Wensleydale Creamery Reviews 

I had lunch in the restaurant here, which was fairly pricey.....£15 for what was advertised as a rich three cheese rarebit on soda bread with salad and fries. I was looking forward to lots of cheese, considering where we were, but disappointingly the rarebit was just a mean scraping of cheese on a halved large bap, so largely bread. Not to be recommended.

Fabulous service and staff - both on the cheese tour and at lunch. Thoroughly recommend the cheesy afternoon tea!

We’ve been to the creamery loads of times but never at the right time to do the tour. This time we arrived an hour early so managed to book into the tour.

The tour was fantastic, the chap doing the demonstration was very knowledgeable and made it a fun experience with his quick wit. Really good value and my children (who I didn’t have to pay for) loved it.

We also ate at the coffee shop and the food was very good although it was a long wait which we hadn’t been expecting and a little pre-warning of wait times on ordering wouldn’t go amiss.

The cheese making demo was informative and enjoyable. The chap running it, Tim I think, was very jolly and made it well worth the admission fee.
Cheese tasting in shop was well laid out and staff happy to guide us through the experience.
The restaurant was a big let down. We had to wait a while because the restaurant kitchen was very busy. Not a problem and we were given a very good table when they were ready. The chap who served us was new to the job but was up to speed with what was required. We both ordered beef and ale pie, mine with chips and my husband's with new potatoes. Chips (I suspect frozen ones) and pie were really dry, although accompanied by gravy this would have just made the food soggy. The veg, buttered, extremely soft carrots and red cabbage not what was expected. Maybe a northern thing and quite possibly mentioned on the menu but missed by us. We ordered a crumble, it was no longer available along with the Eton mess so we went for sticky toffee pudding that came with a berries. Berries also not available. The serving staff were friendly and efficient but the food was poor.

As mentioned you can't book a table in advance. On arrival we went to Calverts restaurant and we booked a table..we were told we'd have to wait an hour, which was fine. All staff were lovely, both in Calverts and the shop. We had the 'Cheesy afternoon tea'..which was delicious..a real treat. I thought it was good value for money..had a grand day out..

Travelled an hour and a half to try their afternoon tea. We checked their website in advance of going where it specifically states “no reservations required, we only accept walk in’s”. How come when we get there they then tell us they are fully booked, all tables are reserved and we cannot have afternoon tea! Fuming is an understatement!

Disappointed!
We visited as a group of 4 for afternoon tea. Unfortunately we didn’t get the afternoon tea experience as we were seated on a very small table and there was no room for the wooden food benches. Instead of offering us a bigger table, they just offered to take the food off the benches and put it directly on the table. We also bought sides so there was still not enough room. I asked if we could be moved to one of the bigger tables but instead they brought another small one over. So we had 1 square table and 1 round one. It made seating very uncomfortable and awkward. They even ended up bringing the dessert part of the afternoon tea out later, it is all meant to be brought out together! What made it more frustrating is that there were lots of bigger empty tables and next to us was 2 people sat at a table for 6. It just didn’t make sense that they squeezed us and all our food on a very small table.
Nearly £100 we spent and to be squashed and our food not be presented as it should have been was not acceptable.
This was our 1st visit and I can say I will not return.

I've been wanting to try the restaurant for a while so I took my partner today, as a treat for his birthday. The menu looks amazing and good prices. We both chose the Ultimate Rarebit. This came with chunky chips and salad. The dressing on the salad was Amazing, the chunky chips however, although in plenty, seemed to be those of the
frozen type. The rarebit again was a good amount, but basically cheese on toast. You could tell there were different cheeses but it wasn't like a rarebit I've had before. The relish was delicious. The good thing was the portion size, but quite disappointed otherwise.
I had the Wensleydale Cheese and Ginger cheesecake. Huge portion, tasted good. One of my favourite cheeses, however, it was like eating the actual cheese. It wasn't fluffy or creamy. The base was a bit thick so I left that because by then I was starting to feel full.
The staff were lovely and the restaurant is clean and bright, nice furnishings and a fab view.
I would go again because I've promised to take my dad, and I would try something else on the menu

Nut allergy sufferers BEWARE

While in the Wensleydale area we visited the Wensleydale creamery for a visit as heard it could be good. We were disappointed but not because of the information, that was nice although quite repetitive but by how staff acted. They were friendly but dismissive of concerns.

The tour is basically a few corridors into a room with a kitchen and lots of benches to watch the process, it takes about 45 mins to an hour for the demonstration and is quite repetitive. You then get to go take some pictures with Wallace and Gromit, try some cheeses and see where the factory is doing their work.

NOTE: The factory is closed on a weekend completely so all you see is a lot of metal trays and pipes, but nothing in action which was disappointing.

I have recently discovered I have a NUT allergy so of course, avoid anything with nuts. When we got to the cheese tasting area, there are little pots with cake and cheese in them. After searching to ensure the cheeses and things do not have allergens, I found a faded sheet around the side to check for allergens. I asked as saw one item said it had peanuts and then was told by the staff member, that ONLY the chutney has any form of nuts in it and nothing else so could try everything there.

This we found was untrue.

We picked up a pot with the cake and cheese, and thankfully topped up before tasting anything. At the end of the counter, there is a notice that says the Fruit cake DOES contain NUTS - NOT next to the tasting pots. When we said this to the staff member, he just said - its just almonds. WE clarified, that is a NUT and you said it was only in the chutney and he just shrugged it off and went back to sorting things.

We have put in a complaint to the company regarding this as it is an unsafe practice.

If I could give zero stars I would. Agree with other reviewers nobody answers phone or replies to emails. Ordered a hamper which arrived 8 days later with 7 Substitutions! Hamper is still in stock and items still listed. No explanation or anything. Totally disappointed and will not be repeating this experience

I enjoy the Wensleydale Creamery cheeses very much and have often bought them when down in the Dales, to enjoy when I got home. Home is in the Highlands, not far from Inverness, so by no means inaccessible, certainly very much in the UK mainland, and serviced by carriers such as evri, dpd, and by Royal Mail.

Having in the past received orders from the Creameries by post, I was baffled and disappointed to discover from their website that their policy had changed, and they were no longer prepared to deliver to my postcode. I received no reply to a perfectly civil message asking why this might be, and suggesting that a change of courier might be in order.

Businesses in the north of England who deal in fresh food and who are prepared to ship to my address include Bettys, Bothams of Whitby, the Courtyard Dairy, and the Cheshire Cheese Company. In fact I have in the past received a Wensleydale truckle as part of a Bothams package, while being unable to purchase one directly from the manufacturer in Hawes.

If the Wensleydale Creameries were to revert to their previous policy, and deliver to what is not an isolated part of the UK, this would almost certainly be a five star review. As it is, I can hardly give stars to cheeses I’m not able to taste.

Tried for two days to get through on the phone number they gave no replies as usual as I’ve had trouble in the past this as well also sent emails which they don’t seem to read or even reply to. just a shame you can give them one star for the after sales service which is absolutely atrocious

Bought this cheese on an off chance and I won't be buying it again! Absolutely tasteless! What a waste of money. Decent white cheeses are getting hard to find but I'd rather do without than try and eat this garbage! Do not buy it!!! Bought from the Coop.

Good products but customer service almost non existent. Order was late and substitutions made, never contacted me to let me know about either of these issues, I had to chase them. They were prompt at replying to my email so at least that's something.

Great company, ordered arrived quickly and well packaged with cold packs, delivered by DPD so I received a one house time slot. Really pleased, thank you, I will use this company again.

Ordered on 29 Nov and now told on order status (never by email) that it will not be despatched until 12 Dec even though in the past it has been 2-3 days. Not impressed and no reply from customer services.

*** A follow-up to this review (7 Dec) the order has been delivered today by DPD. As always the product is great but their responses to mail by their customer services is non existent.

My Wensleydale Creamery order arrived quickly. All lovely stuff. Will be making up my own gift boxes. Unfortunately 3 boxes of crackers had broken biscuits and they were replaced promptly. Maybe crackers are not the best mail order items. Great customer service. Thank you.

Me and my family visited yesterday.
All of the staff were so friendly and informative.
Colby loved his free flake on one of his two ice creams.
A lovely gift shop lady who is due to retire soon really made a fuss of my little boy. It’s refreshing to see.
Watching the demonstration of the cheese being made was an extra bonus as it was something different to do.
Huge range of cheeses to try which was great as I tried and bought some that I would have never of bought from a shop because I got to try it and loved it.
I was even told they have recipes online which was useful.
We went into the cafe (for the third time that afternoon) (previously had a scone and the soup which was tasty and reasonable prices) and whilst sat was approached by a kind man who gave Colby a teddy that he’d got from the gift shop. I don’t know when he’d spotted him but he must of made an impression for him to come and find us to give him this. We thought it was very nice of him and we’re taken back by his generosity that I didn’t even say thank you properly. The ladies in the gift shop later told us he was high up in the company. It really made our visit because it just puts faith back that there are good people around. Seems like they all work here as all the staff were lovely.
Thanks for a pleasant visit.
And a big thank you to the mystery man, Colby absolutely loves his teddy who kept him company the 2 hours home!

Very disappointing, ordered Christmas present early Dec and not arrived. Response from company very poor. Definitely will not be using again.

Had lunch in the cafeteria. Very busy but staff were very efficient and the service as excellent. I had Yorkshire Wensleydale and double Yorkshire cheese on toast and my wife had a Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese and tomato sandwich.. We were borh dissappionted to find that the bread in both was ordinary commercial thin sliced white - surely good cheese deserves better than this?