Seasons — Restaurant in Scotland

Look for reviews of Seasons and you'll generally find they're all good. So naturally we were both excited to try it.

Starter. I had the scallops, with black pudding & bacon. Served on a wobbly large shell which makes cutting them awkward, the scallops were lukewarm, didn't taste like they'd been seasoned and were not seared, as one might expect. After my initial bite, I was somewhat wary of continuing. Very disappointing. And sitting atop a tiny amount of crumbled black pudding and tiny little pieces of bacon. Had I not known what they were I may have struggled to identify them. These were sitting in a small pool of darkish liquid in the base of the shell. My partner had the Pickled Pear with walnuts & blue cheese. Whilst the pear was tasty there wasn't almost no blue cheese with it. Not a great start but perhaps the mains would make up for it, I tried to reassure my partner.

Main Course. I ordered the Fillet Steak. "How would you like it cooked?". "Medium". "Medium rare or medium well?". I sat somewhat dumbfounded. Medium is medium! The alarm bells were well and truly ringing at this point. Sadly, my concerns were realised. What arrived was well done. Not even remotely medium. And whilst edible it certainly wasn't enjoyable. I've enjoyed many great beef fillets over the years. This most certainly wasn't joining the list. It wasn't seared and didn't taste like it had been seasoned. Served with small drizzle of garlic butter that didn't really taste of garlic, spinach leaves that were past their prime and a dollop of Mushroom Ketchup. What is that I hear you ask? It's a dark blob of an unidentifiable, course substance that doesn't really taste of mushroom. My partner had the cod, served with linguine. She said it was tasty enough. I tried a little. It was overcooked. At this point we decided it would be unwise to risk desserts.

All in all, I'm extremely disappointed by our experience at Seasons. It has a lot going for it. Good location in the centre of the village. Nice looking place, rustic décor, somewhere you'd be happy to spend a few hours. Delightful owners and friendly, helpful staff. But alas the most important aspect is lacking. There is literally nothing in the food we received to recommend...

Almost four years since our first visit (to the then ‘Chapters’) and after tonight’s deliciously fresh, imaginative (and generously catering for my no dairy, no red meat diet with no fuss) and wholesome meal - it definitely won’t take another four years before we return. 10/10, a real gem of the Borders. ps to start we had fish plate to share (trio of crab in vodka bloody mary mayo, smoked salmon, mackerel pate served with homemade oatcakes, sourdough bread and the finest local rapeseed oil), followed by roast cod, scallops and brown shrimps served on homemade tagliatele with leaks and caviar (AMAZING!), whilst Aneela loved her butternut squash gnocchi on a homemade pesto...

I apologize for my English. My review will be divided into +/- The cuisine is just incredible. We tried steak, fish and chicken. Serving, taste, on top, thank you. What I didn't like was where we sat, we sat between the refrigerators and the shelves of the store. We wanted to sit with people in a large hall. This diminished our impressions a bit. I didn't understand the cheese plate, I expected Scottish cheeses, but there were parmesan and brie on the plate, I didn't know they were made in Scotland. I was expecting local cheeses. Dessert: we tried panacotta, unfortunately, neither the consistency nor the taste was impressive. The service was very polite and...