I am more than happy to rave about the Rib Room at Ramside Hall. Impeccable service and an even higher calibre of food. With the launch of the new and oh so swish Ramside Spa, the Fusion restaurant was introduced to the hotel site. Would I like it just as much? I hoped so.
Taking pride of place in the very recently opened new Spa building, Fusion lies beyond the spa bar and a more relaxed dining area. With views of the hydrotherapy pool, the restaurant has a dark glam ambience. Dark woods, muted paint tones and an abundance of twinkly fairy lights make it the perfect way to end a magical day in the spa – or in my case an evening business meeting.
The menu has a great selection of starters and mains with sides that are perfect to graze on with staple Asian dishes being catered.
As the chatter flowed, we munched our way through Shrimp & Prawn Crackers with a spicy dip (£3.25) from the Asian Tapas selection. A great portion to share between 3 hungry ladies!
With a dietary requirement catered for, we ordered two 6 piece Dim Sum baskets (£9.50 each) which arrived laden with a trio of dipping sauces which perfectly complimented the prawn and pork dumplingy goodness. Up to this point the service had been a little slow but very pleasant but the waitress couldn’t remember which dish had the special request and “thought” she got it right. Not a good sign for any one with allergies etc. Luckily it turned out ok!
The Duck Spring Roll (£7.50) was wedged full of it’s tasty duck filling which made the 2 piece portion a great introduction to the skills of the Fusion kitchen.
Between the three of us, we ordered 2 mains and a huge hefty side dish which hit the spot on all fronts.
The Red Thai Curry with Chicken (£12) was punchy and had a kick to it. Packed with meat and veg, the curry was a huge serving that came with steamed rice which makes a change. You usually have to order separately. The ratio of rice to curry was off and I really could have done with a spoon to get the rest of the food out of the bowl. Speaking of which, the bowl was a lovely heavy stone serving dish but the grating sound of a fork on a stone bowl was like nails down a blackboard. On hindsight I could have asked for a spoon but hey ho.
The King Prawn Teriyaki Don (£14.50) again arrived in an abundant portion with juicy prawns and firm crisp vegetables. A spoon also wouldn’t have gone a miss for this dish too!
The Tempura Vegetable (£3.25) side dish was a huge serving of well cooked veg with a crisp light batter that wasn’t at all greasy. With a bowl of sweet chilli to dip the veg in, it was definitely a very delicious and very generous side dish!
Service had gradually become slower throughout our 2hr visit and it took a while to order coffees and soft drinks which again caused the waiter much confusion and even more confusion when we asked for the bill.
Despite this, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and the slow service did allow for more chatter. I am actually looking forward to my next visit as there are more tasty treats on the menu I wanted to try and I loved the online table booking service!
Hopefully the teething troubles with the wait staff will have been ironed out.