Bar & Tender — Restaurant in Scotland

I visited Bar and Tender with my mum a few Sundays ago after seeing some great recommendations on social media, but I think there's room for improvement. We both ordered the steak roast dinner, but the food arrived cold, which was surprising since the restaurant was really quiet. The man serving us was very friendly and said he'd sort it out. When he brought the plates back, he told us that the food should now be hot and that we had a fresh Yorkshire pudding. However, it was obvious it wasn't fresh because my mum had already cut into hers, and it was the exact same one that came back. Not sure if there was a mix-up between the kitchen and the waiting staff, but it seemed a bit strange!

Once the food was reheated, it tasted great. The vegetables were seasoned nicely, and the red wine gravy was delicious. However, there was only a small amount of the gravy over the meat, so the Yorkshire pudding and potatoes were pretty dry. I was also disappointed with the size of the steak, I'm not a big eater, but the pieces of steak were tiny, especially compared to what I saw in the photos on social media. Overall, I also felt the restaurant lacked atmosphere, which made the experience a bit...

The reason for my 5star review is for what I experienced. Let me give some context. I met my friend for Sunday roast, his suggestion. I've never had yorkshire pudding and didn't know what to expect. I had no preconceived notions. Anyway. I was a bit early and asked if I may come in. I was greeted with a friendly, "sure mate," and in I went. Ordered a flat white, which was divine. My friend came and we both ordered the soup of the day. The soup was smooth and creamy. I was tempted to ask for seconds. When the roast arrived, the portion was not as big as what I expected. But then again, I'm from South Africa. Where chicken wings are considered to be veggies at a 'BRAAI', aka BBQ 😆 The food was cooked to perfection, and the yorkshire pudding left me wanting more. We ordered cheesecake. While the crust was a bit hard, we jokingly tried to figure out how to stop from flipping out the plate as the fork went through it. I will definitely recommend this place to anyone. As for the atmosphere. We were only 4 people present. So I'm giving them a 5. It has nothing to do with the 20% discount cards we received to redeem at...

Arrived to go for a late lunch with a voucher that was recieved as a gift. The voucher was for 2 steak and chip dinners and 2 cocktails. We arrived and there was 3 other tables seated, the place was empty. We sit down and we were offered water which is usually complimentary (£4) we then ordered our 2 meals each with a £5 suppliment which was our choice.

Food came and was ok for the value of the voucher, steak was overcooked and had a strange smell. We got another suppliment of garlic butter which was mediocre at best (£3). We asked for the bill and when it came we noticed they had added on a £10 service charge. We asked why and they told us it was a tip for the kitchen staff and bar staff.

We arrived with a voucher worth £60 and we ended up with a bill of nearly £30 on top of it. The service was pretty standard and we had a 30 minute wait in an empty restaurant so we asked for the "Service charge" to be removed and left.

Food was reasonable but overall a rather poor experience. Happy to leave a tip always but not when it is presumptiously added to the bill with no explanation.

Doubt...