The Dancing Midge Cafe — Restaurant in Scotland

A delightful and delicious cafe where the service is beyond friendly! This was my first visit to the island of Cumbrae and Thursday prior to a bank holiday weekend was perfect for having a cycle round the island nearly to ourselves. Arriving in Millport we tried to find open restaurants, somewhat difficult indeed! It was such a pleasant surprise finding The Dancing Midge Cafe not only open but oh so welcoming with the fabulous lunch selection included! My daughter had the chicken and rice soup with a panini and myself having carrot and coriander soup with panini sandwich for my lunch. Both soups and panini were very flavourable and generous servings. In fact so much so we missed out on ice cream in the village center opting for something once we returned by ferry to Largs. The Dancing Midge is directly opposite the Crocodile Rock, a well known landmark in the Centre of Millport. Not only are lunch items plentiful on their menu but breakfast could be a pleasure as well with varied coffee/ espresso selections amongst pastries and standard breakfast items. I can highly recommend The Dancing Midge for a meal in Millport, you won’t be...

The cafe is small but perfectly situated. The decor is fresh and very 'seaside' with lovely art on the walls. They have appropriate Covid measures in place.

The owner is really friendly and helpful. I visited a few times during my stay. The full breakfast might seem expensive but it is so filling I didn't eat for another 7 hours and even then it was just a sandwich. The produce they serve is amazing and the owner will happily tell you where it's from (neighbouring island so all locally produced, he should be on commission from the butcher!)

On my last morning I had a roll with bacon and black pudding, again it was so filling. Cooked to perfection. I really wish I'd taken away some cake or one of the huge scones that looked so very good.

The only problem I can see is that the food is so delicious you want more but...

We were greeted warmly by a young woman, but before she could take our order, a man interrupted, told her to step aside, and said she was “just his apprentice,” insisting we order from him. His patronizing, controlling attitude toward her — repeatedly undermining her in front of customers — came across as blatantly misogynistic.

The food was good, but my oat milk latte (which I’d ordered to have with my breakfast) didn’t arrive until I had completely finished eating, despite asking about it several times. The tense atmosphere, created by his treatment of his female employee, ruined what could have been a nice meal. We left without buying more and went to The Garrison instead, which had a far more respectful and...