it was amazing food and service however with the extra tables you’ve added you have lost your customer service so for our only Xmas family meal this year it was really disappointing."
• "Great pub with restaurant overlooking the canal. Great choice of beers on tap served properly in correct glasses! Extensive choice of wines and good quality cocktails."
• "The food we had was great my only criticism is the description of the salt pepper chicken wings I thought they would be the crispy fried style. But they was pretty bland as they was grilled."