We made a lunch stop here on the way home from our brief but brilliant summer holiday in Galloway last week. A word to the wise about deciding to have lunch in Castle Douglas on a Saturday: don't arrive too hungry. Since CD now has official designation as a "Food Town," people come here in DROVES for lunch at the weekend. We waited quite a while at a different cafe, but left to look for something more immediate before we began chewing off our own arms. Enter the Designs Cafe...
We walked in at the street level and passed through the shop and down the stairs to get to the cafe. I found the dining area surprisingly large and the menu far more expansive than I expected. There was a soup of the day and a lovely assortment of toasties, panini, salads and a few hot mains, not to mention several tempting cakes in the pastry case. We sat outside, as it was a gorgeous sunny day (where was this weather on our camping holiday, hello?!) and devised a game plan: toasties for the boys, just soup for my husband and a cajun chicken wrap with guacamole and a side salad for me. I walked in to place our order.
A few minutes later, the most beautiful toasties I had ever seen in my life appeared on our table, along with the lovely items we grown-ups had ordered. My wrap tasted fabulous, and I sneaked a little spoonful of the soup, which also met with my approval. A quick look at the boys' empty plates (except for the mustard and pickle garnish) showed that they enjoyed the food, too. The general consensus is that the food looked and tasted great, and was quite satisfying. We left full and happy - a lovely experience. read more