The Waiting Room

The Waiting Room is a completely vegetarian restaurant, and they cater for vegans and gluten-​free diets too.
It’s cosy and has a lovely unique look to it with their unusual décor (like photo slide lampshades).
Parking can be an issue as there’s only on-​street parking, and most of it is ‘residents only’.
Public transport links are good though as there’s a train station less than five minutes away, and nearby bus stops.
The staff are always friendly and happy to help with any dietary requirement requests.
The food is always really tasty however portions can be small and it’s expensive. Expect to pay at least £10 just for a main course.
They have an excellent range of beers, wines and soft drinks, all suitable for vegetarians.
Dessert time is always disappointing for vegans as all they ever serve is plain dairy-​free vanilla ice cream, no sauce. They have at least four other desserts for vegetarians. On my visit today I was even more disappointed than usual as my friend had the dairy ice-​cream and got twice as much as me for the same price!
If you like fine food, and don’t mind paying for it, then this is a wonderful place! It’s also great for special occasions but, due to the price, I wouldn’t make it a regular place to eat.

I am not a vegetarian and really enjoyed the food. The staff are very friendly. I will be goping again. veryb reasnable prices to.

My wife and I had eaten at the Waiting Room some 15 or more years ago and found it a very nice change – then.Having had a good experience all those years again we decided to visit again for our wedding anniversary. I don’t want to go into overmuch detail however it may be suffice as a summary to say that we may wait another fifteen years to repeat the experience as far as the quality of food goes.
The décor and atmosphere is fine, the place is friendly, but in our opinion the food is so, so, average, and someone really needs to teach the chef presentation skills. In short the quality looks and tastes ‘tired’. Perhaps we hit the ‘off season’, but at these prices I really think things should be a lot better-​those fluffy brown ‘supermarket’ rolls with the starters about summed it up for me. Shame really, it was a place that won prizes and provided the potential difference to take visitors to, but I will head to Norton in future to café’ life where one can also order vegetarian. Please try a LOT harder!

Called in here for a business lunch, I’m not a vegetarian so I was unsure what to expect. Ordered a the egg mayo sandwich, it was fantastic! The service and atmosphere was also spot on! I can recommend this place for lunch to anyone vegi or not, they also have live entertainment on selected nights.

My husband and I dined at the Waiting Room about three years ago. I am a vegetarian but my husband likes nothing more than a good steak! However it was my birthday so my choice! I had read really good reviews of this restaurant online and I wanted to give it a try; there aren’t any other vegetarian restaurants in this area to my knowledge.
We booked our table for a Friday evening and were seated at the back of the restaurant. The place itself is very attractive inside, with two rooms which are both brightly yet tastefully decorated. We also found the service very good. However, it was the food that let the place down in my opinion. We decided to have a starter; I had pitta bread with dips, which was delicious, and my husband had the thinnest sliver of cheese and onion quiche either of us had ever seen! This didn’t bode well! For my main course I had a stew, which was very tasty but a tiny portion; and my husband had mixed beans with potato rosti. It would be fair to say that this was exactly what it said on the tin; basically a plate of mixed beans with two tiny potato rosti on the top! My husband managed to eat about half of it before giving up through sheer boredom! We didn’t bother having a poudding, and actually ended up getting some chips on the way home because we were still so hungry!
I thought the prices were extortionate for the quantity of the food. What would have made the place better in my opinion, which would probably go against the owner’s beliefs, is to have a couple of meat or even fish dishes on the menu for the non-​vegetarian dining companions of a vegetarian; basically the same amount of choice that vegetarians get in most mainstream eateries.
I’m sure that a vegan or a veggie with a small appetite and deep pockets would be impressed with the Waiting Room. We certainly won’t be returning again.