Charlie's Bistro - Derbyshire Dales

This was my second visit whilst staying locally. Our first visit had the best steak sandwich ever. As a result we went for lunch; the weather was beautiful and we sat outside with a view of the church. The restaurant which is dog friendly was full inside and had a great atmosphere The menu is varied with options for all dietary requirements We shared a starter of prawn and salmon salad; which was fortunate as it was huge I had salmon and haddock fish cakes with a beautiful light lemon and white wine sauce served with perfectly cooked vegetables My husband had a cod rarebit salad which he devoured The wine list is good and not overpriced A beautiful lunch great service and worth the second visit

Absolutely fantastic, had the Cod Welsh rarebit. What a meal !!! Eat out fairly regularly and now and again we go high end. You can’t beat this.

The Goats Cheese Tart starter and Rack of Lamb main were both very good. The chips part of the Cod and Chips was good but the Cod certainly wasn’t. The batter was thin and soggy and the fish itself was wet and lacked flavour. The solitary waitress coped brilliantly but was very busy so it was not easy to attract her attention to complain. Had I done so I would presumably have been offered a replacement fish which would no doubt have been the same, or perhaps a different meal which would have meant a long wait judging by how long we had waited for our initial order and me eating on my own while my partner would have had to sit watching me, having long finished her meal. I therefore lumped my way through it, I was hungry after all, that's why we where there. When the waitress came to clear the plates I told her of my dissatisfaction with the fish and drew her attention to the pile of soggy batter and fish I had left on the plate. She said she would inform the chef. She brought the bill without comment so I asked her whether she had informed the Chef and asked what his response had been. She said he had said sorry. I said that if he was sorry why was there no adjustment to the bill? She said she would go back and ask him. She returned to inform me that he said that as I had eaten it I had to pay for it. What an attitude, what poor PR. Our first and last visit to Charlies. Note. I couldn't bring myself to tip the waitress under the circumstances which was unfortunate because she was working very hard and unsupported and it wasn't her fault. Perhaps Chef, or Charlie, you would have the decency to dip into your own pocket and give her the £7 she didn't get from me thanks to your poor attitude.

Have to say we were very disappointed. Booked in advance, the restaurant was full all but one table at 7.30pm. Limited menu but already sold out of one of the main courses. We ordered starters, which were good and generously portioned, served hot. Our mains were both very average, fish and chips if my husband says it was ok, it wasn’t great and I ordered fillet of beef, med but it was over cooked and dry. We weren’t asked if everything was ok and the single waitresss was very busy but we did comment as she removed our plates, she said she would inform the chef. That was the last we heard. We paid and left. We are fairly local, live in Castleton) but would not recommend or rush back. Bit sad as we do like to support local independent businesses.

The food is sensational. My friend Anna treated me. What a lovely restaurant. I can't wait to go back to visit.