Restaurant 17

This a great review about service. And the owner. Sadly a gas leak closed the restaurant. The owner called me apologise and then recommednded two local restaurants. So apologetic but then immediately solve my problem and gave me the the other resturants phone numbers. I will come back to eat simple because of the care and attention.

Fabulous find in Durham centre. Food was superb, the service attentive but not overly so. Gary was extremely helpful and his recommendations of the duck and lamb were spot on. Highly recommended

The lamb and chicken were delicious and tender. Our server was very polite and helpful. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and will be back

Found this charming place last night and v glad we did! The venue is quirky and welcoming. The service was attentive without being intrusive and the food was excellent, with real attention to detail. Shame it's not open again tonight.

Underground down steep steps, hidden away but right in the middle of the city. Just found it on OpenTable and took a chance for a party of four. It delivered beyond expectations. Only 20 or so covers but so worth finding it. Excellent food (the duck was fantastic as was the sticky toffee pudding) and relaxed but attentive service with a welcome, a chat and a smile. I'd certainly go back there next time I'm in Durham.

Gary the manager, what a lovely, professional lovely guy. Food was beautiful, highly recommended service second to none. Not in eat and out gary has fantastic way about him. Decor beautiful. I had lamb daughter had seafood linguistics, both had cheesecake baked beautiful

Ate here yesterday with my (long suffering) wife. Food, wine and service were superb….. and the price was reasonable. I implore anyone who reads this, assuming they are in the market for a quality meal in Durham city - book this restaurant and go. Enjoy the fact that, in no other city can you just pop down a short flight of stairs and have such a high quality, intimate meal with a loved one at such a reasonable price. The pork belly is truly spectacular.

An excellent restaurant. Friendly and civilized. Great food in a relaxed atmosphere where you can talk easily. The staff were very welcoming. I'd be a regular if I lived in Durham.

First Class. Very impressed. Delicious food. (I had the black pudding, lamb rump followed by the lemon posset and a coffee last night). Every course was delicious. My husband had the steak for his main and it was cooked to perfection. The night before we had eaten at a restaurant owned by a famous ‘TV’ chef, but this meal beat it hands down. Friendly service and lovely deco. We were really glad we had chosen this restaurant for our wedding anniversary meal.

What a hidden gem of a place. Gary was the perfect host. The food is sublime and cooked to perfection. The Korean Cumcumver said with a chilli dressing was perfect with the right amount of heat. The king prawns had a fantastic Asian style dressing on them that brought the dish alive. The steak was perfectly cooked, with amazing chips. The wine list was well priced and the Cote Du Rhone was absolutely delicious.

Walking across the beautiful Elvet Bridge, with its calm river flow beneath and Ancient trees in full foliage on its high banks, sets you up for a wonderful night at the restaurant. The interior is seductively lit, and the staff immediately set you at ease with their welcome. The menu covers all expectations, but is concise. Despite this I struggled to choose between the options and I was delighted to accept the Managers recommendations. However, my girlfriend's choice won the day with a piece of seabass with the most perfect char and smoked garlic. The service was better than I've had anywhere, and we were escorted to the lovely bar and terrace next door to ensure the ideal transition in our evening. Thank you R17!

Great restaurant. The staff were really friendly and accommodating (we needed to change the size of our group and that was no problem at all). Food and wine were excellent and good value for money. Would highly recommend this place.

Restaurant 17 was great .we ate there on Friday 18th June 2021.We chose the chefs special which was a Portuguese fish stew,highly recommended. Gary was super friendly and attentive and Mia our waitress was well informed,friendly and courteous. Would definitely eat here again and would recommend the restaurant to any one else .

We were visiting Durham with friends and had dinner one night in this gem of a restaurant. The food was first class and the prices very reasonable ( although we do come from Edinburgh! ) The choice and presentation was good and the staff friendly and helpful but professional. If you are looking for a good meal in a restaurant with a lovely atmosphere and good prices you can do no better - but do book.

What a wonderful hidden gem. We were so lucky to find this restaurant on our recent visit to Dunham. The food and ambulance was excellent. Thank you to all the staff who help this restaurant such a fabulous place to eat.

Wonderful meal fast efficient service. Mains came served on a very hot plate. That makes a nice change, can't stand cold food on a cold plate. Would recommend.

First time at Resturant 17 yesterday, food was delicious, very cosy with a lovely warm feel to the restaurant. Best waitress service I have had in a long time, she was amazing. Defiantly be going back.

Gorgeous meal at Restaurant 17 last night, everything from the welcome to the very comfortable and cosy dining room to the drinks and food were top class! If you're in the area I'd highly recommend making a booking

Lovely food, very good service and excellent wine

Restaurant 17 definitely lived up to the reviews. Lovely food, excellent service. The waiting staff were second to none. Can't fault it. Well done guys

This is a tasty option just off Elvet Bridge. It’s s cozy interior. We arrived at 8 o’clock & they were sending staff home so we weren’t sure we should stay to not be an inconvenience. The manager assured us it was fine. We’re glad we stayed it was a very nice dinner. I tried the soup which was all greens (broccoli, spinach, etc..) which was nice. For entrees my son had the sirloin which he enjoyed, my wife had the risotto & I had the slow cooked beef. All of which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Lovely little restaurant on Eldon bridge down a small set of stairs, holding around 6-7 tables this is a small restaurant with personal service and a refined menu which isn't overlay complicated. Food was cooked well, vegi were lovely, very well informed on changes to the main menu. Service was great, my only negative, no windows and tables a little close together, but definitely worth going and prices were reasonable.

Food was delicious! Had the poached halibut with tagliatelle and roast chicken with black pudding for mains followed by lavender panacotta and lemon polenta cake with raspberry sorbet and poached pear. Service was always friendly and good, but got a bit busy towards the end. Atmosphere here was very good - great for large and small groups.

London prices but very nice food and lovely staff. Do check whether you need sides with your main. Would thoroughly recommend for a high quality meal out.

Good contemporary dining. Nothing too crazy but a bit above average and not a chain. Good for a special occasion, too expensive for an ordinary meal out.

Beautiful food. I ate scallops, then a monkfish curry which were both delicious and the fish was cooked perfectly. My partner loved his chicken main course and raved about the mash! Service was very attentive but not intrusive and food came quickly. We dropped one star because the wine list didn't have a French red, which we love, but if you're looking for lovely food and a nice glass of wine (from elsewhere), we would highly recommend this quaint, intimate restaurant. Right in the centre of Durham too so it was very easy to stumble upon. We had fun identifying all the actors in the photos too. Thank you no17.

We had bacon sandwiches and coffee's, my daughter had an amazing hot choc. Was very good quality, you order at the counter and they bring the food out. Nice place, reasonably priced.

Steaks were excellent and Pavlova dessert was delicious, wine was divine. Good service but got seated in a corner where lighting was very poor, just about able to read the menu.

What would you think of a restaurant with the tag of high price in the menu? You would expect a fancy restaurant, with high quality of everything..., wouldn't you? Look at this pepper mill? I couldn't imagine how a "high quality" restaurant could use this?? That was given to me when I asked for some black pepper, and it was simply put on the table. What a service! It wasn't busy when we dined there. Nobody came to check how everything was. Actually, my dish (risotto) wasn't that great either. Sadly, that is Four big NOs from me. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant. There are so many good restaurants in Durham.

Food (Lamb cutlets) was amazing until I found hair in it and asked the waiter to take away the food as felt sick by the thought of it. He took away the plate and when I went to pay, I asked the same waiter if he’d brought it to the Chef’s attention about the hair and all he said was yes. There was no apology which was very disappointing as the atmosphere in the restaurant is great!

My experience at this restaurant was very disappointing. The venue was good and the staff good and friendly. The chef who sent the food to us although ok, all the dishes were just say warm, one dish had to be sent back. The monk fish dishes were missing the monk fish. Two of us order steaks, however 2 sauces were off the menu and we were the first customers of the evening. I asked for blue cheese sauce, and what i got was not a sauce but a cumbles of cheese on the top. Surely a chef would know this. I would not recommend this restaurant.

The main meal was lovely,. But service very slow. Waited 20min for menu. Asked for a glass of wine got a bottle. Main meal turned up over an hour later. Staff were very friendly but need more then two.

It is a cosy restaurants, perfect for a date. However the food was nothing special. The steak was ok but nothing more, while the dessert really not good.

We knew we would be in town and using TA to identify a good restaurant, we booked early to ensure we could have a good dinner on the one night that we were in town. Easy to find, and the actual restaurant is down the stairs off the main road. Nice welcome, shown straight to the a table, this was in a corner away from the door. Interesting menu,but as the light faded we began to notice we were in a dark corner. The service was a bit patchy and got worse as the evening went on. The table next to us arrived, sat down, given menus and a bottle of water, but were then totally forgotten, after about 40 minutes they got up and left, they were more patient that we would have been! When the main courses came along, we talked about using the torch function on our phones to see what we had. The food was not that memorable and based on this visit if were ever in town again, we would NOT return. We mentioned the lighting, and they said we should have asked for the main room lights to be turned up, but this would not have helped as in that corner there are no wall lights and little light is cast into the corner. We were really surprised no one had commented before or the staff had not noticed

Although the food was very nice, sadly the speed of service did not match. We were drawn in by a lovely reading menu which a lot of people will but it's only half the deal as a customer. Hate leaving such reviews but that's been the experience of our 4 person booking tonight.

The first experience of Restaurant 17 was fantastic, however after going this evening for my friend's 21st the experience couldn't have been more different. Without being informed, we were given set menus with very limited choices, upon asking for the regular a la carte menu, the waiter had to read from a hand written list which wasn't the same as online (which was what we were all expecting). The service was poor, with cutlery coming out late and not being provided with a wine list. It was also slow, with the final dish of each course coming out up to 5-10 minutes after the others. When spending this much money on food, a basic level of service is anticipated - however this was nowhere near achieved, it would have been better at far cheaper restaurants. After booking and telling the staff it was my friend's birthday, they put a small banner on one of the beams (couldn't be seen by the whole group) - no other effort was made to make it an occasion, like other restaurants would have offered. The food was tasty but distinctly average, despite the very limited choices and the restaurant itself is in a good location. However there are other places locally with equally as good food with more professional service.

Disappointing. The menu and the ethos of 17 is great, but they don’t deliver. The waitress had no idea of the main components of the dishes, and just poured the wine for all without giving a taster and asking if it was OK. Much of the ingredients were not fresh and presentation was non existent (each plate came with a sprig of water cress). A pity, because if they trained their staff and the chef put some effort in, it would be good. For the money charged, go to Course and really get your money’s worth and a really good dinner.

Lovely location and atmosphere. Lamb cutlets and slow cooked beef were good. The prawns with mango were however truly dire. Nan bread completely soaked in mango chutney. I can eat absolutely anything without any fuss, but even I couldn't manage it. We asked for it to be returned and the waitress starting arguing with us ("everyone else likes it...." etc). It was comically bad service. We weren't even asking for any refund or replacement. We were being really nice and apologetic in that typical English non-confrontational way, and she was having a go at us! The seafood linguini was sadly as bad. A tonne of overcooked linguini served in water with loads of mussels that had been boiled to death. No sauce / taste at all. A massive pile of bland tasteless pasta. The steak was just poor quality so it was like eating boot leather. I'm sorry to give this feedback. But at £150 for six main courses it was such a poor experience. From order to food: 45 minutes. That's quite a long time.

£70 dinner wasted. Booked online 3 hours before arrival and when arrived they didn't have the booking. Restaurant was pretty much empty.music on the background was pretty depressing actually not a dinning experience, room was pretty dark couldn't read the menu or see the food.Red wine we got from Chile was probably not worth even a fiver. Starters were chicken liver parfait and chicken satay. The parfait was super salty and not set was running on the toast. The chicken satay was overcooked so meat was dry.mains were chicken parma and gammon. Both were super salty couldn't taste of meat as we were rinsing with water and vegetables. Vegetables were very nicely cooked which was surprising as meat was a total let down. £70 meal wasted our evening and money really. I would avoid. Trip advisors ratings are incorrect people do yourself a favour and avoid.

Booked a table for valentine's evening through the restaurants app.There was no mention of having to pay a deposit that I could see and the table was confirmed. I then received a voicemail about a week before the booking saying that I had to pay a £10 deposit..after several attempts to contact the restaurant I finally got through and paid. On the evening that we were supposed to go I was stuck in Edinburgh due to all the trains being suspended because of a fatality. My wife rang the restaurant and explained that unfortunately we would not make it and could we please book another night and use the £10 deposit for that evening. She was told NO...and that they had a business to run!! Well all I can say is they wont be getting my business EVER...and I wont be recommending them to anyone. What terrible customer service! They really need to work on there ethics. Was it worth losing potentional future custom for the sake of £10