Inshes Gate Brewers Fayre — Restaurant in Scotland

This is the worst service I have ever received in my life! Save yourself the hassle and go elsewhere!

We stayed in the premier inn next door and booked the meal deal as part of the package.

On arrival we waited by the door for 15 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. We were then advise a table would not be available for a further 40 minutes. After travelling all day we didn’t want to venture further afield for food so we decided to wait.

We sat in a quiet corner, atmosphere was good. Whilst we waited I check online and could book a table within 10 minutes. The family members I were with didn’t want to make a fuss so we continued waiting and ordered some drinks.

I ordered a seasonal cocktail and the bar staff advised that they could not make the cocktail because “the cocktail shakers were just out the dishwasher and were too hot”. I’ve worked in many bars throughout my life and Ice is typically available at all times and could have been used in the shaker to cool it down. Again not wanting to make a fuss I ordered a soft drink (which came with ice!).

I then approached a waiter to ask when we would be seated (55 mins after asked to wait). She then said “let me check” and came back another 10 minutes later to seat us. I got the feeling she had forgotten about us which led me to wonder how long we’d have been left sitting waiting.

By this point we were all very tired and very hungry which probably did not help. We sat at the table for 10 minutes before we approached the bar to ask if someone could take our order… at this point we were told for the very first time of the evening it’s bar service… this would have been nice to know when we sat down.

We placed our orders - we ordered two starters to share between 3, 3 mains and 3 desserts.

Our food did not take long. We were presented with two starters and began tucking in when a main appeared. We didn’t even have time to say anything before the waiter took off. We were hardly two bites in when the other mains appeared. We asked that the mains be taken away as we hadn’t even eaten our starters yet and we’re told “some people just ask for this” to which we advised we hadn’t and that our main would be cold by the time we were finished.

The mains came out and looked great. But it took us some time to get the attention of the waiting staff to ask for mains cutlery.

Eventually we tucked in and the food was good for the price. However, I then returned the plates to the kitchen myself as we were once again forgotten about. By this point we had completely given up hope for the staff that evening. There was one blonde girl behind the bar who was warm and welcoming but a lady I presume to be her supervisor didn’t speak to her very nicely and we picked up on it.

Desserts were good but the service of the evening completely ruined the whole experience.

We returned for breakfast in the morning as it was already paid for. The service we received at the “help yourself” buffet was far superior to the shocking service we received the night before. The morning staff were friendly, informative and very welcoming… the evening staff could have learned a thing or two from them!

If we ever go back to that premier inn we certainly would not return to this branch of brewers fayre for dinner. I have never ever left a negative review before but the standard was so low that after a long day of travel I’d wished someone had given us...

Where do I start? Booked a family meal for 14 people for my daughter's 18th birthday weeks ago and confirmed it again this afternoon when I dropped off a birthday cake so it's not like we were an unexpected large group. Table was booked for 6.45pm. Glad I didn't choose the other available time of 8pm when I booked or I'd have been as well ordering breakfast. Only 4 people ordered starters (one of which we had to ask for 3 times) yet mains took until around 8pm to make it to the table. By almost 9pm we were still waiting for someone to clear away the plates and take a dessert order despite asking a young lad wandering aimlessly around who grunted in response to the request. In the end we gave up waiting and asked for the birthday cake instead. Sticking a candle in that and taking it to the table took another 15 minutes. Drinks ordered by one of our group took half an hour and a visit to the bar to collect them ourselves. This was after a member of staff coming to the table to ask for payment for a pint of Stella he hadn't included. While collecting these drinks we commented on the appalling service and got the 'it's been a bit busy tonight' old chestnut along with several drinks we hadn't ordered but which had obviously been poured as the result of yet more incompetence on the part of the staff and we were told just to take them as 'someone will drink them'. A woman from the table next to us was in front of us at the bar also complaining about her incorrect bill and the fact that her daughter had a 3 course main meal getting her sausages served up with no mash, then the mash arrived and was dumped on her plate from a bowl then low and behold, once the wee lass had eaten her boring plain mash along comes the gravy. Several other folk were noted to be commenting on the poor service too. Food was what you'd expect from such an establishment, can't complain about it, it's your average pub grub but seriously not impressed with the service. I actually feel embarrassed that I invited members of my family along to celebrate a special occasion which ended up being a huge disappointment for me never mind my daughter. I think I'd have been better taking everyone to McDonald's for a burger and a Mcflurry. At least we'd have got dessert. Won't be back in a hurry...

We were on a visit to Inverness and checked on the Internet for places to eat that allowed dogs in. We chose the brewers fayre at Inshes Gate Inverness. We booked our table and turned up in time to be informed that in no way would we be allowed our dog in, even though I showed the manager Melissa a screen shot of your post on the Internet. Copy of same “Dogs welcome in our bar area or outside if the weather is nice “

Very disappointed as we had to leave our poor wee dog shut in the car. As far as the meal goes, the menu showed that a Sunday roast was on the menu, but when we asked for it we were told that it was unavailable, very bad at 1700hrs. Otherwise what we eventually chose was well pressed and of good fayre with perhaps the exception of cabbage in the salad. Will we be back again to this or any other Brewers Fayre? No, unless they change their policy on dogs ....

I got this reply from the owning company.

I would also like to apologise for any miscommunication regarding our policy of dogs within our restaurants.

We can advise that we only accept well trained assistance dogs in our premises. This includes, assistance dogs for autism, mobility assistance dogs, guide dogs for the blind, hearing dogs for deaf people, medical detection and seizure alert/response dogs.

As the laws in the UK currently do not apply to other assistance animals such as emotional support dogs, we do not accept these types of animals into our hotels. However, as with all aspects of accessible facilities, we always endeavour to improve on what we can offer and this area is continuously...