No12 Hotel & Bistro — Restaurant in Scotland

I stopped in here for a cooked breakfast on Monday morning (29.7.24) and it was awful. Where to start, they can't make a cappuccino. It should be served in a small cup, not a mug. It should also be 180ml max. I received a small latte in a mug. I advised the waitress that I did not want it and was quickly interrogated as to what was wrong with it. Was it the milk, the foam or the temperature? Well how about, it's not a cappuccino and it's in a mug! I ordered a cooked breakfast and then realised it did not come with toast and so had to order toast separately. The toast was fine. Nothing wrong with it. I ate it. The breakfast was diabolical. The only freshly cooked item on the plate was the egg and the rest of it was poor quality and had clearly been sitting in a warming oven for a while. The potato scone was rock solid. The single sausage was poor quality. I tried it then I ripped it in half and gave it to my whippets. I spent the next 30 seconds looking at the rest of the items on the plate before finishing my toast and going to the bar to pay for what I needed to pay for. The toast and they had the cheek to charge me for the cappuccino too. I gave them £5.55 which they did not deserve and i left to look for somewhere to find a breakfast. I found a full cooked breakfast along the road at the Rocketeer restaurant. It was amazing. Cooked to order, butcher quality and piping hot with everything Number 12 offered as well as a few other breakfast items on top. Beans, mushrooms etc. If you are ever in north Berwick and looking for a full cooked breakfast get yourself down to the Rocketeer restaurant. It is the same price as number 12 charge and it was fantastic. The chef or kitchen staff at Number 12 should be looking for a new job. Whoever made my breakfast there was lazy. The manager (i think) was a nice guy with long-ish hair. He removed the breakfast from the bill and up until the point where he decided to tell me I was wrong and it was cooked to order I found him to be pleasant enough. I had not yet advised anyone that I used to be a chef so I let him dig a hole and then told him and left. He just said "well , I am not going to argue with you about it". Good idea...

Came Fri lunch time after 1, one table with people all rest available. I approached waitress and asked for table for 2, she said sit anywhere. We sat down, girl came over asked what we wanted to drink, asked for 2 half pints lager shandy, she asked what food, but we hadn’t even looked at menu or got our coats off so we said we need to look first. She came back with drinks, wasn’t a shandy as too strong, not enough lemonade in either. Was going to tell her but changed my mind. We sat a while and she never came over to take our food order, place was empty so I couldn’t understand why. I kept looking over to bar and eventually one of the 3 girls came over. We ordered and waited till it came. After eating our plates lay for a while. I ended up with other lager as daughter didn’t enjoy it . Usually staff do come over and ask if alls ok and do u want another drink, absolutely nothing from any of them. I ended up going up to bar and asking for bill, all 3 of them standing doing nothing. We left and noone even said goodbye. I left no tip which isn’t like me but not one of them deserved it. Customer service training is needed. I will not return or recommend...

We have not stayed in the hotel but have regularly eaten in their bistro. We usually go to North Berwick twice a year and always include this place on our list to go to for dinner at least once.

They have undertaken a refurbishment of the restaurant area about 2-3 years ago and it looks great. Really nice atmosphere and decor.

Staff are always very attentive and our latest visit was no different.

We had the pate starter, chicken Diane, steak pie and kids fish & chips and mac and cheese - all of which were very nice.

They do Cullen skink which I wish I had ordered after spotting a lady at the next table with it. It looked like a hearty main and will definitely be on my list to try next time.

They had some cocktails on the menu too which was a nice to see. I opted for the After Eight cocktail instead of a dessert which was pretty punchy but tasty!

Good meal all round and...