MacLaomainn's Scottish Pub — Restaurant in Chester

This is the fairest review I can write.... we recently stayed in Chester, VT and ate here both nights and also made reservations both nights- definitely make a reservation!! The food, the beer, the atmosphere are all top notch- I can't fault anything on those fronts! We had such a great experience the first night, that we made a reservation for the second night of our trip. The second night... started out well... but we waited a REALLY long time to order. I didn't really care at the time, they were obviously busy and short staffed and I thought- 'well I'm not in any particular hurry, I'm on vacation.' Had I known then how the evening would end I would have been wavy down the staff insisting on ordering right away. We had a great meal with great drinks and decided that we wanted to have their amazing sticky toffee pudding for desert only to be brought the bill and told that the next reservation would be there in 10 minutes and that we had to leave. This policy actually didn't bother me at all- it's pretty popular, but normally you're told before you sit down that you would be limited to 90 minutes and there should be some grace time, if the wait staff is responsible for you being there so long because they're very slow. In addition, there was a table of regulars next to us, who ordered a few drinks, never ordered food, and were just allowed to be there all night while they shoved the "tourists" out as quickly as they could. Because of this, we will never go back, I understand that regulars are important, but it doesn't feel very nice as a tourist to be...

We came here on a Sunday afternoon to try Scottish food and this pub did not disappoint. We tried the little haggis plate with neeps and mash. The haggis was delicious. The mash was creamy and the neeps (turnip puree) was tasty. We had the steak pie with mash and carrot and peas. The steak was melt in your mouth with the delicious hearty and savory gravy. The puff pastry was served on top. It would have been nice if it was baked in a crust but that is minor. The carrots were sliced and so fresh and flavorful. We also had the mince and tatties with skirlie, which is oat based grain side dish. The sauce that the mince was cooked in had a slight sweetness to it. The grain side dish was great and like nothing we ever tasted before. For dessert we tried the sticky toffee pudding which was something we always wanted to sample. The sponge cake was soaked in treacle and the toffee sauce had a nice finish tasting of brown butter. We also ordered the bread pudding which was extra special because it had apricots, and cranberry’s along with the standard raisins. There is a good offering of interesting beers on tap. We had the Downeast Cider and Old Engine Oil, both delicious. The service was prompt and friendly. The man behind the bar (maybe the owner?) was from Scotland and I enjoyed listening to his accent. The atmosphere was comfortable. It’s not a large place, maybe 12-15 tables plus seating at the bar. I expect they get very full on nights and weekends. It’s a great spot. We’ll be...

My mom and I had lunch here last week. We tried to eat here the last time we were in Chester. Last time, we arrived at the restaurant around 5pm on a Friday and it was empty. We asked for a table for two but were told they had several reservations about to arrive and sent us on our way. My mom had eaten here before and raved about the food so I definitely wanted to check it out. Thus, since we were planning to be in the area, I called the restaurant and made a reservation. The reservation was for 3pm. We arrived at 2:55pm and every table in the restaurant was empty. The owner greeted us and asked if we had a reservation. I said yes and he seated us. We enjoyed a very tasty lunch. However, we couldn’t understand why they asked if we had a reservation. No one else came in to eat the entire 45 minutes we were there. We gave them the benefit of the doubt last time and assumed they were being honest in that they had several reservations about to arrive (after all, it was nearly dinner time). However, this time we came for a late lunch at 3pm. Yes there were a few people at the bar, but all the tables were empty. Do the owners want to be exclusive? Would they have turned us away (again) if we didn’t have a reservation? It’s a shame because this place is great otherwise. It takes a lot for me to write a negative review when the food and ambiance was actually quite good. Just the attitude… I don’t...