Aye Eat — Restaurant in Scotland

The positive points : The serving staff did their best, though they were clearly understaffed and the restaurant was jam-packed. Our group didn’t wait very long, but I understood that the people at tables around us had had a very long wait to order and then another long wait to be served. Given the quality of the food that was served to us, one can only assume that they are understaffed in the kitchen also. The decoration was quite nice and the lighting just right, creating a well-lit but calm atmosphere, though the seats at the table, for smaller people, were a little low. The banquette was just at the right height. The toilets were very clean and in fairly good repair.

The negative points : The food was really bad and had nothing to do with the mouth-watering-on-paper menu.

Drinks : Appletizer (£3) - nothing particular to say Hot chocolate (£4.50) - a small cup of warm milk, very pale in colour and with barely any cocoa in it. Nessie tea (£3) - served in a lovely pot with a Highland Bò painted on it but unfortunately was barely just warm and not the hot cup of tea I was hoping for.

Starters : Soup of the day tasted like it came out of a tin of Campbell’s. The accompanying “crusty bread and Scottish butter” turned out to be a small triangular piece of toast. (£6)

Angry Scotsman Scotch Egg. A supermarket bought Scotch egg, clearly heated in the microwave, cut in two, served with a few mustard leaves and a small coupelle of Branston pickle (£9)

Tomato Gazpach tasted like a tin of tomato soup served cold.

Main courses : Highland Stovies, turned out to be a soup bowl size of roughly mashed potatoes with the occasional piece of meat. The dish was tepid at best, cold at worst and really quite greasy. (£16)

Robert Burns Burgerturned out to be mashed potato in a dry bun, a hint of neeps, we’re still looking for the veggie haggis part, one leaf of lettuce, one slice of tomato, no mayo and cold chips. (£13)

Aye Eat Burger turned out to be a largely undercooked burger, raw and cold in the middle, the gluten free bun was dry and hadn’t been toasted, one slice of lettuce, two thin slices of tomato, a slice of cheese and two halves of a very small, thin rasher of bacon (really not worth the extra price). Chips were cold. The chef refused to cook it further saying that’s how it’s served (£19)

Aye Eat a Wee Burger served with skinny fries. This “dish for kids” was served on a small sandwich plate. The burger, a minuscule dollop of misshapen minced beef, completely burnt on the outside and completely dry on the inside served on a similarly minuscule dry “bun”. The small handful of (not skinny) chips were cold. There was no sauce, no nothing to make it palatable for a child.The chef refused to do anything about it saying that that’s how it’s served. (£5)

My ten year old daughter ended up with no dinner as the food was inedible and nothing was offered in replacement. Everything was closed by the time we had been served and left the restaurant. My elder daughter only had a very small portion of cold tomato soup as her burger was inedible.

I made it very clear that the price-quality was well below par, that the food was bad - all of the convives around us were of the same opinion. In fairness, the price of the two uneaten burgers was taken off the bill, and the server was ultimately very apologetic, but we still paid £58 for small portions of what seemed like industrial, not very nice tasting, half-heated up food, namely three drinks, two small soups, one scotch egg, a few salad leaves, cold chips, and whole lot of tepid mashed potato.

We did understand that they were fully booked last night but, at the same time, you still want to be serving edible food, and you want your customers to leave happy, which for many of us, was not the case. The people with whom we spoke at the adjoining tables said the same as us.

The restaurant has real potential but perhaps needs to simplify the menu and hire extra staff to make it work.

I was doubly disappointed as it was my birthday and I was hoping for...

Firstly I'd like to say the decor is amazing and is what attracted us to come in as we were walking around and on the hunt for a nice meal and we love seafood. It was 1.30pm on Sunday 28th September. We went in and there was loads of empty tables at least 8 so we though we were OK for a walk in. There was an elderly couple asking for a table and the front of house man said to them to come back at 2pm as there would be tables then. We left when we heard him telling them this and went for a walk around town . It was approaching 2pm so I decided to call to see if we could get a table. It was the guy at the bar who answered and said there are loads of empty tables to just come in and I said "can I reserve one", he said "there's no need just come in theres plenty". We got there at bang on 2pm and there were still the same amount if not more empty tables. Upon entry there were 2 other couples asking the same front of house guy for a table and he addressed everyone by saying there are none until 2.30pm. I replied by saying I called and the bar said I should come in. He said "oh that's ok if you called" He didn't verify if we had booked under a name or if in fact the bar man had talked to us, he just took us to one of the many empty tables and turned away the other 2 couples who looked quite disappointed. Perhaps there were staff issues but the bar man thought all the empty tables were free to sit and eat and the front of house didn't.

When we sat down a very polite young server girl asked if we would like drinks.We got a pint of Loch Ness lager and a fresh orange and lemonade. Beer was lovely and so was the orange. We sat for a while and the front of house guy came to take our food order. We both ordered the Scottish langoustine linguine which had overcooked mussels, tiny langoustines and a couple of bits of salmon which I didn't taste. I tried the pasta and it was al dente but absolutely no flavour, no seasoning and the mussels were completely overcooked and like rubber. The whole dish was just oily, no flavour and no lemon infusion flavour at all. For a Scottish restaurant with such a beautiful decor and open fronted kitchen to serve food so off the mark is a shame it's not got all the tables packed with hungry guests.

I hate to complain and would put up with mistakes for a quiet life. My wife and I were discussing what to do when the young girl came over and asked if the food was OK. I reluctantly said it's not and we were disappointed as it was just oil , overcooked seafood and pasta. She said let me see what I can do. Then the front of house man came over and I told him the same showing him the shriveled overcooked mussels. He said would we like to choose another meal and gave us a menu, took away the food and left us. We had a glance at the menu but were not confident in eating anything else so we said can we just pay for the drinks. He said don't worry about the drinks and walked off. This was a nice gesture given the food was not great. Thank you.

By this time it was after 3pm and we just got our coats on and left hungry. Unfortunately we won't...

My partner and I were blown away! This was our first time having Scottish food here in Scotland/UK. We went yesterday and because we were so impressed… we went again today.

We had the Cullen Skink; Haggis, Neeps & Tatties; Aberdeen Angus Steak; Real Highland Pie; Highland Stovies; Aberdeen Sunset; and Irn Bru Cheesecake.

Cullen Skink: The soup was so creamy and delicious. There was a good amount of smoked haddock and potatoes. You can really taste the smoked haddock in the soup.

Haggis, Neeps & Tatties: I was a bit afraid of trying haggis but I really enjoyed it! The neeps had a perfect spicy kick to it, and the tatties was creamy!

Aberdeen Angus Steak: So yummy! I ordered medium rare and that’s what I got. The vegetables were delicious the fries! Whoa! How did you folks get it so crispy on the outside and soft inside? It was delicious!

Real Highland Pie: The puff pastry (?) on top was so flaky and yummy. The meat was tender and there was a good amount!

Highland Stovies: My partner said it was delicious and the meat was tender.

Aberdeen Sunset: This was a drink special with whisky… and something with orange. I forget. All I know is how delicious it was! It was a rollercoaster to be honest. I tasted the orange flavours and then BAM, whisky. Loved it.

Irn Bru Cheesecake: I was surprised with how the Irn Bru tasted! It was delicious, same with the Irn Bru icecream that came with this. It’s like a creamsicle to me.

In terms of service, the servers were amazing! Very friendly and welcoming. It did take some time yesterday for my partner and me to be seated, but it was understandable since they were busy and had no reservation.

The atmosphere was great. I love the decor. Toilets were clean. I really recommend this place. This place has two new fans from Canada now! Hope to come back in the future if I’m in...