Provender Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Scotland

My review is a complaint about our recent experience at Provender Melrose restaurant, when my son experienced an anaphylactic reaction to ice cream served to him.

I had booked a table for lunch for 5 people on Sunday 26th November, as a birthday celebration. When I phoned to book, I mentioned that my son had a nut allergy and was assured by the person who took my booking that this would be noted for both menu choices and potential cross contamination.

When we arrived on the 26th, I again asked the staff whether they were aware of my son’s allergy and was assured by front of house staff that they were. As our plates from the main course were cleared, the waitress asked if we wanted dessert and mentioned specifically the ice-cream sundae to my son. As I was about to enquire if this was a nut free option, I was interrupted to be, again told, the restaurant would obviously make sure it was nut free. My son ordered one scoop of vanilla ice cream. Almost immediately after eating his ice cream, he started showing signs of an anaphylactic reaction. When we asked to see the ice-cream for allergens, we were shown a tub which had in unmissable, bold letters “may contain nuts”. Obviously, in the circumstance, our priority was to get our son to A&E. We took him to A&E, leaving one of our party behind who paid the bill. While the waitress was apologetic, I did not feel that your staff fully understood the enormity of this error – that, in fact, it could have been a fatal one.

When it was pointed out to her that allergic reactions are life or death situations, the waitress said that the restaurant did take it seriously and that our son’s allergy had been noted and was on “all of the paper work”. It beggars belief that, not only can this error have been made, but that staff reserved the right to be indignant that all protocol had been followed – the only one which hadn’t was ensuring that nothing that potentially had nuts on it, was on my son’s plate. As an establishment, you clearly need to re-evaluate your systems so that the “paper work” and communication between front of house and kitchen staff, ensures that any allergy sufferer is kept safe – with no danger of being exposed to any allergen.

I understand that Provender have now offered to fully refund the cost of the meal and have accepted responsibility for the incident – chiefly, that this ice cream should never have been served to my son. Unfortunately, however, the incident has ruined a family celebration and left us feeling a sense of trauma and fear about eating out.

The fact that this mistake took place at all, and the blasé reaction of staff mean that I feel unsure whether I could trust Provender Melrose in the future, without reassurances of what steps will be taken to improve these issues. It appears clear that staff do not have adequate training in how seriously they need to take food allergies – if a product says it “may contain nuts”, it should be in no circumstances given to someone who is allergic to nuts – regardless of how “precautionary” the head chef feels these messages are, the labelling is there to make clear that nuts have been present in the production line and it is not safe for anyone who is allergic to them. The fact that this was initially used as a ‘get out’ from responsibility in a previous email response, is even more infuriating and makes clear that you and your staff are not taking allergies as seriously as you should be. Anyone who has lived with an allergy all their life should not need to be reminded of this.

Since our experience the restaurant are now displaying a notice asking costumers to inform them of any allergies and food intolerance they have. We did this and still...

Excellent food and wonderful staff.

The menu has something for everyone. Plus cocktails!

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My main was the partridge, expertly wrapped in smoked pancetta and stuffed with black pudding, almonds and spinach. This was surrounded with diced celeriac, pears and chestnuts in a wonderful, rich sauce. Definitely the best main course I've had for quite some time.

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Wonderful food and great service in light, spacious, comfortable surroundings, this was an excellent...

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