Vines Restaurant at Barton Hall

Quite pricy for mediocre food and an almost bland, forgettable atmosphere. Billed as one of the better quality and certainly pricier restaurants in the area it should offer standout service and food, unfortunately neither were on offer. We ordered the chicken and prosciutto balottene, smoked pork strips with a side of fries. For dessert the Pina Colada posset and triple ice cream. A nice selection but everything was just a bit off. The chicken was overcooked and a little dry requiring a heavy coating of jus to be enjoyable. The fries had an overused oil taste... either the oil needed refreshing or the fryer wasn't hot enough. And the posset was more mousse and the shortbread was inedible leaving a rancid aftertaste. (One of the diners is a professional baker and she was far from impressed by this!) The pork strips were nice but not great, the same with the ice cream. All of this was raised with the waiting staff who seemed somewhat disinterested. The decor of the restaurant is ultimately forgettable and almost feels like a cheap knock-off of a chain restaurant. There's a few nice touches, the white gloves used when delivering food to the table is great (not seen since Silver Service training many moons ago), but its offset by the cheaply laminated drinks menus. It obviously wants to be a high class restaurant but unfortunately it stumbles in its execution.