The Tolbooth Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Scotland

By far the worst customer service experience of my life! Served unsuitable food, shocking attitude of staff and rounded off the evening by my whole group being physically assaulted by the waitress.

We had the misfortune of dining here a few weeks ago now. The experience was hands down the worse customer service I’ve ever witnessed. There was 3 of us in our group and 2 people ordered steak. When the steak arrived they were not cooked correctly. My partner that asked for medium/well received a piece of meat that was clearly rare with blood all over her plate when she cut into it and my friend that ordered medium/rare got a steak so well done it was like shoe leather.

As you would do in any restaurant if this happened we called the waitress over (who repeatedly ignored us and by the time she graced us with her presence all our meals were stone cold) and informed her the steaks were not suitable. After giving us a dirty look and asking what we expect her to do about it she snatched one of the plates away and took it to the kitchen. Quite some time later she finally arrived back with the same steak and threw it down in front of my partner stating “the chef is happy with that”.

By this stage being very confused I asked exactly what she means by that only to be told he’s happy with that so we are not going to do anything. Then having to explain that’s not how it works in a restaurant and it’s not a suitable answer because my partner can’t eat steak like that and all our other meals were now freezing I asked to speak to the chef. Her reply “no he doesn’t want to speak to you” after many rounds back and forth arguing with what can only be described as the worst waitress in the world she said “we can get you another one but you will be paying for both” in a very aggressive manner. Obviously at this stage we told her she was being ridiculous and we’ve never heard anything like it in our lives to then be told she doesn’t have time for this and she walked away.

We sat at our table for over 10 minutes in absolute shock at how we had been treated and being ignored till I said enough is enough and we left cash for the drinks and got up to leave the restaurant in disgust.

This got her attention and she started to shout at us and ran to cover the door saying we were not getting out. When my partner and friend tried to leave she then assaulted them pushing them back into the restaurant. I then stood with my back to her blocking the door so they could get out without being further assaulted by this vile woman and she assaulted me from behind trying to get to them.

We left utterly disgusted but didn’t share our experience online thinking it wasn’t the owners fault their waitress behaved like that and planned to leave things. That was until tonight when we received a knock at the door by the police stating they had received a complaint and were there to charge us with FRAUD and ASSAULTING the waitress! After a brief chat with the police it was clear none of the actual details were bred with the police. After telling them the real story even they said they wouldn’t have paid either. This is one step too far and we will now be sharing our experience with the public so they can see exactly how this restaurant treat their customers and the level of customer service they provide.

We have also got 3 counts of assault charges heading back to the waitress who will not be getting away with treating people like this agin.

Absolutely disgusting. They charge premium prices but provide a service not acceptable in any way shape of form.

Avoid this place at all costs!!...

The building itself is historic, and the museum is really the only reason you should step foot inside. The restaurant itself - food was good, albeit smaller portions, so not a place to go if you’re really hungry. The server was awful, which is why the 1 star rating. When you enter, the chef calls out a quick hello as you walk past the kitchen service window, a lovely welcome. However, our server was Gus, and he was one of the rudest servers I’ve ever encountered. We weren’t expecting red carpet treatment, but being kind to your guests shouldn’t be the exception. Both my husband and I worked in the service industry for years. We know good service, and this was not it. Gus began our dining experience by belittling us when we asked for a jug of tap water for the table, bringing us a bottle of flat water instead and “correcting” us for not being clear about what we ordered. How does one misunderstand a table asking for a jug of tap water? He then proceeded to take our drinks menu away before we’d had a chance to consider what we were eating before ordering a beverage. When we’d entered the restaurant a customer coming out told us they had enjoyed the sea bass on special. When my husband inquired, Gus told him “I would have told you if we had any”. How about just saying there was none left and leaving it at that? The meal was full of insulting remarks, but the final insult came when Gus came to collect our dishes after the meal and commented that he’d never seen people clean their plates as well as we had, to which my parents responded that they hadn’t licked the plates. My husband then shot back “I guess most people don’t finish their food here”. There was no way in hell we were staying for dessert. I’d rather have a past-due Kit Kat from the petrol station that’s been sat on for 8 hours in the car than suffer through dessert at this place. The food was good, but not nearly good enough to make up for the deplorable way we were treated by this server. I can’t tell you when I’ve felt so unwelcome or belittled in a restaurant. Perhaps because we were dressed comfortably for a long drive and arrived slightly rumpled that we were treated with such disdain. If you enjoy a heaping pile of snobbery with your meal, go. If you prefer to feel welcome, and that your custom is valued, go somewhere else. Like, ANYWHERE else in the bay would have been better...

Deceitful experience! Seafood was good and fresh, but nothing exceptional compared to other restaurants in Scotland. However, there are two things that really upset me. First, the manager was generally quite unfriendly and a bit rough in manners. When we came in another couple was refused entry aggressively because they had no reservation. For the whole evening the restaurant was half empty, as it was a non-busy weekday. Not matter they explained they drove a long way to get there. Her reply simply was not nice and with zero empathy. Then, I had a very unpleasant experience with the dessert. When I started eating the cake I realised there was a long hair in it. I look in the dish and it was not the only one. I was already way too disgusted to even loudly complain. I called the waitress and in a very cold manner she said "Ok, I'll bring you a new one!". Not even a simple and circumstantial attempt of apology, nothing! When this happens normal there's an apology + a compliment. In this case, I had to pay the dessert, which because of the bad experience I didn't enjoy at all. In a nutshell, I find this restaurant okay, but way too expensive for what it is. I would recommend it. But due to the extremely bad and unkind behaviour of both the manager and the waitress I would strongly recommend against...