The Orangery Restaurant

Outstanding cuisine preceded by very good cocktails in the bar. The hotel deserves all the plaudits it gets. Particularly impressive that standards have been maintained at this time of chef and staff shortages. Lovely reception staff too. The original building has a real wow factor too.

Had a fantastic meal - opted for the 10 course taster menu (vegetarian as I’m not a huge fish fan, of which there was plenty on the non vegetarian menu) the maître d’ suggested if we were to return we could customise next time which is something to bare in mind. Customised menus with our names on were also a nice touch - the food was excellent and the staff were very attentive - without being intrusive - only gripe was the length of the meal - we were there 3 hours with only three other tables in the restaurant, which felt excessive, but was totally outweighed by the food quality and service. Thank you for a great evening

Fantastic! Great food great wine. Very attentive and knowledgeable staff.

Took my fiancé here for her birthday for a spa day at the Rockliffe Hotel. The restaurant serves food at Michelin star prices but food doesn't quite cut it. Service is fine and brought up allergy note on reservation at the beginning of meal, but staff should try to smile a bit more and try to be more engaging. More annoyed than anything else as the restaurant engaged in the age old sin of set menu/taster menu sized dishes on the à la carte menu. As expected left feeling extremely hungry despite spending over £250 for two three "course" meals and a bottle of wine, left the hotel premises a couple hours later to get McDonald's. As for the food itself, okay, but just didn't quite cut it. Lamb was bland, the risotto nothing to shout about (unoriginal), and nothing that I couldn't get at a French Bistro in Edinburgh or Newcastle for half the price and twice the quantity. Bakewell tart for desert was somewhat redeeming. @Chef check out l'escargot bleu in Edinburgh for three courses done right, or do what Hjem in Northumberland does and get rid of the à la carte menu so people know not to come if they don't want to sit through 8-10 courses. Not sure about the mix of English and French dishes either, local ingredients but no local inspiration. Feel free to invite me back when you've fixed this, and please fix this as you are obviously quite talented.

Interesting food but painfully slow service. From start to finish dinner lasted over 3 hours, most of it spent waiting in a less than comfortable dining area. The Orangery produces excellent food but the experience is mired by style over substance and an under delivery on core comforts. Would hesitate to recommend.

Fabulous experience in the Orangery in Rockliffe yesterday! Went for afternoon tea which was a faultless experience from friendly greeting to farewell. Wonderful service and delicious food beautifully presented.

Just put a review on the main hotel, but thought i would add one here too, came for a wedding, but stopped another ight & had dinner in the orangery. Was great, loved the dining room & the food. Service was good too. The live pianist was great and unusual to have!

Beautiful modern food in a relaxing atmosphere. Watch out for the cheeseboard though, lol. Order it and you'll see what I mean. Love this place as the staff are also warm and friendly too. Memorable evening and more to come here. We will definitely return 👍

It started with a pre-dinner drink in the drawing room, a high ceilinged chamber with much dark wood and leather furniture. With our drinks the waiter brought a plastic orange tree with actual berry sized oranges (sultanas) that were soaked in Grand Marnier and other magic potions to make them deliciously alcoholic. Soon after, a sommelier joined us in the drawing room to help us choose a wine for the evening. As you walk into the Orangery dining room, one immediately notices a glass skylight ceiling and views of the immaculately groomed grounds. Especially in the evening, the failing sunlight creates great atmosphere throughout the whole restaurant. Perfect ambiance for a fancy dinner. As with many high end restaurants there were pre-courses and courses. Before starters we had an amazing soup that I don't want to insult by getting it wrong, but reminded me of split pea soup. Then starters, all presented like art, followed by our entree. I had the best end of season lamb, and I definitely recommend it! For me, a place like this is as much about the experience as it is the food so I won't delay on just the food. Believe me, whatever you get is probably going to be amazing here! There was a pre-dessert course and it was like a less solid cheesecake with SPOILER ALERT pop rocks. Yes, pop rocks in a 5 star restaurant. Genius is the first word to come to mind. Hope I don't spoil the surprise for you. I liked that I still had another dessert course to go after I finished that! Service is big with me, and this is one of those places where your napkin is placed in your lap for you, so service was exactly the spoiling treatment you hope for at a place like this. So if you want to really splurge (really splurge) and have a truly fine dining adventure, I highly recommend the Orangery.

Kenny Atkinson at The Orangery was an incredible evening. From the moment you walk into Rockliffe Hall you are treated like royalty and throughout our meal the service was outstanding, with very knowledgeable staff and a kitchen/dining system that works very well. They also allow the staff to show a bit of personality which is always endearing in such desirable places.