The Tartan Arms & McQ's — Restaurant in Scotland

I went to McQs for Chrstmas Dinner 2013 and was immediately struck by the amount of people that had been crammed into the place. There was hardly any room to move. The tables were far too small as there was 8 place settings for a table that could just about cater for 6.

Our table was set up in such a way that I had to share a table end with 2 others and sit at a 45 degree angle and sit about 1 foot away from the table. I complained to the waitress and she told me that I would have to twist around and pirch on the edge of my seat whilst I ate. When I told her that this was not acceptable she scoffed and walked off. I was subsequently forced to ask for a tray to eat off. So there I was dressed in a suit eating my Christmas dinner off a (dirty) tray in my lap.

The food was nothing short of disgusting. The entire meal can only be described as cheap and nasty. The prawn salad starter was watery and lacked flavour. The turkey was overcooked as was the minimal amount of carrots and sprouts The cheesecake was insipid and should not have been called cheesecake. To make matters worse the service was laughable. The waitress was S---L---O---W!! By the time she managed to serve the last 2 meals on our table the first 2 had finished their meal. It was a joke yet nothing was done to speed up the process. The staff clearly didn't care at all.

The entertainment, a clown called Bubbles and was really really poor. His act was pitched more at the adults than the children and was tired and unfunny.

It has been the first time I have paid for Christmas Dinner only to go home and have to cook for my hungry guests who were equally disappointed.

The crime here was that it cost £40 per head. Hence why they crammed as many people in as they could. All McQs wanted was as much money as they could get their hands on. The true value of the experience, including food should have been no more than £10 per head. The staff didn't care and created an atmosphere of "Get them, feed them and get them out". This was without a doubt the worst dining experience I have ever encountered and it was Christmas! I couldn't even called this amateurish as they was no where near. Simply a joke without...

Late lunch with friends

Popped in at 2.30pm for lunch, that's the great thing about the Tartan Arms they serve late lunches. 6 of us and everyone had a great meal. 2 x Soup and sandwich combo, X gammon salad - my personal favourite (if you want pickled onions on your salad just ask) the Cajun kebab, and the burger. The standard of food is why they have such a loyal following and why during normal lunch and dinner hours it is recommended that you book your table.

We only noticed the dessert boards on leaving, but we did debate sitting down to enjoy warm caramel shortbread or the strawberry and Malibu concoction but someone's shift started at 5pm so out the door we went.

We will be back - perhaps this time only...

Prebooked table. On arrival we were shown to the tiniest table. Staff were professional, pleasant and helpful. I had steak pie and my friend had texan chicken melt. The plates took up the whole table. No room for cutlery at the side. The beef with the steak pie was lovely, the pastry was flat with no crispness, peas were hard (not birds eye brand) and carrots had a 'tinned' texture. The chips were nice. There was very little chicken in the Texan melt however it was very very tasty. I would recommend the steak pie and...