Friend Of Mine — Restaurant in Scotland

Someone had a really good idea for a menu and concept and then failed to execute it well. The service felt harassed and rushed despite there only being 3 other small tables in. We had to ask for sugar for the coffee and butter for the toast. People were arriving and despite there being a bunch of empty tables given an ultimatum for the table being returned (not because there were no tables but because that specific one had been assigned on the booking system and just moving the allocations seemed beyond the wait staff) We were there for breakfast, the steak and eggs were nice but the cut of steak would have been better cooked medium not medium rare as recommended. The ‘full’ was average, the beans and mushrooms were delicious but the sausages were barely cooked (one tiny edge had a tinge of brown) and the sourdough ‘toast’ was just warm bread with a crust that required a steak knife to cut. We ordered the maple beans and toast for our 1 year old. It was served as a 1inch slab of the same sourdough which required an adult to use a steak knife to cut and the beans all piled on top. Common sense dictates that this is a totally impractical way to serve this for a baby. Just put the beans on the side and serve it with some sliced toast. Giving him a set of plastic cutlery was a nice touch but again completely impractical when at 1 you struggle to cut anything never mind a slab of sourdough!

This place has so much promise and we were really looking forward to eating there having read the menu. It really feels like some thought and care with the details and service would make a huge difference. As it was we just left feeling...

Cute cafe with the most incredible brunch and lunch menu and great coffee.

We decided to have a little day to us even though this cafe is dog friendly and will visit again as we enjoy a little walk around Stirling uni grounds (they have some lovely trails)

I really enjoyed my dirty chai (if you know me, it's my go to) and Ally had a really great ice Vietnamese coffee, the sweet hit of condensed milk was lush.

Ally opted for the Haggis XO fried rice and would not stop mmmm'ing at it and refused to share

I had spied on their socials a new special hitting their menu, and this was exactly what I was having. It was bite for bite, beautiful

We shared some fries and these were packed full of flavour, I loved the way the tofu was crumbled on the fries it almost reminded me of poutine, obviously just not as wet with gravy, but the fries packed a kick and the welcome freshness of the mint uplifted the sweet and spiciness of the fries

It was a busy lunch service and we managed to get a table as it was heading towards the later side of lunch but by the time we were leaving the restaurant was full again, and I can understand why, the food is full of flavour, the menu offers some really great dishes and the coffee is fantastic. Staff are lovely and were working their socks of to keep on top of everything.

It is definitely worth a wee day trip from Glasgow (around 40mins) you can make a day of it by exploring the beautiful little independent shops, a walk around the uni, or a visit to the...

Excellent fusion dishes

After stopping in at HAVN bakery next door, they mentioned that this was their partner restaurant, and it seems the quality is equal or better here. The food was an interesting fusion of italian and asian dishes, the chef has a real talent for balancing sweet and savoury. We had,

Wild mushroom arancini, these were phenomenal! The depth of flavour from the mushrooms was unmatched, 10/10

Pig out fries, a bit more comfort food than their other dishes, but it was good to munch on and definitely filled a hole, 8/10

Xinjiang lamb, presentation was like something you get in a michelin restaurant... if it weren't for the log of meat which I'll be honest looked a little odd. I wasn't 100% sold on the cold terrine-style used here, but the flavours from the sauces, especially the apple sauce, were fantastic. If the meat has been more like an actual chunk of meat from lamb roasted on the bone this could have been a 10/10, but as it was something wasn't quite right for me, so 8.5/10

Roasted beetroot with pear and cavolo nero, this dish was wonderful, bursting with flavour, not too heavy, brilliant stuff 9/10

Overall we had an excellent experience. We actually tried to come back for round 2 another day but it was fully booked - always a good sign! We'll be back another day,...