Popped into the Strathgarry for a wee caffeine based pick me up on a Friday afternoon. From the street this place looks really nice: Smart staff, lovely solid wooden furniture and decorated in a contemporary style.
But when we walked through the door the smell of drains should have us running for the hills. Unfortunately, when you have a small child in desperate need of juice rapid changes of direction are ill-advised, if not impossible. I really wish that I could say that the smell was a glitch and that everything else was wonderful. It wasn't.
The drain smell did seem to be confined to the corridor so we sat down. We hadn't even managed to get our arms our of jackets when a waitress appeared. No greeting, no smile, no eye contact "Drinks?". We obviously didn't look hungry because no sooner had we asked for a drink each she was gone, answering the phone must take precedence over serving customers.
We waited until she came back with our drinks to order scones. I wouldn't have bothered had I realised that even serving our drinks was too big an ask. My coffee was as good as thrown at me and no acknowledgement was made to the fact that a good portion of the cappuccino ended up in the saucer.
The scones were served/launched in the same manner with butter portions ending up off plates and on the table. At this point it was getting a bit funny. If starring in Fawlty Towers is your idea of a good afternoon out.
Sadly the scones and drinks didn't compensate for the crap service. The coffee was weak, watery and lukewarm and the scones didn't look or taste homemade.
The best bit about the Strathgarry was looking in the window. Once you've done this keep on walking. Unless you have money to waste having a good giggle at how bad service can be. read more
