The Ship Inn Melrose — Restaurant in Scotland

Visiting down in the borders trying new places to eat and have a drink..we looked for a place with a pool table ..came across the ship Inn..went there the week before last for a few pints and game of pool..was enjoyable relaxed good vibes, we decided to go back here as the first time was enjoyable and friendly and as we enjoy a game of pool decided to go back for something to eat and a few games of pool..took the 25 min drive to hawick and upon entering there was different barstaff on and as we approached looking for a table we where confronted and asked if we had a booking we said no ..then the barmaid told us we don't have any free tables for food there's a 15-20 min wait for food she would give us a shout ...we said ok well order a drink and wait and have a game of pool.. the vibe was different from our last encounter felt unwelcoming...immediately we noticed several empty tables . one directly Infront of the bar.Continuing our game of people we observed two guys coming in and overheard the barmaid saying the only table that's booked is table 8 take a seat anywhere else..something she never mentioned to us ..we continued our game of pool till a couple came in and she directed them to the empty table directly Infront of the bar .at which point we questioned the barmaid . She flustered and floundered. Saying she told us we could sit anywhere which she clearly never as we would have sat at a table ..she told us there was a wait for tables shed give us a shout ...other people clearly heard this statement. Absolutely shocking..no customer service skills whatsoever ..made it feel like a local pub for local people unwelcoming unhospitable...tottaly different experience from what we had the previous week....the whole reason we travelled to go back ..now after that experience we will never be back ....shocking .. .at a time were you should be gladly welcoming new custom ..not chasing them away with a bad experience....there is far better places round Melrose with higher customer service and top class food ... personally I would avoid

We never received a receipt for the one drink we had .this would've been around this time last week....you can check the cameras as the pool table was vacant when we arrived..furthermore when we questioned the barmaid in the situation, she actually asked us if wed like the couple who took the table across from the bar to move.."I can ask them to move" ..I told her not to be so bloody ridiculous.....as I said we left to eat at another place in Melrose with much higher...

Service was terrible, arrived around 6pm on Thursday evening, ordered a drink, and found a booth in the beer garden to watch the tennis. After about half an hour we asked the waitress if we could order some food, she told us the kitchen was too busy and they weren't taking any more orders even though all the tables were set with menus and there were only about 4 or 5 tables occupied! We would have left but we really wanted to see the tennis which turned out to be Andy Murray's last match, so it was an important one. I think around 7.30pm I asked a blonde woman who I was directed to as the manger, if the kitchen was accepting orders now, she told me no as they were far too busy. There was only us and another couple in the beer garden (who came in after us and were allowed to order a 2 course meal each as they had pre booked) and it really wasn't too busy inside either. I explained we didn't want anything complicated we'd be happy to share a pizza as we were just really hungry and didnt want to miss the end of the match but she still said no. I do understand when restaurants are short staffed but we weren't asking for much and it was the way she said no, just really abruptly and rudely with absolutely no care for her customers or even an apology. She'd obviously had a bad day and there was some internal issues going on between the kitchen and her but not good management to make the customers aware of this. Not a great idea to set all the tables with menus either if you're not allowed to order from them. Meanwhile when we went back to our booth to watch the end of the tennis match we were siting in a booth where we could see the kitchen and all the kitchen staff laughing and carryying on together probably because they had no more work to do, very strange way to run a business. As we only were only allowed drinks I can't comment on the food, the atmosphere could have been good if it had been busier but as the pics show an empty beer garden, probably something to do with their attitude! Anyway there are plenty of other friendly customer focussed places in Melrose where you can eat well so next time we're passing through we'll be...

What a find this place is! We headed into Melrose and this establishment is right in the centre of the town. We walked in and it was busy. They said they had no tables inside but did have covered tables at the rear outside. As we started to head over there the manager said he would have a table for us inside in a few minutes if we wanted to wait at the bar which we did. Ordered some soft drinks and two minutes later we were shown to a great table for the two of us and our dog. We ordered starters and mains but when the starters arrived we realised we'd ordered too much. The portions were huge. My wife had nachos and I had the soup of the day which was awesome. My wife had maccaroni cheese and I had a chicken cesar salad along with a portion of cheesy chips. The salad was magnificent filled with chicken and the portions of cheesy chips was ridiculous but the dog was quite happy as most were going his way. Overall it was just over £40 for drinks and food which you really cannot complain about sit was spot on. The atmosphere inside was also really good and despite being busy, we didn't have to wait long. So many people were being turned away though so may be worth booking if you are looking to drop in. Can't rate the place highly enough and will certainly be back...