It was a little while since I dined here but felt I should write this review. My wife had booked this for my birthday several months prior. We are originally from Cumbria but had travelled up from the Midlands for this weekend with the highlight being this meal. On the afternoon of the booking my wife received a rather strange call from a member of staff at Holbeck Ghyll asking if we were still intending to come that evening, she obviously said yes of course as it was a special occasion, this lady seemingly wasn't listening and went on to say, if you want to rebook for another evening that would be fine by us. Again she repeated that we had come up from Birmingham especially for the meal and she then said that was fine and she would see us at 8. When we arrived they explained the restaurant was busy and then said that guests usually had a cocktail in the lounge before their meal anyway and they also said there would be a complimentary glass of champagne (presumably because they already knew they had messed up) so we went to the lounge and then waited for 90 minutes, and never received a complimentary glass of champagne. I then mentioned to a member of staff we had been waiting for a very long time and eventually we were shown to our seats at 9.45. We were rushed through our meal, and the food was decent enough but by this point I had a very bitter taste in my mouth so it wasn't an enjoyable experience all in honesty. Not once was an apology given. When we went to the reception to pay for the meal, and only then did I mention the issues I had and the restaurant manager then suggested we would get our drinks & wine on the house. A nice gesture but I would have preferred it if someone had simply told us on arrival that they had messed up, double booked and then perhaps offered us a concession then. It was the messing us around and trying to cover it up that made it ten times worse!

We visited for a wedding anniversary meal, and were very impressed by the whole experience.

The hotel has a lovely comfortable and slightly old-fashioned ambience. The entrance, sittings rooms and restaurant are full of wood panelling, comfy tapestry chairs and wood fires.

There were also lovely views across the countryside from the dining and sitting rooms.

You chose a spot in one of the sitting rooms, to have a pre-dinner drink and choose your food. These were comfortable and a good place to relax with a cocktail.

The a la carte looked delicious, with 5-7 choices on each course.

We went for the tasting menu at £88 per head, which while pricey, was great value. It meant we could try 3 of the starters we had been deliberating over! This gave your 6 or 7 excellent courses, all beautifully presented and totally delicious.

Everything was of the highest quality. The cheese trolley was amazing - a brilliant selection of cheeses from mild to very smelly and oozing! And you were given a large amount of each one; often we've been in restaurants were you are given a disappointing sliver of each choice - not so here!

Service was very friendly and unobtrusive, and the staff made you feel welcomed and wanted. We were the last but one couple in the dining room, but there was no sense of rushing you out. We had our coffee back in one the sitting rooms with delicious petit fours.

I highly recommend this restaurant, and I would love to come back both to stay and dine here in the future.

We ate here on two nights as part of a weekend stay with the Northern belle. It was OK but Michelin starred? I had the fillet steak which was OK I've had better in my local pub. My wife's vegetarian option was supposed to have wild mushrooms in it. It had two stalks (Laughable) The sommelier did not come to offer us the wine list then when he was requested by my wife to help in the wine choice was hardly forthcoming. At our table he opened the wine poured my wife a glass then put the bottle on a table away from us. Pretentious nonsense in my book but it does happen in some restaurants. The proviso being that they pay attention to detail & most trip over themselves to fill your glass in the hopes of getting you to purchase another bottle. No chance with this fella. He disappears & my wife's glass is empty. Nowhere to be seen. We ask a waitress for our wine & off she goes in search of the long lost sommelier. Pathetic if your going to be pretentious at least have the decency to be on hand to pour the wine. Eventually he returns to do his job. No apology or explanation. He fell well below what I would expect.
The rest of the staff were wonderful helpful & very pleasant. The sommelier could learn a few lessons if he looked around him.
I won't be coming again & I can't recommend it to anyone expecting a michelin experience.

Booked afternoon tea for my mums birthday here. Sat in the beautiful gardens admiring the fantastic view and enjoying the breathtaking view before going into hotel for tea. Weather was exceptional. Everything was wonderful from the very pleasant staff to the lovely afternoon tea. Can certainly recommend this gem of a place. Thank you

Highly recommended! great friendly service which was unpretentious for a Michelin starred restaurant. Try the cheese board