St Mawes - Cornwall,Isles of Scilly

We went for dinner. We arrived early. Impressive welcome from lady who remembered me from day before including my name. We were shown to a table upstairs which had open windows views of harbour . The seats however were disappointing. Bucket shaped armchairs which were too low for me offered no back support. I asked for a cushion, which the waiter promptly bought. I sat on it which helped. Then a friendly helpful man staying at the hotel, said “know exactly the problem.I have it too” rushed off to find another plump cushion for my back. That was much better. The chairs are not really suitable for sitting upright eating, especially if you are small. Out meal was served promptly and we were not rushed. The quality was ok but not outstanding though nicely presented the staff had been trained in silver service. The atmosphere was pleasant until a party of 2 children 3 adults arrived at the next table. The children were extremely badly behaved the adults were loud. They shrieked screamed. The whole time, with no regard for others around them. The man at the next table pulled a face at one point. These situations are very difficult when adults are completely selfish with no attempt at discipline. Our evening was ruined so we ate as quickly as we could left. When our bill arrived there was a 15% charge added which bumped up the price considerably. gave us no choice but to pay it. I was not happy with that, so we will not be returning.

Usually excellent but this summer it’s a bit odd. We love coming here but the menu has not changed for several months. I am sure we are not the only ‘regulars’ to St Mawes but even the specials have generally remained the same. We were even more bewildered with their new rule on 1.5 hours only per reservation if you are going to impose this on every table, you need to have a swift front of house service and not serve food 20 mins before the 1.5 hours is up even more confusing is the booking says you have 2 hours! Come on the St Mawes Hotel regroup and provide the service and food you have done previously.

We visited the bar, beautiful decor, great selection of gins! Admittedly we had just been swimming in the sea and although we were dry, we were scruffy. Bought our drinks and as the downstairs tables were booked for dinner we were told to go upstairs. We chose a table that had no reservations and were enjoying the views and our drinks, it was 5:50. A waitress had just come in shift I noticed she gave us a look and 5 mins later asked if we had a reservation we said no, she said well then you have to leave no warning no ok well we will need the table in 10 mins if you would like to finish your drinks she spoke to us as if we were scum. Both my husband and I are in our 50’s and have professional jobs we were so embarrassed. This is no way to treat anyone We were considering booking dinner once we had changed for the evening but I would never go back there now nobody should treat other people in this manner. I complained to the bar man and he basically shrugged his shoulders as if it was ok. I hadn’t even finished my drink. Disgusting

Visited here for my birthday lunch with my husband. We are local and have been quite a few times before. Nice table upstairs by the window. Unfortunately lunch menu not very exciting at all. We didn't have a starter, we both chose from the specials board. Dessert. I can't fault the the staff that served us they we're polite and friendly they all looked very smart. Then the bill came. Paid the bill then realised we had a nearly £10 service charge put on it our own fault for not checking properly but feel we should have been told. My only regret with all this is, we both wished when we looked at the menu we had only said not fancying any of this and got up and left, lessons learned. We have had lovely food and a good variety here before. This time not impressed at all. Won't be returning. Watch out for that service charge people. Like I said been many times before won't make that mistake again.

We stayed at the hotel St. Mawes and thought it would be an easy option to eat at the restaurant. Sadly that was a big mistake. Given that there is a top chef at the sister hotel The Idle Rocks we thought that the food should be good here as well. The soup asparagus and celeriac was rather an odd combination where the asparagus could not be tasted. The seafood risotto was a mushy overcooked rice with some seafood sprinkled on it. The prawns cooked in a curry sauce?!? Why?? And the rest just put on top instead of mixed in. The gnocchi were inedible full of flour, totally tastless and hard; some were even clumped together. The yellow squash sauce totally uninspiring. We did not dare to order a dessert after this dreadful meal. In the morning we had eggs Benedict which were barely runny eggs on ham ! and a thin watery hollandaise sauce. Not really sure if this Chef really knows what he/she is doing.