This review is about the Tempus restaurant at Wotton Hall.
When we booked a table for 4 at the Tempus Restaurant, I asked about the menu and was told that it was on the Wotton House website. We booked for lunch, at 12:30hrs. One of our friends is slightly disabled, so we also needed easy access.
When we arrived, the Tempus menu at reception was completely different from the one on the website, but we didn't mind, as we preferred the look of the new menu.
We made our way to the restaurant (Wotton House is very big place), where we were told that Tempus restaurant doesn't serve lunch - only dinner!
However, as there was a course (or conference) that day, we could have the buffet prepared for them for £15/head. We were pretty disappointed and wondered how the person who took our booking didn't know that Tempus restaurant only serves dinner. Wotton House is in the country, so it wasn't just a case of leaving and walking to the pub, or restaurant next door.
Fortunately, the restaurant manageress realised our disappointment and their error and as well as taking us to a table, she offered us a complimentary bottle of wine.
In fact, the buffet was pretty good and we had a very enjoyable lunch, even if it wasn't quite what we had anticipated.
We asked the restaurant manageress what would have happened if there hadn't been a conference, or course dining that day. She said that we could have had bar meals.
In conclusion, we didn't really sample the Tempus menu, but the buffet we had was very good value. We wonder how the reception staff didn't know to tell us that the restaurant normally only serves dinner. Also, why was the website menu so different from the one at reception?
Wotton House is a lovely place in a lovely location, but we were under the impression that it caters mainly for corporate activities and weddings, rather than lunches for couples and small groups like us. Also, for such a grand place, we didn't see anywhere that looked like a lounge area, where we could have relaxed with a tea or coffee after our meal. read more