Platform 1864 — Restaurant in Scotland

I dined at Platform 1864 with my partner and, unfortunately, it left much to be desired.

In all honesty we don’t really understand where all these 5 stars reviews come from. And we agree with the ones that say that the restaurant is just average and too expensive for what is capable to offer.

The location itself lacked any distinctive personality or charm. The restaurant is located in Tain's former railway station but it doesn’t necessarily mean cool. It’s just a restaurant near a train station in an area where there isn’t much else.

The whole experience felt pretty forgettable.

The menu, while offering a standard and generic British selection of dishes that ailed to stand out in any meaningful way is far from being special or at least original.

The food was average at best, lacking the depth of flavor or creativity you'd expect for the prices they charge. Speaking of which, they were noticeably above average, especially when considering both the quality of the food and the rather uninspired location.

If you offer a risotto for more than £21 you better make sure that is the best in the world.

The burger was quite a letdown. The patty was dry, lacking the juiciness and flavour. To make things worse, the bread looked cheap, falling apart after the first bite. It did nothing to complement the burger, and the overall experience was bland and unsatisfying.

For the price, we expected much better quality. Unfortunately, this burger missed the mark completely.

My girlfriend was really looking forward to trying the sticky toffee pudding, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to expectations. The dessert came out partially burnt, which completely overpowered the sweet, rich flavors it’s supposed to have. The texture was also off—drier than it should be, and lacking that moist, gooey goodness you'd expect from a proper sticky toffee pudding.

It was also served literally with half strawberry (with the leaves still on it) cut in half and a small raspberry.

It wasn’t the worst we’ve had, but certainly not the best either. A real letdown, especially since it’s such a classic dessert at £8.50.

The service was equally underwhelming. The staff seemed disengaged and inattentive, which took away from the overall dining experience.

For the first time in a while nobody asked us if everything was alright.

I asked for a coffee that never showed up until I asked for it a second time to a different waitress. I wasn’t expecting to have it removed from the bill but it could have been an act of kindness from the staff.

I mean not the worst experience ever but sadly, this is not a place I would rush back to and in all honesty I won’t even recommend to colleagues or friends. It’s just an expensive place that offers...

Very angry customer here! If I could rate lower than 1 star for service then I would. The food was incredible but the service was absolutely disgusting.

We sat down for a relaxed evening and immediately got hounded by the waitress to order. We ordered a beer each and told her to please give us a couple minutes to which she ignored and came back to push us to order food. We told her that we were in no rush and would order starters shortly (this was in the space of around 10-15 minutes). After a couple sips of our beers we then ordered a starter each and that’s when the attitude of the waitresses changed for the worse.

I asked a young gent waiter if there was a time allocation for the table seeing that we were being pushed so much to order. A young female waitress (perhaps head waitress) came up to the table with a massive attitude and told us that they would need the table back by 19:30. The restaurant was definitely not full and if there was another booking for our 2 seater table then it should have been communicated from the beginning before we sat down.

We weren’t checked on and had to get their attention to order another beer. A good waitress would be there to ask if we wanted another round. More drinks = more money for the restaurant. Good service = a tip. A simple science really.

My partner tapped the top of his glass to mime to the waitress that he’d like another one. On another occasion he wiggled his glass a little above the table to indicate to the waitress that he wanted another round. (Note: these gestures were made because the waitresses were on the other side of the restaurant ignoring us.). These gestures were not malicious in any way.

When we asked the gent waiter if he could please take our empty glasses, he snatched them out of our hands as if it was effort! I repeat - snatched!

We then ordered our main course with another waitress who also had an attitude towards us.

Mains were finished and we were ready for dessert but sat waiting for any sort of service. Around 40 minutes later my partner eventually got up to ask for service and he was told that we were rude and no one wanted to serve us.

We were then brought our bill and told that we would no longer be served. We tried to confront the “head waitress” to find out what the issue was and she just argued with us.

Important notes: we had 2-3 beers each, a starter each, a main course each (I had another starter as a main because I wanted dessert so tried to save stomach space). The bill came to over 80 pounds and would have been more if we were able to order dessert.

I am...

I cannot be more complimentary about my recent experience at Platform 1864 in Tain. As soon as we arrived, the owner and operator, Graham, greeted us with a smile and immediately welcomed us with a comfortable seat while we waited for our table. Drinks came very quickly and, after a friendly conversation with Graham, we hardly noticed the time passing before staff whisked us to our table.

The menu is well-rounded, with lots of options, many of which include local ingredients. My companions had the chicken burger and I ate the scampi. Both were excellent, served quickly, and are very reasonably priced for the quality. The dining room itself is a wonderful place to spend some time. The walls are covered with all kinds of paraphernalia related to trains and train stations from all around the local area. Care has clearly been taken to preserve as much history in this important local building as possible.

Having recently married, I mentioned this to Graham in passing conversation and, after we had finished our meal, he was kind enough to provide us with a complimentary aperitif. His consideration and ability to put a guest at ease are what I will remember most from my visit to the Platform.

Having been brought up in the area, I am well aware that the Platform has an excellent local reputation as not only a place to eat, but somewhere to go for a drink or a coffee. This reputation is...