The Lorne Dunoon — Restaurant in Scotland

It is more than a decade since I visited Dunoon and time has not treated this once couthy resort town well. In the sixties, my granny would spend a couple of weeks there in the summer and visits to the town were frequent in the decade, when various family members were participating in running and jumping athletics events at the Cowal Highland games.

The buildings on the once-marvellous Victorian pier have been allowed to fall into rack and ruin, giving you a very bad impression right from the off. Walking up Argyll Street is similarly depressing, with countless run-down and unoccupied shops adding to the impression that the town is really struggling for survival. Indeed, many of them have had a notice from the proprietor of a local enterprise almost pleading with the owners to do something about the sorry state of their property.

Although I had been recommended to take lunch in the Lorne, the outside is, like much of the town, nothing to write home about. BUT.....

The inside is a revelation. It really is extraordinary. From dilapidated to delightful, the contrast between the exterior and the interior is jaw-dropping.

Everything about the Lorne is absolutely smashing, with well-trained, friendly and helpful staff, keen to make you feel at home.

Although there is an extensive menu, I decided to opt for one of the specials on the blackboard, a soup and sandwiches combo for £9.95 plus a pot of tea for £2.90. The soup was home-made and extremely tasty; the minute steak toasted sandwich and fries served alongside it in hardly any time at all.

The toilet, like the rest of the establishment was sparklingly clean. When the time came to return to the pier to catch a ferry across the Clyde, the staff were more than happy to summon a taxi to the door...

Ok, I had a weird experience with this place at the beginning. It was fully booked on the day so we decided to book for the next evening. It's a lovely place, very modern. A bit loud because it was full. But we heard good things about it. The only problem was I was on no carb diet and I'm vegetarian. So I ordered halloumi burger with no bun and no chips and replaced it with salad. My husband had a steak. When the order came I just got a big piece of halloumi with a bit of salad on the side. It looked really sad. I asked if I can get more salad. The lady admitted it looked weird and she asked why I didn't order halloumi salad. So I found out they have the whole special salad menu nobody told me about. However the lady made sure I have more salad and I have to say what I had was delicious. Why I'm giving 5 stars because of how they reacted to my disappointment. The lovely lady made sure I was fed, she apologised I wasn't told about salads and charged me for a small salad and not a burger. And because of it all the feeling of disappointment disappeared. She really erased that bitter taste and proved that small gesture goes a long way. We will definitely be back once we are back to normal eating. Thank you very much. Oh and they have a lovely outdoor space. I would highly recommend to book your table in advance because it's...

I had always wanted to try this place, so I took my daughter out for mother and daughter time . The restaurant is very clean and tidy. We were greeted by a lovely lady, but the only down fall she put us next to the main door, so it was very cold. The tables are quite small, and not very spacious. She gave us a run down of the lunchtime specials. My daughter wanted a milkshake, so she ordered the oreo one, I just had a diet Coke, and then we dived into the main. My daughter ordered a burger but she could customise it herself, I ordered the steak salad, and oh my the salad it's self was unbelievably good, to make it better around my pallete I added it with the steak which was perfectly cooked (well done for me) and tonsils didn't know what hit it,. The flavour was superb, especially for a well done steak. It never lost its flavour. If I wanted to be greedy, I would have ordered it again, it was that good, but it did fill me up. My daughter really enjoyed her burger but she did say next time she wanted the steak I had.

I have since then been back, (with someone else) and got their salad, again it was out of this world. I honeslty can't hype this restaurant up enough. The food is really amazing, staff are very polite,...