We were in the area visiting Crovie (you must go) and could not really find smthng in Banff. So we…read morewent to Portsoy. The Pub is in the old harbour, it serves food and it is a traditional place were you can enjoy good cooked food :) I really recommend this place...

We stayed in town for a few days. We planned to have dinner here on our last night in the village…read more Menu looked good and feedback was good as well. Came here at 6pm. Our mistake was having no reservation. That's on us. We thought it would be no problem on a weekday. But the place was full at the time. The guy who welcomed us (owner/co-owner?) was pretty busy and stressed. Understandable. We were asked to come back at 7pm. Since right now they couldn't accomodate walk-ins. That was fine. So we went to the harbour for a quick walk and returned at 6.55pm. The same guy was there and told us that they were full. We explained that we just met an hour ago, asking us to return an hour later, so they surely could accomodate us at that time. He said he knows. But that they just had a walk-in a few minutes ago and now they're full for the night. We tried to explain that we just got sent away an hour ago because we actually were walk-ins. So why the other walk-ins got a table - even though we got promised one? He seems stressed and got quite strict, on the verge of being rude. We saw that talking wouldn't help the situation. We stayed calm - he said sorry - more sarcastically. So we left under the amused eyes of the guests. It wouldn't have been a problem if he would have just told us that they're full at the time we walked in at 6pm. That would have been easy. But: It was made very clear we're not welcome here. Maybe because we were foreigners? Maybe because my wife and me are a mixed-race couple? Or maybe because the guy just had a bad day? It's all possible. We'll never know. I rarely have to leave such a negative review. But this is one of the worst experiences we've ever had in a restaurant. And we've travelled often and far. But don't miss out on the village itself. Gardenstown is a wonderful village. Very pretty. We ended up back at the harbour. The chippy shop was still open and served dinner with a smile.