We didn't stay at the hotel but ate in the Blazing Copper restaurant for my birthday. A wedding party was in another dining area and seemed to be taking most of the wait staff attention. We had a succession of different staff looking after us and service was very slow. My first course - the gluten free soup of the day - arrived with the promised gluten free bread but was barely lukewarm and contained pearl barley. This was exchanged for a delicious seared salmon salad, for which we were not charged. My wife had duck breasts for main course and I had the beef short ribs, both of which were very good. Dessert was also rather hit and miss, my Eton Mess came with blackberries instead of strawberries and ice cream as well as the cream. (It would have had marshmallows, but these were not gluten free!) My wife had chocolate brownie which would have been better served hot, or at least warmed. We had used the courtesy coach to get to the hotel. This coach had seen many better days, the upholstery appeared dirty and there were no seatbelts for the pasengers. On requesting the coach to return us home, we were told several members of staff were off sick and there would be a long wait. In the end, one of the kitchen staff took us home in her own car, which was a very nice gesture, it was just a shame the car was full of junk and had the stereo turned up full! This was the third time in three years that we have eaten at the restaurant and on none of the occasions has the experience been totally satisfying. There are better options in Gore - Casa Bella on the main road and the new Thomas Green bar and restaurant in the middle of town, both of which we would recommend instead.
