Cafe Gandolfi — Restaurant in Scotland

I don't usually write a review for a restaurant, yet the meal my parents and I have just had prompts me to do so.

Seeking for a nice meal of seafood before leaving Scotland, I have found this place with the recommendation of Wikitravel and google map. Being aware of the low-rated reviews mentioned about their fish being not so fresh, I was reasonably assured by the dominated amount of 5 stars.

Arriving at 4 pm, the manager has told me that the kitchen needs some rest and will start to serve after 5, despite the fact that their website has stated they work from noon to 10 pm. We have ordered soup of the day (fennel & mushroom soup), crabcake, baked hake (as the manager said that it is the catch of the day, just cooked in a different way), pan fried seabass, panna cotta and chocolate delice from their 'market menu', and a bowl of cullen skink as we don't want to have too much for the night.

As for the starters, crab cake was all right, but both soups were absolutely fabulous. The Cullen skink was smooth and just on the balance point that brought all the flavours together. Satisfied with the starters, we were looking forward to the main fish dishes.

Yet... as the saying goes ' life is like a box of chocolate'... after waiting for a solid 10 minutes, we were presented with the two fish dishes. The pan-fried seabass was placed on a bowl of overcooked noodles, which has been soaked in a bowl of sweetened soy sauce water, along with three frozen shrimps (probably from Aldi) and some leaves of pak choi that has been obviously left in the fridge for days. The seabass was acceptable if ignored what it was served with and the hint of stink in the fish. Should the seabass being on the edge of acceptable, the hake/ catch of the day was pretty much a crime. The square-shaped hake was flavourless and with a taste of preservatives, just like the frozen stuff one would get from the supermarket. As we are from a city by the sea and have fish six days of a week, we are not unfamiliar with what fresh fish is supposed to taste like. The manager has later reviewed that their catch of the day is actually the 'BATCH' of the day but still insists that all their fish be fresh on the day.

Seemingly pissed by our claim on the fish, we had to wait for a solid 20 minutes for the panna cotta to come. I'm not a professional chef, but within 20 minutes I can probably make a batch of panna cotta from scratch with a powerful fridge for them to settle. Their excuse? 'We have had a line of customers for the takeaway.' Excuse me? Four chefs in the kitchen and it still take 20 minutes to take the panna cotta out from the fridge, turn it onto a plate and dust some icing sugar on it? If your kitchen can't manage the only three tables of customers in the restaurant and the takeaway at the same time, then you could just focus on either side of the business?

I'm not too sure if we have had this fish and services just because we have ordered from their 'bargain' menu. If so, please make it clear on the menu that the customers will be discriminated for ordering from the 'bargain' menu. I'm taking away a star for the frozen hake that is 'freshly delivered on the day', a star for the somnambulant manager and his communication skill, and a star for the forever waiting for my panna cotta. I'm not going to deny this restaurant entirely as we haven't tried out everything they have, but good luck to those who have decided to...

WOW - what a dissapointing dinner menu. The staff were friendly and it had a nice atmosphere. My wife and I went on valentines. We had the dumplings in a burnt onion broth. The dumplings were tasteless and the onion broth was extremely watery and again tasteless. Mains we had chick pee daal with chapatti. This scolded my mouth as I think it was heated in the microwave it had absolutely no flavour only chick pea and chilli, The chapatti was extremely greasy and raw dough. My wife had the coley which she said was so so , but dissapointing at £22. The desserts seemed store bought and the cream that came with the chocolate cake was unseasoned ie no vanilla extract or sweetness. We could hear the couple behind us making small talk also on how poor the food was and after their mains they didnt stay for coffee and were off after making a complaint about their bill. Even on valentines I would have expected that the specials would have been something for couples, but no, the special was a pistrami sandwich - should have gone to subway.

There were no sign of chicken, pork, beef or ham on the menu and if you wanted veg with your mains that is extra as they come as a side.

We should have maybe gone for breakfast as the breakfast menu...

We entered Cafe Gandolfi in search of breakfast, or more accurately, brunch; and were immediately confronted with a friendly greeting from the lovely AnnMarie, who served us throughout the visits.

The whole restaurant screamed cosy and warm from the get go. It's important to note that we, as three young British fellows in hoodies, didn't quite match the rest of the clientele this Friday morning, however we were treated with just the same level of respect as anyone else.

On the subject of us being young lads, we immediately checked for free wifi, which we were pleasantly surprised to see was completely free, without any sign in necessary.

After ordering with our server it took almost no time for a drinks to be on our table, and then shortly after our food. My friends upon ordering took some items off their meal, and got extra sausages and potato cakes in place. As soon as the food was in front of us we were offered sauces and pepper, didn't even need to ask which was nice. As for the food, everything was cooked to perfection and all items were clearly selected carefully, or we just got lucky!

Will definitely be returning for breakfast next...