Village Inn — Restaurant in Scotland

I'm sad to be writing this review as the last time we visited we had a great meal on a Saturday night in the Village Inn. The atmosphere was great, surroundings lovely and wonderful servj e staff. We are truly hoping that we caught them on an off weekend as the restaurant was unclean (food on the floor was stepped on, over and past for well over an hour. And yes we did see them all look at it numerous times). The service manager was the only person to attempt any pleasantries or something nearing a smile. The rest of the floor staff looked and acted angry and like they didn't want to be there. Some were open hostile to each other. The volume of the dance music coming from the kitchen was absolutely bonkers, in addition to the music playing in the seating area and then separate to that music behind the small bar. So much so that every time the kitchen doors opened you could see some people slightly jump in their seats! The colourful language that came from the cook staff was interesting. We weren't hugely bothered but the two tables with children of varying ages definitely were. You had to love the manager as he was the only person to try and close the doors as quickly as possible every time he went through them. Now, the food. The sausage and mash my partner had was very clearly microwaved on full blast. Yes, it was hot but the mashed potato had that thick crust that only comes from being microwaved too long and the sausages were not the flavour combination advertised but something you'd get at a mobile burger van. That's not to say it was unpleasant but it wasn't what was advertised and again the level of heat suggested earlier cooking and then nuking in a microwave. My partner nearly burnt his finger prints off when he attempted to lift the gravy boat. It should of come with a warning! And as we all know gravy that is made in a pan, pot etc and transferred to a boat does not heat the handle to 1000C! Another example of microwaved to within an inch of its life. My salad was a poor excuse with a handleful of salad leaves on the turn out a bag being bulked out by pre cut peppers, onion etc. The grilled chicken had the rubbery consistency of cooked that morning and reheated in, you guessed it, the microwave. We didn't hang around for another drink or dessert, neither did any of the other patrons. I have no idea what was going on and we were disappointed that such a previously lovely place to go for a meal and drinks had ended up in this predicament. Hopefully they'll get themselves back on track soon. I think we'll wait a while before returning. The 2 star review was for the lovely location, proximity to Arrochar village and great views...

Worst food experience ever.

I hardly leave reviews, but have never been this disappointed about something. If one of the below would happen it would have been absolutely fine, but all this combined made it a bad but certainly unforgettable experience for all the wrong reasons.

General food quality, subpar, zero to no taste, all would have been fine if the service was anywhere near decent.

Ordered salmon salade was completely different then what was on the menu. Like completely different ingredients, the only matching thing was the salmon, dressing tasted like soap. Burned chicken on the chicken sandwich For dinner we ordered twice the day’s special. Pesto pasta with a salmon filet. Gets served without salmon. When we ask for it, ow sorry there is only one. Replacing it with vegetarian tart, have never seem something distasteful on a plate. Then we had drinks at the bar, clearly stated that is closes at 11pm. Starts serving last round at 10:15, serves is 3 large glasses, and about 3 minutes later asks us to hurry up and start emptying the glasses, turns off the music and starts staring everyone out of the bar. Then breakfast comes, we start with ordering some coffee, which clearly had been burning in the pot for a few hours. Kindly requested if they had a fresh cuppa. Then we order 2x scrambled eggs and eggs benedict. We get two eggs sunny side up, so we inform her that we had ordered scrambled then she goes on into the kitchen and start literally screaming these ff’ing people, first complain about the coffee now the eggs aren’t good. However in all fairness the hotel it’s discounting the people, and food, it is quite cute, lovely setting, decent rooms and nothing to complain about. Absolutely shocking food experience. When we left I approach the waitress she offered her apologies but blamed it the fact that it was her first time working. Which is...

Popped in for lunch after a wander around the Loch, the two young boys behind the bar and serving food were absolutely lovely - along with the view, the only saving graces of my visit to the Village in.

I’ll start with the positives, Morreti sale di mare was on draft, first time I’ve seen it in a pub, ice cold, lovely glass - brilliant. Chips, scampi, and the fish finger sandwich were all fine - as far as deep fried food goes. Also, the tartar sauce accompanying the scampi was nice too.

An order of the smoked haddock fish cake and a side of mashed potatoes were the true let down of this experience. The mash potato was horrific, either microwaved, out of a bag, or sat under the pass hot lamp for a good while - I sent these back to the young lad behind the bar and he replaced them apologetically with a portion of fries, no issue.

The fish cake arrived ~15 minutes later than the rest of the meals. Again, I can’t be certain if this was microwaved, but the circumference was incinerated, and the middle was luke warm at best - not the melt in the middle I ordered. The salad that came with this dish was lovely and fresh however, seasonal, plentiful, with a nice dressing.

To put the icing on this truly underwhelming cake, when I asked, what I can only assume was the manager (due to him being the oldest member of staff), where the toilet was, he sent me along my way with a dismissive ‘there’. Ah, if I only I’d thought it’d be there!

I’m not under any delusion that £9.50 main courses were to be of any great standard, but I think most patrons expect to eat by Loch Lomond without the worry of their food being microwaved.

I can’t say I’ll be back for definite, but I’m willing to give the Village Inn another try - I just hope next time Chef Mic is off the rota, and the manager is happy to...