The Birnam — Restaurant in Scotland

After attempting to book the brunch since March both online and in person I finally got a verbal booking a month ago. It was only a week ago and only after 2 emails Ifrom me that I received written confirmation of the booking for a table for 6. A bit concerning as my friends were kept waiting to hear if we had a table. Anyway we got there and the setting was amazing. A lovely table and a very good welcome from the staff. 4 of our party chose the food and drinks package,the other two decided on food only preferring to order their own specific wine. This is where the problems started. Having received a wine bucket at our table with the included wines and our £48 per bottle ordered wines we proceeded to enjoy the starters on the brunch table. Within a short period of time the wine bucket with the purchased wine in it was removed and placed beside an adjacent table !!!!! Why? When challenged we were told that the bearded supervisor had instructed staff to remove it as we had too many glasses on our table and basically we were drinking too much! Problem one, we had been drinking moderately and we were a table of 50 to 60 year olds enjoying a birthday lunch,not being loud or showing inappropriate behaviour. Problem two, the purchased wine was offered to the table next to us and we had to retrieve it. Embarrassing for our neighbouring diners. Anyway having solved that problem and now wondering why we had been singled our the restaurant management spoke to us but again seemed to seek justification based on our consumption which was later agreed not to have been excessive in any way. Indeed I would have to say that any suggestion that we had over consumed was a personal slur and had no substance. As a result, and after a number of requests a more senior member of staff came and apologised,, agreed that we had not been a problem and could not understand why our purchased and other wine had been removed. We asked why we had been targeted for special attention and he had no answer other than to say that in the past over consumption had impacted on other areas of the hotel. But not by us!! Unbelievable. So the bill came. No concessions as was suggested by management and only after we again asked did the restaurant manager arrive and deal with the bill. The point was however that we were not looking for a freebie but an experience that we had waited 6 months to enjoy had been spoiled by a bizarre perception that we would overindulge and the reapprooriation by restaurant staff of expensive wine. If we dined in any other restaurant would your wine be donated to another table and justified because your table showed a large number of glasses. Gleneagles charge top dollar and think they can make subjective judgements. NOT ON!! Hoping management may like to review this. I await their comments. Food very good. Attitude...

The waiting staff were engaging, helpful and polite but I'm afraid the food was a major disappointment. I love eating out and I hate writing a poor review but I've got to be honest about our experience at The Birnam. Given it's Gleneagles you would expect everything to be of a very high standard. This wasn't the case. The focaccia was not light and airy and in fact even with a sharp knife it was difficult to cut through. My ravioli lacked flavour and was just underwhelming. But the worst part was my husband's steak, which on cutting, spilled out lots of juices leaving a watery, bloody pool on the plate. It clearly hadn't been rested long enough, if at all. The Birnam is charging £56 for the steak alone. Add your sauce and sides and you're talking £79 for one main. This is not a problem if everything is as it should be, but it wasn't. The manager was apologetic but who wants to wait another 40 minutes for a replacement when I'd already...

A nice restaurant serving grilled steaks and seafood. The atmosphere was nice and the service was good. There was unfortunately a birthday party with around 15 children on one side of the restaurant which made it less welcoming initially. We are giving 3 stars because the pricing was not as expected, we were surprised that the £70 beef fillet (300g) came with no sides or garnish and was just meat on a lonely white plate. With each side dish at £6, you're nearly at £90 for a single signature dish which is not rated, or Michelin starred. I would recommend offering a wholesome and comfortable experience as the secondary restaurant in the hotel as opposed to pushing their limits with that menu and children's birthday parties. Overall, the...