Brewers Fayre Lock Keeper Chesterfield Review
Reviewed by Ella Richardson
We arrived at the Lock Keeper in Chesterfield really easily, it was in a pretty central location and very well sign posted. The first thing we noticed about the restaurant was it was busy and laughter and chatter filled the room, which had its Christmas decorations up so felt very festive and all over a happy atmosphere. So already I was put in a very good mood and ready to enjoy the food of which the smell was wafting around the room. Straightaway the table was ready which was great because we were both really hungry, the lady who showed us to the table was very helpful and explained everything on offer, what we could have and about the cost of the all you can eat buffet and the fact you could also have the Christmas menu, which is a shame I’m not a big fan because peering at others plates it did look very good. We decided that we would order the starter combo to share as we wanted to pace ourselves for the all you can eat chicken buffet for mains and a pudding. It consisted of battered prawns, onion rings, chicken and breaded mushrooms, with 3 dipping sauces and it wasn’t a small amount there was even some left over which is fab as usually restaurants give smaller amounts. It also came with salad which was refreshing with the heavier stuff so it worked as a great combo. It was quickly demolished as it was lovely and just the right amount for two. The all you can eat buffet was a chicken there so it had various types of breaded chicken, BBQ chicken and the one I liked the most, chicken breast with bacon and cheese, sinful but so, so nice. This was accompanied by a variety of chips, onion rings and my something my husband loved was their baked beans with BBQ and bacon in. There was also a large range of lovely salads, potato salads and coleslaw. We piled our plates high and were absolutely stuffed, it was all really lovely food, the chicken was so tender and there was a wide variety.
Everything was excellent but there were just 2 points we picked up on, one was we booked the table for 8.30pm and were at no point told that the all you can eat buffet ended at 9pm until I asked one waitress who informed us at 9.10pm it was closed but they would ask for them to keep it open a bit, she was lovely and went out of the way for me, though I’m afraid cannot be said for the manager (I assume as she was dressed differently) who I asked for a spoon as they had been taken out of the salad. She was very abrupt and said it had ended 15 minutes ago and didn’t offer to get me another one so I had to find my own fork from behind the food counter. This meant we weren’t able to get another plate if we wanted, it was quite a good job we were already full. I just would like to say all other staff were very helpful, pleasant and polite and worked as a great team to make the night enjoyable. My only other thought was that there wasn’t a great deal on the all you can eat buffet for a vegetarian BUT if you were a vegetarian you probably wouldn’t go on chicken night, but it could be an idea to have a meat substitute so there is that option. They were my only two points and by no means did they ruin my experience and in fact we plan to go back soon.
We also looked at the different nights they did such as, Chinese night and chip shop night just to name a couple. We have definitely said we will go back as we have four children and they did deals for children up to 12 to eat for under £5 which in this economy is great and there was also a soft play area attached which is fab as usually we would pay to get into a soft play area then pay for food, so this way it will work out cheaper and we can have a drink too if we want one and with the wide variety of foods I am certain to find food that my fussy eaters will like for a fantastic price, they also have a bonus scheme which you can build up points, I will be honest I didn’t look too closely at it but it sounds like it’s worth doing if you go regularly. The meal for two of us was £37 for two courses (too full for pudding) and that was with a drink each, so excellent value for money.
Rating: 4/5
For more information, to view menus or book a table at the Lock Keeper click here.