Carriages — Restaurant in Scotland

Honestly was expecting good things.....as first time back after closure and reopen.

Table booked for dinner, we were sat in the "pub" area, not the restaurant.....no particular issues there but it was loud! Not helped by the fire exit (which was used as a transition to the outside area) which was continually left open and we had to get up to close it every time people went in and out (staff included).

Being the first Friday after payday we were expecting this to be a bustling place with plenty of atmosphere, sadly there was a real lack of that. The place was quiet, staff were hanging around the bar area almost waiting for something to happen.

We were brought to our table quickly, offered a menu and a drink straight away. We ordered the hunters chicken and the steak frites. The portion sizes were impressive, but honestly the food was disappointing and a bit strange.

The hunters chicken was a piece of chicken cut open with a slice of bacon on the inside of it with some sort of melted cheese on the top. A tonne of chips and a salad.

The steak frites was in the most basic sense steak with chips, but around about 5 or 6 pieces of steak all ranging from shoe leather to raw, honestly I couldn't think to eat part of it given how raw it was. The weird thing with this was that one or two pieces of the steak were well done whereas the other parts looked as though they'd never seen the pan. Same amount of chips and a salad.

Service was great and I do always feel bad in these situations but honestly couldn't fault the service.

As for the building, it's just looking and feeling a bit shabby. Walls are all marked and dirty where things once were, posters that once were up, sticky tape marks and paintwork that's worn through to the wood. It wouldn't take much to make it feel a little nicer.

I hope there are some plans for improving the place, maybe getting it back to what it once was. And I appreciate that we are talking about people's jobs and income.....but honestly there would need to be significant changes for this place to improve for us to consider coming back and I can understand now why it wasn't busier than it was.

I appreciate someone in one of these review said that you should talk to the staff, it's a good place for the community....I agree, I think it could be a great asset for the community but the key word is "could". Upon leaving the premises on a Friday evening, walking along the road I passed a number of other locations which are part of the community which was absolutely packed of people.....people talk with their feet and I think that's really important...

Was looking forward to this reopening but once again, really doesn't give that village country pub feel! Couch seating strange as you have a couch then 2 normal dining chairs other side so couch that sits at low table and high seats that just don't look right, hopefully that will change once it gets a makeover! Staff friendly, only went to have a drink, however menu looked nice, so decided to eat, that's where it sadly went downhill! Soup was nice, mushrooms on toast, poor, whole button mushrooms that looked boiled served on a slice of sourdough, very dry so couldn't eat it, no seasoning, although certainly needed more than seasoning! Anyway had high hopes for mains, steak frites x 2 and a macaroni, sadly more disappointment. Macaroni was meant to be 4 cheese, was very milky so no cheese flavour and as for the steak frites, the only thing right was it was cooked medium, it looked like it had never seen a frying pan, just like the mushroom starter, anaemic! Fries were the only thing edible! Speaking to assistant manager, I did ask why the steak hadn't been flash fried, from what I could pick up, they didn't have the kitchen equipment as yet to do that, it does explain a lot, but again not sure as he was very quietly spoken so perhaps didn't pick him up right! I did speak to the manager on the way out and he did kindly offer to get us back for a meal, however, after our experience we really couldn't take up his offer! Would love a real village country pub, but we never seem to...

Our Walking group of 10 people stopped in here on Sunday 13th Feb 2022 it was prearranged in advance with our Head organiser and Management here. It was Absolutely Lovely inside Very Inviting , Warm and Friendly. The staff were So Nice and Polite. We Especially Loved the Open Coal fire and Fantastic layout.Rhen ofcourse came the Aroma of the food that had been brought to the tables which were Lucky enough to be dining in there on a Very Wet and Damp Sunday. As I glanced over at the huge array of Different Drinks bottles to choose from, the Johnny Walker Statue did stick out which was lovely to see. After sharing with the group everyone was glancing over and commenting on all the Variety's of Alcohol available NOT normally seen but you could tell this was a Very Well Established Business that had that Extra Little Something Special . We were Admiring the Coal fire in which we sat as close to as possible inhaling the Scent of the hot burning coals and right on point in came Our Hot Chocolates, a Melt In Your Mouth Delight served with the added touch of 2 Chewy Marshmallows Exceptionally Tantilising your Taste Buds and leaving you wanting More. Talk about setting the scene. Open Coal fire and Hot Chocolate with Great Friends. I have raved about this place to family friends and work colleagues and I Definitely will be going back to have a Taste of the Menu. Thankyou to All the Staff and Management for making Our Rambling Stop a...