The Ship Irvine Ayrshire — Restaurant in Scotland

2 problems at this place. We was there on Friday evening for fathers day meal as we had been working sundays. There was 3 of us eating there and none of us liked the food. I've had instant food out of the supermarket that taste better. Fish and chips batter soggy and oily. Chips not good and very greasy tasted like been cooked in old oil. Lasagne looked microwaved and was not the best they had eaten elsewhere. Steak pie was alright but other places much nicer. I have cooked from a young age and also I've worked in catering in kitchens a lot in the past so know about food and good customer service. We could not get any more drinks as one waitress was chatting for ages to a couple at a nearby table. Waitress that took payment, pulled the card out machine too fast as was rushing. She said after one minute we need to pay again and that this happens often. Never ever had this problem elsewhere. Looked on machine as it had gone through as went green and said approved and also on our bank app showed money was taken out pending but the balnce had gone down that amout for the bill. We waited for while to check if it went through okay, it got refunded back after about 10 minutes. So we told the waitress so we could pay again. But instead of apologies and saying thank you. We got lots of attitude about told you so and no thanks for waiting and being honest. We said about her pulling the card out rushed. Her reply not In a friendly voice you can take it out this time, then gave receipt and walked away in rush. Very bad attitude and customer service. All felt very rushed, waitresses nearly running to put food down on tables, then walk away very fast not asking if need anything like more drinks etc food taken away and drinks fast as soon as you finish. We asked for drink but there away so fast and don't answer. We would have brought a lot more drinks if given the chance. Went to use the men's toilet not very nice looking or clean was scared to touch the toilet door entrance but had to too get out. Will not be going here again. There a lot more nicer places in Irvine and locally that not only have nicer food and good customer service are cheaper. One positive comment is that the lady at the bar was very nice and pleasant, unfortunately it's the waitresses that take the drink orders from the restaurant tables. I think if she was allowed to go through and take drink orders would be better for drinks service but would not fix problems with waitresses or the food. I Wanted to leave a nice review but unfortunately cannot. It spoiled the night out. We did not go to bar after food. We went elsewhere as we were all unhappy about the evening there. Customers should always come first as it's our money paying for the staff wages and running of business. No customers means no money for business and then they have...

We visited the Ship Inn Irvine about a year ago and as you can see from my previous review it was very disappointing, but I returned here on the 13th December 2024 where I'm pleased to say that changes have been made, PLEASE READ the entire review. The Ship Inn Irvine, what can I say? I would really like to say something good but there isn't anything good to say 😕 The service and atmosphere was mediocre at best and the food was not good, we ordered salmon gravadlax and cullen skink for starters they were OK then main course was big steak pie which I was informed brought in and heated up very dated dish the ship supreme which was far from supreme dry chicken 🐔 no garlic in the chicken and no sign of orange in the sauce and deserts which were not any better lemon posset which was watery and with no lemon flavour and chocolate fondant which was so hard on the outside but was runny in the centre but it was stone cold I think a microwave was involved here. I got it changed but it was no better. I was told that there was a high turnover of chefs and use of a microwave in a lot of the dishes. Very disappointed having spent £94.11 for two people. I would definitely not recommend this restaurant to anyone else and will not be returning there unless there are drastic improvements to the quality of food and service. This is supposed to be a gastro pub but a lot of the chain pubs provide better food and service. Not happy at all. I believe that this is probably the worst restaurant I have ever had the misfortune of visiting. Back at the Ship Inn Irvine and immediately I can see a change, the front of house staff very engaging and friendly a big change from the last time, we arrived a little early but got our table right away. We had our drinks and ordered our food, the starters arrived promptly and the standard of food had gone up way higher than our previous visit in every way service, presentation, flavour and texture. The main courses and deserts arrived which were also of very high standard in every way. The service from the front of house staff was professional, prompt, friendly and most of all we were made to feel welcome here. The kitchen performed faultlessly producing high quality tasty dishes, they now have a very good head chef with an excellent brigade behind them. Overall this was a very pleasant and enjoyable experience, like night and day from our last visit. We left here feeling very happy and satisfied 🙂 and we will definitely be coming back here again and I would really recommend every one else to visit the Ship Inn at Irvine. Definitely worth a very good 5 star review and now one of the best restaurants I have had the pleasure of...

The ship Inn was in the past my favourite restaurant in Ayrshire and I was glad to read they had reopened however after today I will never return. First disappointment was the dried out food , my wife had what was described at chicken supreme and I had steak pie, "the big wan " This came really quickly after we ordered ,too quick for my liking suggesting it had been popped into a microwave ,the dried out chicken backing up this theory and the pastry that was on it was soft and unpalatable .She did not finish it as it tasted horrible. I had the £2 extra big wan steak pie , I would not like to see the small wan as i was still hungry after the serving that was presented to me. During our visit our German Shepard sat at our feet until near the end of our meal when it spotted a couple with another dog and barked once a friendly bark to the other dog while wagging it's tail. Then a member of staff walked in while the dog was moving away and it barked a second time, it did not growl ,,I accept that being a big dog he has a big bark and at this point i put a mussel on his mouth so he could not bark again. At this point a man came in and told us to leave, take what we had left and sit in the out door area and finish it there, I pointed out the dog was excited at seeing another dog and now could not bark. We were told it was policy that if a dog barks they have to leave. While outside a couple left and said they agreed with my departing comment that it was outrageous ,they told us that the same man had ordered then about too, Telling them where to sit " if you want to eat ,you need to sit there" They said he should not work in the hospitality industry due to his lack of hospitality. While we were sitting finishing our wine ( we never actually did as it was freezing outside) another couple approached and asked if the pub was open, I told them it was but explained how badly we had been treated and they turned about and walked away. I am glad this happened We had not paid for our meal and could easily have just walked away at this point however I could not do this even though it has been the worst I have ever been treated in over forty years of eating out. My wife went in and paid and they had the brass neck to add on a 10% tip to the bill. We should not have been paying for such bad food and we certainly should not be paying a service charge when clearly this is something that they forgot to include when...