Shepherds Rest — Restaurant in Scotland

I have come home from a very disappointing Fathers Day experience. On arrival we weren't greeted and no eye contact was made. The waitress was busy sorting dessert and kids menus out - fair enough but not exactly friendly. We were shown to a table for 2 and our drinks order was taken. We were presented with menus and left to make our selection. We quickly decided on the roasts and moved our menus to one side when our drinks arrived. 2 pints of water, 2 wine glasses and a wine bucket with a bottle of wine. We were then totally ignored. Half an hour passed and we noted the waitress checking with all the other tables in her section and ignoring us - going straight past our table on the way out without making eye contact. We called out to her that we wished to order. We were basically told that as we had put our menus to one side (to make room for the drinks) she thought we had already ordered. No apology - clearly our fault! We then had a visit from who I assume was a supervisor - to basically tell us off for upsetting the waitress!! She thought we had ordered as the menus weren't in front of us! I really don't get this - we moved the menus as we knew what we wanted and to make room for the drinks and our lack of service was our fault????? We were on the point of giving up and just paying for our drinks and leaving - we felt scolded and not welcome. At that point our meals arrived and they were fine - could have been hotter but a generous portion. None the less we won't be back - think if the deal is you have to keep the menus in front of you till you have ordered then you need to let the paying customers know this. Either that or you will be ignored. Such a shame - both our kids were working in the industry today so I took my husband out for fathers day and we both came home very disappointed. My husband and daughter regularly go there during the week and are well looked after which was why we decided to try the roasts. The sharing dessert platter that had been advertised on Facebook and on the dessert menu was unavailable - summed up the...

First time at Shepherds Rest and went for Saturday lunch. We will go back again.

Taken to our table in the bowels of the pub. All the staff were friendly. Our server was Joanna. She was a hoot. Had us in stitches from the moment she started to speak and was a refreshing take on waiting staff. If you have a sense of humour and enjoy banter, Joanna is the server for you, she's very bubbly.

The two of us had a starter (No Images taken) and main each. Prawn cocktail and Crispy Squid were our choice. The Prawn Cocktail was nice with nice succulent prawns, plenty of sauce and nice salad and was enjoyed. The squid was slightly over cooked so was a bit chewey, but still edible and was nice. The sauce that came with it was not nice, and I would not recommend the sauce. Elsewhere it Usually comes with a garlic mayo or similiar.

Mains were Hand-battered Haddock & 12oz 30-day-matured Rump Steak.

The haddock was a large size and had very crisp tasty batter and the flesh was flaky and really enjoyed. The rump steak was ordered medium but came medium rare. I like medium rare so it was ok for me and it was a nice steak and I enjoyed it. We ordered a side portion of Onion Rings, but they were the frozen chopped onion type that really are not nice. I really wish places would state chopped onion or onion slices.

Marked down the rating due to the onion rings and the sweet and spicy chilli sauce which was vile. However we will go back again, not just for Joanna's banter but...

Really disappointed with this place tonight. If this review was purely about service it would get 1* If it was about food it would get 4*

When we arrived we were taken to our table and our waitress came and took a food & drink order within a couple of minutes. We then waited & waited until 25 minutes later our drinks finally arrived. We ordered 2 bottles of Thatchers Haze. It really shouldn't of taken 25 minutes & if the staff knew there was a problem with speed of service.

It would of been better to tell us when we arrived. "Really sorry but service is slower than normal tonight, please bear with us and we'll provide you a really lovely meal"

Positives

1. Steak was lovely, well cooked

2. Chips are really good

Negatives

1. drinks took 25 minutes to arrive

2. We were asked if we wanted any sauces. We said yes mayonnaise & vinegar. These never arrived!

3. My wife's sticky toffee pudding must of been stood in the kitchen for a while. The pudding was warm but the custard was stone cold

4. I ordered a mini dessert and coffee. We finished our desserts & existing drinks and the coffee still hadn't arrived 10 mins later when we wanted to pay & leave. Had they done a check back they would of been aware

5. 90 mins for 2 drinks & 2 courses is far too long

All in all not what we would expect of a Greene King pub. Almost certainly down to staff levels or possibly training issues. Either way, it's not...