Jack 'O' Bryan's — Restaurant in Dunfermline

I had the unfortunate event of spending my 30th birthday here. I don't usually write reviews but I will take my time with this one. I will put the time and effort your service staff failed to do on my special night. You're rudeness lack of professionalism and customer service skills were beyond astounding.

I had booked a table for 9 people and gave you my card details over a month before my birthday. No matter how many times I spelt my name out for you, you were unable to get it right on the reservation.Your front of house staff, the blonde older lady was beyond rude from the moment we walked in. Not even a hello or a welcome, you just announced "are you for the table of nine". I felt so uncomfortable from the get go. 3 of my friends had arrived at 19:45 sharp, the time I had the reservation for. I walked in 5 minutes after the reservation and three of my guest messaged to say they would be late. No matter, we were ready to order a round of drinks. That blonde lady came up to me, obviously stressed and rudely said "How long will your friends be? Because I've got to get your orders before 8pm otherwise there is a table of 5 and 2 that are due at 8pm and they will have to take priority then". Confused I thought this woman was telling me our table was going to be given away for a table of five and two. I was upset and ready to just leave altogether. I was stressed and felt obliged to stay however as I didn't think another restaurant could accommodate a table of 9 on a Friday evening. Seeing my uneasiness this woman barked "you've got drinks anyway while you're waiting". Wrong! Only two of my guests had ordered drinks, the staff hadn't asked the rest of us for our drinks orders after we had been there 10 minutes already. When this blonde lady noticed she huffed and puffed and asked for our drink order. My three final guests rushed in about 15 minutes late (at most). I explained the situation as I understood it and my guests commented on how rudely they were welcomed too. A guests of mine decided to take matter into her own hands and spoke to that blonde lady at front of house. Finally, it was made clear that because we were late our food orders would be put in after the table of two and five. Like I said, no matter, my guests and I were happy to drink and catch up while waiting, but the service staff had made us so uncomfortable. I felt belittled and slightly bullied to be honest when that same blonde lady gave out the menus and took our orders, she made snide remarks to my guests. This same lady was obviously needing to get home quickly as, with her black rain jacket on, she pushed past one of my guests (knocking into her) as she made her way through the back door. We had not been asked if we were enjoying our meal. Our water at the table was never re-filled unless we asked. It was just poor service. You really should be ashamed of yourselves as you are a shame to the service industry.

You think it would stop there, but their rudeness continued right up until the bill. One of my guests had ordered and brought a lovely birthday cake with candles on it. We were given plates and a knife to cut the cake, but no cutlery to eat it. We had to ask. Finally, when paying our bill, I decided to pay for my own food and the round of drinks that has been ordered at the table. I explained to the waitress at the cashier that each guests would pay individually for their plates (all were calculating on their phones how much they owed), I kid you not, the waitress looked at me and said in the most sarcastic tone "well that's going to be fun." How dare you! I'm so shocked by your lack of tact and professionalism. I'm really writing this review for your staff to reflect and do better. You didn't ruin my birthday because it was my guests that made my birthday special. Definitely not you. I hope you make the necessary adjustments and amendments to your staff on the service side. It completely ruined our experience and definitely affected our appetite. The food wasn't so appetising with such distasteful service. Please do...

I don't spend enough time giving feedback on many of our local restaurants and have made it a bit of a mission to do so this year. Jack O'Bryans is a family run, u pretentious fine dining restaurant in the heart of Dunfermline. Google asks reviewers to rate restaurants on three criteria, food service and atmosphere, so here goes, although not in that order!

Atmosphere: Small but not cramped it has an excellent atmosphere. On this visit we were given a table in the window at the front of the restaurant, it felt cosy and inviting and was very comfortable. When busier there is a great buzz, music is controlled to given ambience, not create a shouting match. Perfect. Food: We went to celebrate my daughter's 30th birthday. We were a party of five. Starters chosen included the Summer BBQ "Picanha steak", scallops, buffalo mozzarella salad and, Iberian Black pig Char Sui. I sampled all of these, all were delicious with the Summer BBQ being the standout dish. For mains the party chose monkfish, Picanha steaks (times 3),and BBQ Maple chicken, again I sampled all and, again, everything was delicious. The monkfish, for me, is impossible to go past. Sides of truffle chips, rooster chips, tempura broccoli and roasted sweetcorn accompanied our meal. Desserts included sticky toffee pudding, burnt Basque cheesecake, grilled pineapple, chocolate and white port and a cheese selection, I didn't get to try anything other than the cheese as there was much oohing and aaahing of delight going on, no sharing this time. We drank a couple of expertly crafted cocktails, The Quickening shiraz from the well thought out wine list and some dessert wines and port with puddings, all were excellent. Portions are appropriate meaning three courses are manageable, just.

Service: This is where you see this is a family owned restaurant, service is polite, friendly, attentive and relaxed. Our visit was unhurried as it was quite, however, I cannot say I have ever felt pressure to leave if a table is required to be turned around then you still have ample time to enjoy your visit. During the meal there was just the right amount of intervention to ensure we were all enjoying our food, even better, no pressure to drink more, or upselling went on, really a pure pleasure overall.

Things you aren't asked to review: The restaurant is fairly easy to access with only a small step up into the restaurant, the rest is on the level. The premises are spotless and well maintained, stone walls at great atmosphere and the rear wall just makes you want to touch it (you have to experience it for yourself). Toilets are immaculate.

Disclaimer: my wife and I have been a few times since we moved to Dunfermline, it is a restaurant for a treat, our only problem with Jack O'Bryan's is that we seek out reasons to treat ourselves probably a little more than we should. What this does give me the insight to be able to say is that the quality of food, service and atmosphere is not a one off, we get this consistently, it is why we keep coming back. Keep it up!

Other useful points: the menus change seasonally so best to check on the website to ensure you will be able to enjoy your choice. Booking is highly recommended, essential if you want a table at...

This was my 3rd visit to Jack o Bryan’s for their lunch menu, Unfortunately this visit I was so disappointed with the food and service. To start with the food, we ordered 6 dishes and only thought 2 out of 6 were lovely. The warm sourdough and black pig butter was delicious, also the roasted cauliflower was lovely. The other dishes were very confused and most of the flavourings did not work well. We ordered the beef tar tar (which previously I have loved) but this was not pleasant… the flavours over powdered what should have been the star of the dish the beef. The Lamb Yaki was nice although once cutting of the fat that was not edible you really only got 2 mouthfuls each and this dish is £16. The soft shell crab was over cooked very small and the sauce that comes with it did not work with the crab was actually really odd to have a fish dish with soft peppers and a pepper/peri peri sauce. The black pudding caramelised onion and blue cheese dish was ok but it just 2 small bits of black pudding with what tasted like onion chutney and a cheese sauce with no hints of blue cheese and again these flavours are odd together. Overall I think for £70 for 6 dishes I would expected more could get a far better filling lunch else where for less than that. The two times I have previously visited here I loved it but this time the flavours were confused and over priced for what you get. The front of house lady who took us to our table was very unpleasant and not friendly. Never smiled once. When I asked for a new plate you’d think I asked her for £20 with her reaction. Also when we were happy drinking water and not adding drinks or wine her fave was tripping her. If it’s the first person who greets your customers I’d advise getting someone more friendly with a smile.. made for an unpleasant atmosphere and we were in and...