Blue Lagoon Fish & Chips — Restaurant in Scotland

I am delighted to update this review dated 21/11/20. Having discussed the situation with the people involved and resolved our views I understand the situation they were in with other customers and they understood the situation I was in having been directed to collect. I have admiration that the owners wanted to speak with me directly and we have had an open discussion. At this time all local businesses need customer support due to the fall in footfall through Covid, please support them. At no time did I want to manipulate this business for a free meal, although this was very kindly offered by them, we agreed I would donate the cost of the meal to the hardworking staff working there. My original post was venting disappointment, the easy thing would have been the owners to ignore my rant but they faced the issues head on.

This is a great local business empowered by hard working people putting back into the community, please support them, the food is great, the staff are great, you won't be disappointed.

Original Post was: I'm a local resident & regular take away customer of the take away and have supported for quite a few years. I've always found the food great & the staff serving behind the counter excellent. I've read other reviews on this site and interestingly others comment on staff attitude. During the Covid crisis and peak summer I have been using the online booking & pick up service which has went relatively well until a few weeks ago. One of my family ordered chicken pakora but as we had to wait for around 30 mins to be served after our pick up time by the time I got the food home it had dried out & was hard with chewy chicken due to it being in the heat to long. I mentioned to one of the girls at the till on my next visit and she said if I have a pick up time then just come up to the till as the food will be ready and it's pickup only. I did this last night, I put my order in via the web & arrived at the shop to be met with a large queue which would have taken around a half hour to wait if I hadn't pre-ordered. I let myself know to the manager but was met with a disgusted look and informed that I should wait in the queue.I said fine, quite happy to wait in the queue but was met with a I'll do it this time but it's not fair on those queuing. I get that but I was only doing what I was instructed to do by another member of staff. When the food was ready I thanked the manager and tried to explain I would have been happy to queue but was met with derision and obtuse statements about not fair on others waiting in the queue. Again I tried to explain it was on her staff instruction, no apology only rhetoric as if I was at fault. As I was leaving I could hear the manager saying 'You can't please everyone'. Indeed you can't, however if you offer a pick up service and it gives a pick up time you can't expect people to wait for a half hour while the food they ordered drys out in the oven as you cook from fresh. With 5 other local Chippy's within a 5 minute drive I'll gladly make sure it's the last £1 I spend...

We were staying in Balloch for one night and going further north after. We booked here and thought despite reviews saying there was no smell of fish and chips in the rooms that there would be. But I can confirm that you could not smell anything at all. The room was great. The location is on street, there is parking on the street but there is a public car park right opposite which is free and you can walk here around the park. We visited towards end of September so I dont know how busy it gets in July and August but we had no problem in getting a space. It is free so no restriction either. You get in through the chip shop although once you get in you are given a key which will give you access to a back door if you want to come and go that way. The room was quite big and lovely big window so nice and light and overlooking the back. The bed was very comfortable and there was tea and coffee and biscuits which we thought was nice. The en suite was very nice and shower was big. It had a mini fridge in the room which is a nice touch, especially when it is warm cos, you can keep a bottle of pop or water cold. Also there is a small outdoor seating area which is near the rooms which you can go and sit out if you want. Everyone who owns/works there that we encountered was very welcoming and friendly. When we checked in we were about 15 mins early but they were open and said it was no problem at all. They told us about a bar out the back that does kareoke on a weekend, not sure was this to warn us that potentially it could be a bit noisy or whether we wanted to go! Either way we didnt hear any noise and quite frankly if you are staying in the centre of a town on a weekend then you should expect some noise! We had long drive again next day so had an early night and had a great night's sleep. We were given times for breakfast to choose from and asked if we wanted full cooked breakfast, which we did. They told us the times of the restaurant bit of fish and chips that they closed and the time of the take away part. We said we had already decided that we were going to be having our tea in the restaurant, they said it can get busy. We went down and got the last table at about 6.30pm and there was a queue outside the door for the take away. Clearly very popular. The breakfast was very nice, cooked - sausage, egg, bacon, tattie scone, mushroom, toast and tea/coffee and juice. Set us up for the day and we checked out by 9am and...

On Saturday evening we had the misfortune to visit the Blue Lagoon in Balloch. On arrival there were two ladies and another waiting for their orders. We requested two double fish slices,, one with chips suppers and were advised there would be a short wait as four fish were fried for us - no problem as we were getting freshly cooked fish. The two ladies were receiving a large number of orders and refused to accept two fish which were already in the hot box, saying they had been there for some time,,receiving four new fish. Then the server prepared to give me two fresh and the two remaining fish, at which point I asked not to receive the two older fish as did the ladies. I took the view that we should have received the four fresh fried fish cooked for us. We were then informed there will be a further 10 minute wait. This waiting time was eventually more than fifteen minutes. When we got home with our suppers I was horrified to find that the box with the chips was swimming with oil, and oily partially cooked chips stuck together. Totally disappointed and disgusted with the mess in a box which proved inedible. The fish were hot and oily. Most of contents were disposed of into the bin. Had I not had so far to go back on a wet night I would have returned them to the shop for a refund. I believe I was probably given this poor service deliberately service because I insisted on the fresh fish did the customers before me. Totally disgusted and regretfully I cannot recommend this establishment at all for that reason. Beware of poor quality should you have reason to refuse to accept fish lying in the box for ages. With the price of food I expect to receive it well cooked and presented in good condition. This was sadly not what I received....