Mharsanta - Scottish Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Scotland

We visited this restaurant for lunch today and, unfortunately, had a very disappointing experience — one of the worst in terms of service I've ever encountered.

We had booked a table and arrived 30 minutes early due to the rain. The staff kindly let us in, which we appreciated, but the table provided was far too small for two adults with a baby and a buggy. Still, we tried to make it work.

As soon as we opened the menu, a waiter came over within two minutes to take our drink order. We hadn’t even had a chance to look at the options, so I asked for a bit more time. Despite this, she returned just two minutes later — even as I was in the middle of settling my baby. Feeling rushed, I placed an order in a hurry without having time to think properly.

No sooner had I started looking through the menu again than she came over once more, asking for our food order. I politely asked for more time, but she returned again just minutes later. It felt like we were being pressured to order quickly and move on, which made the whole experience very stressful.

To be fair, the food arrived quickly and was delicious — that’s the only redeeming part of our visit.

However, as soon as we finished our meals and drinks, the server repeatedly asked if we wanted anything else. We really just wanted some peace and quiet. After being asked for the third time, we gave up and asked for the bill. At this point, my baby had just started eating, and my husband hadn’t even finished his drink. Still, the staff told us we had to leave in 5 minutes as the table was booked again — even though we had booked our spot and paid nearly £70 for lunch.

It felt rushed, impersonal, and inconsiderate — especially for a family with a baby. We left feeling unwelcome and unsatisfied despite the good food.

We won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone looking for a relaxed and family-friendly dining experience. The quality of the food was completely overshadowed by the poor service. ———————————

Thank you for your response. I appreciate that the manager tried to accommodate us by moving us to a larger table. However, the table was still very small (barely for 2 people) and did not provide enough space for our buggy, which made our visit uncomfortable from the start.(there’s no option to add baby when you book the table)

While I understand your policy on prompt drink orders, the repeated interruptions felt rushed and didn’t take into account that we were managing a baby, which requires a slower pace.

We wanted a relaxed lunch with our family, but the limited space and the hurried service made that difficult. Bay the way, when we left the restaurant wasn’t fully packed despite the busy Saturday. I hope this feedback helps improve the experience for families visiting...

Very disappointing. Place is lovely with a good busy buzz however the place is let down by the food and lackluster service. The scallop starter at nearly 20 quid was lovely so we'll cooked and presented the haggis needs and tatties starter was a let down due to the tasteless sauce. Absolutely no flavour to it. Mains fish and chips fine steak and sausage pie very salty with four measly bits of steak and lots of tiny bits of cheap sausage and the seasonal veg looked like it had been made thre or four seasons ago. Service very lack lustre no check backs to see if everything was OK or even when clearing starters no comment of was everything OK. Had ordered a bottle of wine and the waiter brought ot over and plonked it down saying nothing not offering to pour it or anything. Not to be a snob but a place like that needs to up its service game. After the maims were delivered didn't see a server again until they were clearing the mains away most of mine uneaten. Not a word about it. Asked for the bill and when it came the server did ask if everything was alright and I said about the food issues and all I got was oh I'll tell the kitchen. Then to top it off looked at the bill and there was a ten percent service charge added on now for large groups of say 6 or more I am fine with a service charge but for a label of two not on and the service wasn't that great that they didn't actually deserve a tip and I will always tip good service if I get it. Need some staff training on the basics and up the food game. Wouldn't recommend the 3 stars for food are purely on the one starter that was well worth the expensive price for it. Also at the end on leaving the waiter said goodbye with the phrase cheers lads! Now we are both I'd say at least ten years older than the server and the type of place this is not a very professional way to say goodbye and thanks...

Possibly too busy for the restaurant to handle, on arrival we where seated downstairs in a room of which I can only presume is for small functions or bookings away from the main area, the background music was to my taste but a bit loud for us being the only ones down there at the time. After ordering drinks and food we had to reorder as they did not have all ingredients at the bar for drinks. Again My daughters had to reorder a few minutes later as the kitchen did not have the ingredients to cover their menu. The starters were okay sauces where tasty with the prawns and mushroom, Chicken goujons are goujons at the end of the day. The Haggis Bon Bons were fine, bland sauce though. The main meals were the let down, Steak and sausage pie had beef that turn to beef string sausage was barely evident and the pastry was uncooked could have been used as a face mask. The Sunday Roast was okay but more probably due to my hunger although the roast beef took a bit of chewing. The Haloumi burger of which was not first choice was solid a block of cheese from the fridge would've been similar. The Veggie shepherds pie again not their first choice was basically and potato formed into a rectangle surround by some sort of broth and even the potato was solid. They did offer to heat the burger but removed the Haloumi burger from the bill. Really disappointed at this as I was looking forward to it and the Menu looked great catered for all. But again maybe too busy being mothers day and football coinciding with each other but I would have to say they should be able to cope and poor stock control. It was nearly getting to the point of what...