Obsidian

What a great hotel! Lovely spacious room with really comfy bed. And best surprise was the steamer so I didn't have to do the ironing. The staff were super nice. Loved staying here and can't recommend it enough!

Short version: the staff are trying their best with a crap hand, we had a voucher and left before spending it all after a cocktail that tasted of burnt cigarettes. On arrival we overheard a staff member telling a couple who had no hot water in their room "that's the way it is, we have old pipes" which set the tone. We sat in an empty, silent dining room and ordered a bottle of wine, 2 x steaks, chips and greens from a menu that had half of it printed upside down. The waiter left to find his pad, then went on his break. A new waiter took our order almost 10 minutes later. After going to the computer, they returned and told us that the steaks were no longer on the menu but the chef was going to look for some in the fridge. He was unsuccessful. We had to reorder and got steak frites and a burger with greens and fries. The food arrived and the burger was good but completely alone on a plate for £18, the steak was overcooked and bland. The greens appeared to be fried spring onions which we sent back and were returned identical 20 minutes later after the waiter went into the kitchen and cooked them herself - we overheard the chef saying that he wasn't doing them again or words to that effect (still no music or ambience in the dining room). We went across to the (silent, ambiance less) bar to have a cocktail and when I asked for a menu, the waiter looked at me blankly and said we don't have one. We were then given the restaurant menu again and ordered espresso martinis. They looked great but tasted of cigarette ends thanks to the terrible, cheap coffee they're using in this high end hotel - I can only imagine how the breakfast goes. We had spent around £75 of our £100 voucher after they took 50% off the food and didn't want to stay any longer to spend the rest. I think that says it all. Absolutely would not recommend

We booked in for lunch for 4 people, the restaurant was deserted apart from another table. The food was mediocre, the steak had little flavour despite paying for the more expensive one and the desert which was meant to be a lemon posset, normally smooth and creamy, was gradual and strange tasting. Seemed like it might have been sitting around for a while to go that way but I can’t confirm that. The service was terrible, we were introduced to our initial waitress who then stopped her work shift which is fine and we had another waitress introduce herself. She did check if our meal was ok then we didn’t see her again. There was no one around to ask if when we wanted more drinks and our plates weren’t taken away from us for an hour and in the end I went and asked at the front desk if they could get someone to take our plates. The waiter came over and asked if we wanted to see the desert menu, took our orders and was again walking away without taking our plates so I had to call to him to ask him to do so which made me feel embarrassed. We then had another waiter bring our deserts and eventually bring our drinks. We were there for three hours and not by choice but due to the ultra slow service, it’s not like they were busy. Very disappointed. Will never be going back.

The Alan’s restaurant used to be excellent but it seems to have downgraded its food offering in the last quarter or so. The sambal sauce for the prawn small plate was too tomato-focused with no dried shrimp flavour to it. It was unevenly heated. I briefly entertained the idea of going to a restaurant in nearby Chinatown to order a more authentic version of the dish. The steak was more on the medium side than medium-rare. When we commented on this we were told that steaks of that size could only be cooked in one way. We found it hard to believe that, in a hotel named after the father of computing, the results of cooking a steak could not be finessed with the aid of an electronic device called a meat thermometer. We also thought the meats were under-seasoned. Service was otherwise good.

Second time visiting this restaurant and probably the last. Ordered drinks and we were told there was no tonic and no sparkling water! The starters were average and our pan fried chicken with hispi cabbage was ok but underwhelming and under seasoned. This place has gone down hill and we will not be returning.

Beautifully decorated with some wonderful food options. The crab pasta, cured meat and pickled celeriac salad were really lovely in particular. Shame it isn’t busier as it would improve the atmosphere. But hopefully it gets more popular with time as I think it’s a great boutique hotel

Service is terrible they forgot about my order Had to stand up and go to the bar to remind them about my drinks honestly awful experience for the first time !

Not bad for 🥃

Second time dining at the Alan and a vast improvement - the place had only just opened on my first visit. Food was amazing especially the venison. The service was good when you could get a waiters attention - they kept hiding behind the wall near the pass. The atmosphere was a bit disjointed as hotel guests were popping in for bar meals which was quite a change to guests there for fine dining

The staff are very friendly and the food is very delicious. Lamb breast is amazing, not too fatty! Oysters are fresh, confit potatoes are the must to try, so crunchy👍

The waitresses described the meals in great detail to us and helpfully took our coats 🧥 when we arrived. We ordered 4 dishes each and a drink for £25 - a bargain! I would say 4 each is too many however, the dishes are decently sized. I recommend the hummus, the leeks and the crab 🦀 rosti which was LUSH. The toilets 🚽 were very clean also - and you can see them prepare the food in the open kitchen which is very nice 👍