Ash

Surprised at the Qype reviews.
We saw the ‘2 courses for £6.95′ lunch offer and, not wanting to travel far from the bus station, headed in. The place looked reasonably swanky and we were expecting a nice feed.
We weren’t the only ones as most of the clientele seemed to be people waiting on buses and trains, with a glass of wine and an iPad.
The menu was a wee bit deceptive. Three tiers of main courses, which you can add a starter or desert to. The choice of main determines the overall price (6.95, 8.95 or 10.95). Many of the starters and deserts have additional charges.
I started with chicken pâté. My previous assumption was that chicken pâté is such a great, simple dish that even when it’s bad it’s good. Not so. It came piped into a tower with a black olive on top and tasted like someone had blended cardboard and water into it. The texture was closer to cake then pâté and the two tiny pieces of toasted bread provided were not sufficient.
For mains I went with minute steak served with chips, onion rings, salad, grilled mushroom and roast tomatoes. Note the plural tomatoes. The minute steak was decent. I think when you order minute steak you know what you’re getting. There was a single tomato on the plate (plural on the menu) and the salad was the same salad I had with my starter. Most ickily, on closer inspection the green peppers in the salad looked like they had been cut at least a day ago (all wrinkly and shriveled) which made me question the dish and I ended up eating only the steak and chips.
If I’m in the area again I’d give it a miss.
UPDATE: I’ve edited this review and dropped a star off. Why?
Not liking a dish is one thing. Being physically ill for up to a day after eating a very small amount of a dish is another thing entirely. I know it was a cheapish lunch (under a tenner each) but seriously.
Not worth it.

Ash gets five stars from me. It is just the sort of place to go if you are celebrating or fancy a great meal although as already mentioned the food is a bit on the pricey side but it is linked to a hotel so that could be expected. The best thing about Ash is there cocktails which are also a bit on the pricey side but definitely worth it. I was recently in there and got a pitcher of a cocktail for £9.95 which was very nice and did several drinks for myself and my friend however don’t expect a pitcher like you would get in Wetherspoons but more of a small jug. The atmosphere is great and the staff are really friendly.

A bar/​restaurant which links up to the hotel. The food is good but can be quite pricey. The bar has a lot of comnfy seats and they do a really good cocktail, normally quite expensive elsewhere but very reasonable. There is a good atmosphere within the bar. It is quite a modern bar as well and can be busy if there is an event on in the hotel.