Charcoal Aviemore — Restaurant in Scotland

Disappointed as it all started off well! Prices were reasonable and at first, the staff were on it and attentive. Food initially came quick and was all tasty. Our server followed up with us and refreshed our drinks and cleared plates from appies before mains came. However, as we were about 1/2 through our meal, our server left. He came back a bit later with a bunch of his mates who he set up at a table at the back which is where all of the attention of all staff went. More of their friends came in and hung at the bar going back and forth between their table and bar. They all received drinks and food in record time while we sat waiting for plates to be cleared and desserts to be ordered. At this point there was only our table (family of 5) and one other table of another family of 5 who was being “served” by someone else. So it wasn’t busy. We thought they might be closing but it was not yet 8pm and they don’t close until 9pm on Mondays. We had a kid with us so we certainly weren’t there for a lengthy meal ourselves as it was getting late for us after a long day out exploring.

We did get some eventual service from one of the staff who’s eye we caught while he was chatting at the bar but he only cleared our plates and told us the desserts were on the back on the menu before rushing off. We already knew what we wanted to order since we had been waiting over 15 minutes at this point for some acknowledgment that we were still there. If they wanted to socialize you’d think they’d want to hurry us out so they can focus on their friends 🤷‍♀️

Another 10 min before we had to ask to order desserts. Then we had to go up to ask for the bill after we were left alone again once finished. Though prices were reasonable and the food was tasty and very generously portioned, the terrible experience was...

We arrived for lunch at the opening time of 1 pm, only to be told that the staff hadn’t shown up yet by a very apologetic waitress. We decided to get some drinks and wait for the staff as we wanted to try this new restaurant in the heart of Aviemore.

The waitress was so good and apologised at least three times before the staff finally rolled up 35 minutes later. The business seemed to lose a lot of customers when they were told there were no staff. We placed our orders, two chicken tikka and two chicken shish.

So the staff arrived around 1.35 and seemed in no rush to get started. No manager came over to speak to us at any moment. Amazingly after only 10 minutes, we received our order; how long does it take to fire up a charcoal grill? Did we just get reheats from the previous day? The waiter did not utter a word to us, and I felt he was annoyed at us for coming to the restaurant.

The food was edible but so plain for an Indian, and the chicken was very dry. The chicken shish was just pieces of dry plain chicken with a side salad and a tiny pot of sauce with hardly any flavour.

The chicken tikka again had minimal flavour and only had five small pieces of chicken swimming in a large pot of sauce.

No one came to ask if we enjoyed our meal, no one apologised for our 35-minute wait, and we received no discount or additional extras to make up for it.

We left £90 worse off and felt very ripped off.

I get that staff can be late due to unforeseen circumstances, but to give us subpar food, no apology, no recompense, we will never return.

Give the waitress a raise; she was the only one with any sense of how to...

If you want a decent curry, AVOID. If you want nice fish & chips, AVOID. If you want good service, AVOID! Booked tables for a party of 25+. As one guest has Coeliac, we asked an hour in advance if they can be catered for which they confirmed, yes. When we arrived out came the excuses. Couldn't have Fish & Chips because 1 fryer out of action. Couldn't have any chips with other meals for same reason. They could have warned us when we phoned, or before we sat down. Curries very poor and way overpriced, with meagre portions. Every different curry dish included the same cubes of chicken marinated in the same spices. Korma and tikka were tasteless, pathia was bitter with no sweetness. Chips were straight from the freezer. There was no mango chutney! Unbelievable! Any complaint was met with indifference. Waiters favourite comment was "no problem", but no action taken. During the meal I advised them that my review won't be flattering. "No problem", was the reply. If you want gluten free fish and chips there is a chippie a few doors away. If you want a decent curry there's a real Indian restaurant 2 minutes walk. Please don't waste your money in this poor excuse for...