East Ayrshire
Loudoun Hill Inn

Loudoun Hill Inn

Strathaven Road, East Ayrshire, United Kingdom

Pizza • British • Scottish • Vegetarian


"We went here for a family dinner. When we booked we just said 6 people for dinner. The staff didn’t look pleased that we had 4 children when we entered. I just ignored this. The place is lovely looking inside but the staff can’t be...bothered with you and we didn’t feel welcome. The food! For the high prices charged here the food was not a patch on an average pub grub. The kids meal which was chicken nuggets and chips with some peas was 6.50. The kids were not really happy with the nuggets and when we tried a bite they tasted like really cheap Asda smart price nuggets. Which there were four. My wife and daughter had macaroni which was so bland and ended up not finishing and also added so much salt and pepper to taste. Chicken Caesar salad was probably the worst I have ever ate. Defo Pre made and sitting in a fridge as everything on the plate was freezing cold and hard. Chicken was so hard. Egg was freezing. Onion rings were great and tasted freshly made. Desserts were like aunt Bessie and so dry. I really think these have been Pre plated and sitting in a fridge or something. And the open dessert at 50p was because I asked for some squirts cream to try make it less dry!!! So my absolute pet hate of this place is the fact that we asked for three kids apples juice as we don’t like them having fizzy drinks. 3 Apple juice is a bargain price of 8.25. Pizza was average!"

Library

Library

Dumfries House Estate, East Ayrshire, United Kingdom

Pizza • Cafés • Coffee • Seafood


"As we were staying at the Dumfries House Lodge for a couple of nights we took the opportunity to visit the Library Restaurant which is a short stroll away from the guesthouse in Dumfries House itself. Little did we know as we approached the magnificent Robert Adam building in it’s glory on a bright and peaceful evening that we were about to have a private dining experience! By absolute chance there were no other reservations that evening and we had the restaurant to ourselves. Despite my attempt to convince my wife that I had paid a fortune for the privilege I don’t think she was entirely taken in for more than a few seconds. We understand that the following night was fully booked. The setting is quite unique as you are led from the visitors entrance through to the library which had a cosy atmosphere with a log fire burning, the grand mantelpiece surround, the comfortable settee, subtle lighting and a small bar. With our bottle of NZ Pinot Noir ordered and a glass poured we were able to browse the menu in comfort. There were five options for each course and all reasonably priced from starters at £6 £7, mains £12 £22 (steak) and dessert at £5 or cheese for £7. The young waiter, who was attentive but discrete throughout the evening was friendly and efficient. The dining area itself beyond was lined with book shelves and ten or so tables stylishly set with good spacing between although in the circumstances there were no issues with other diners! For starters my wife had Goats cheese with red onion and tomatoes whilst I opted for the Confit Duck Pie with duck scratching and salad. The duck was served in a ramekin style dish topped with mashed potato which was a surprise although the duck was tasty, as was my wife’s goats cheese. Mains for my wife was Chicken Ballantine stuffed with Shitaki served with parmesan gnocchi and spinach which she enjoyed. I had monkfish in butter, served with puy lentils, artichoke puree and herb sauce. The fish was delicious however puy lentils may be an acquired taste which I unfortunately haven’t acquired a taste for as yet and there were quite a lot of them! Dessert consisted of Lemon amoretti cheesecake with a berry compote for my wife and White chocolate panna cotta and a doughnut with an apple sauce for myself. My wife thought the berry compote drowned the other flavours and I thought my dish was just ok. Full marks for the setting, food presentation, service and pricing (our bill including wine was £85 ex tip) but we were slightly disappointed with the flavours of some of the food overall in comparison to our previous meal on the estate at the former Stables Restaurant. At time of our recent visit the restaurant was only open Thursday to Sunday. It is a possibility that in future this restaurant may only be available for private functions, with another being opened within the hospitality centre so we were glad in the meantime to have dined in the House in such exclusive circumstances. Sadly we were escorted off the premises!"