Three Witches — Restaurant in Scotland

We live locally and decided to go out for food. 3 Witches had been open for about a year, we hadn’t tried it yet. It was around 1600 when we arrived. There was a sign at the door saying wait to be seated, so we did. Eventually someone told us to take a seat anywhere - no idea if they were staff. (One of the problems with this venue is that you don’t know who is staff as there is no uniform, and the people who were staff were in jeans and t-shirt so not exactly distinguishable) We grabbed a table, order two carvery meals and a kids meal. One of the positive aspects was the child friendly venue as it had children’s TV on and a play area outside. We waited a bit so they could prep the kids meal and then I went to get the carvery. I waited at the hot counter for about 5 minutes, gave up and went to the bar and asked for the chef. A few minutes later the chef came out and started banging the carvery pots and dishes around in a disgruntled way, announced they had no vegetables or roasts potatoes (they looked like something that had been sitting since lunchtime) so he could offer me an extra slice of meat (also looking like like lunch leftovers and dry as a bakers boot) or a refund. I asked if he could prep some fresh carvery, he replied that it would take a long time. So we opted for ordering something else off the menu. Went to the till, waited around for another 5 or so minutes, eventually someone came out from the kitchen and I said that I wanted to order food but based on a refund. They went off and got a manager who came and took my order and told me to have a seat as he would have to do a refund then place the new order. Later he came to the table with a receipt for two new meals and money back for the kids meal. I went back to the till and waited again for someone to emerge from the kitchen (sense a them yet?) and asked about ordering the kids meals as we still needed that. The manager said he had given us a refund on the kids meal and we were still getting that.... very good and much appreciated. Waited, eventually the kids meal arrives (he's getting grumpy after 40 minutes since our arrival). The food looked good in fairness. We waited another 15 minutes for our meals. By this point the chef had brought out fresh carvery food and people that arrived after us were going up for a plate. The long delays were the final straw, we demanded a refund as we were leaving. The manager advised us that our meals were nearly ready. We advised him to cancel as it was the worst service we had ever experienced. We asked for a refund to which he replied he had already given us one. An argument then took place, eventually when he checked he realised he had not given a refund for the main meals. We got a refund. Waited for our wee one to finish a few more mouthfuls and left. We complained to the chain and got an email back, which was just pitiful (below).

So, after all that time (over an hour by now) we were still needing food and thoroughly annoyed. We went to Dows just a mile away and the service and food was second to none! We will never return to the three Witches regardless of how close we live to the place. Avoid at all costs! Turnaround or drive on for a mile to Dows and you won’t be disappointed!

Response to e-mail complaint from General Manager: Thank you for your feedback.

I write to formally apologise for the negative experience you had with us on your recent visit. I understand it was the carvery you ordered, and that this was not up to par on the day of your visit.

I would like to firstly assure you that this is not the usual quality nor standard we deliver on our carvery – we are well-known in Inverness for our carvery, and have many regular customers who come to enjoy it. I am very sorry to have heard the carvery and the wait for the new meals was not acceptable on the day of your visit. This has been addressed with the kitchen team and the management team on shift that day.

I do hope you give us another try – I am confident you will enjoy your next visit.

Kindest regards, David...

We decided to go out for dinner on a whim and as it was the nearest place to walk to we came here again after coming not long after it opened when we actually had a very painful experience but we are not judging that time on this review.

So we arrived and were welcomed by a lovely guy but didn't catch his name but we were dealt with promptly and seated within minutes even though it did seem quiet busy. Once seated we had a waitress who we learned was called Grace come and take a drinks order. Smashing service, so far so good. We hummed and ha'ad at the huge menu but eventually decided on what to have and the food was piping hot, tasty and very good. Very big portion sizes and I always like something sweet after savoury but just couldn't squeeze anything else in although that probably had something to do with the multiple cocktails I had. Again these were amazing and I highly recommend them.

The atmosphere was lovely. A nice chilled experience with no pressure to wear something fancy as I was in a hoody and jeans and trainers. I had been working earlier in the day and didn't want a takeaway but I also didn't want to cook. We were made to feel very welcome by Simon who came over and had a lovely chat with us.

All I can say is that they have gained two local people who will certainly come back on a more regular basis. If you've had a bad experience previously to Simon taking over then please try a revisit. Every business deserves a second chance and thanks to Simon and his lovely team they have smashed our expectations of this place now. Hopefully they keep it up as we will...

Unfortunately I've had to take down previous review for the 3 witches as previous owners sold and sadly the chef obviously went with them and also the standard of the food. 10 of us went out for Sunday dinner. Now what chef can't cook a Sunday roast. Which at end of day, is what they are famous for. 7 of us got the carvery and the 3 that didn't said the food was either awful or ok. I had the carvery and can wholeheartedly agree. The food was awful. All of it. The meat, the veg, potatoes...even the gravy. What's happened to the place. Everything was cheap and pre bought frozen roasters that had no potato left inside and the mash was so grey I wondered if it was actually potato. Meat was so chewy and tough and all 7 of us left majority of the carvery. What a waste. Our server however was a lovely young lass who was very patient and helpful, returning to our table many times to ask if we needed anything else. She was best thing about the meal!! Anyone calling themselves a chef and serving that should be embarrassed. Speak to owners and get them told. The 3 witches had an excellent reputation for their fab everyday carvery. Won't be back and neither will the other 9 family members that we were with. So if you think about how many people we all told when they asked... "How was dinner" it can fair spread the word not to go anywhere near as we also, ALL had stomach problems...