The Great Barn Restaurant

My partner and I decided to have a cream tea. An aggressive woman barked at us 'no cream'. Why advertise cream teas if you have no cream? Don't waste your time, there are much nicer places to have a cuppa.
Thankfully the volunteers at Hardwick Hall were lovely.

Good place for a sit down and a cuppa after tramping around this glorious estate. Lots of helpful and kind staff. Gets busy and there was a bit of a queue - this was later in the day post the lunchtime rush. Ginger beer and a pot of green tea and twud have been rude not to sample a cake or two, hee hee. Not normally a fan of brownies, but the chocolate brownie was good. The classic sponge was too sugary sweet and synthetically tasting for me. Ate it anyway, lolol, snort snort, grunty pig! Has outdoor seating.

Nice cafe but long queue out of the doors. Sadly, the fact that it was lunch time seemed to have surprised them so many items on the menu were sold out, hot snacks , sausage rolls etc, service was slow going. News Flash, lunch time happens every day and on a fine weekend day you should have been more prepared to be busy, it's basic catering not fine dining.

Went in for a piece of cake and cup of tea, but changed mind to a cup of tea and a cheese & onion pastie. The pastie was £3.75 but worth it, as it was generously filled with filling and the pastry was really flaky. The pot of tea we shared between us as you got 3 1/2 cups from the pot. My daughter who is gluten free even managed a cake. What I really liked was that they have moved away from selling bottled water and were providing it for free.

I visited Hardwick Hall on 01/09/2021 and I'm writing this review as I sit and enjoy myself. I was a little dubious about coming in here after reading the negative reviews, however my experience was fantastic.

The staff were welcoming and friendly as I arrived around 9:45am. I wanted a cup of tea with a scone but there were no scones on display. I asked if they had any available and a member of staff went to ask if they were our of the oven yet. They were and she brought me a lovely.warm scone with clotted cream. I helped myself to a pot of strawberry jam and the lady asked if I wanted any more milk. I said yes and she happily.topped up my milk jug. When I got to the table, I found that the teapot full to the brim with hot water, it made over 3 cups of tea for myself.

Overall, a fantastic experience and I'll definitely be back. ♥️

Was very busy between 11:30 and 2pm (lunchtime!) Queued for about 30 minutes to get in.

More of a cafe than a restaurant - but the food was pretty good if expensive.

We ordered cold food except for one hot meal - unfortunately this took over 30 minutes to be prepared.

I'm sure when it's less busy then it's a slightly better experience

Friendly staff, good coffee . Pity the compostable coffee cups and lids are not recycled

Pleasant cafe with comfy seating in various locations indoors, or outdoors if you prefer. The food range is a bit limited because of supply issues at the moment but OK for a light lunch and still a good choice of cake- never tried the unusual chocolate and beetroot cake before but it was delicious (and I don't like beetroot)