The Neuk

We can’t comment on accommodation as we only had food. We went for an evening meal and it was delicious. The smoked fish and chips was perfectly cooked and full of flavour. The homemade chicken pie and mash was superb. Perhaps a little too much gravy but it was lovely. On our next visit we went for breakfast. This was unbelievable. Huge portions of a full English breakfast with haggis, black pudding and tattie scones! Tea, coffee and toast included. The Neuk is a little off the beaten track but well worth a visit for a delicious home cooked meal.

The high point was the friendly service of the lady who made our meal and the meal itself. She was totally unfazed by the fact that we wanted to eat in our room, because we're Covid-vulnerable, and actually brought our meal to us, although we'd said we were happy to collect. She showed respect and sensitivity by physical distancing throughout. The choice of food was less than that shown on the menu, but maybe that's to be expected in November. Likewise the bar was rather thinly stocked. We didn't like that the person who took us to our room went straight in to show us where things were was unmasked the entire time, despite us being masked and having explained that that we are clinically vulnerable. We should have asked him not to go in, I suppose, but it gets wearisome constantly having to do other people's thinking for them. Anyway, there was a gale blowing, so we were able to ventilate the room fairly quickly (at the expense of the warmth, in the short term at least). The room itself appeared okay at first sight, but was very basic. Given that the included breakfast was DIY, there was too little in the way of surfaces to prepare it and to have necessities such as toiletries out and accessible - breakfast was a juggling act. There was only a bedside table and reading lamp on one side of the bed. On the upside, there were two armchairs. The breakfast itself we thought quite disappointing, consisting per person, of an individually wrapped 42g croissant, a 26g pack of oatcakes, a Philadelphia cream cheese individual portion, a portion of butter, a 125ml carton of orange juice, a carton of milk and a wee selection of individual cereal portions. We've no objection at all to a DIY breakfast, but a little choice would have been nice and the croissant was small for a breakfast. Worst of all though was the lack of cleanliness. Obvious surfaces, such as table tops, appeared clean enough, but the bedside light revealed a skirting board that hadn't been dusted for many months and the bathroom was straightforwardly filthy - the chrome-finished shower hose was black and the clear silicone seal at the bottom of the shower screen was thick with greasy filth - I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it in a hotel. We didn't examine or picture the brown streak on the front of the toilet bowl.

We met friends for lunch at The Neuk, having had a good experience in the past. We were not disappointed. The food and service were superb Everyone in the party were very satisfied by the quality and quantity of their choices. and we will come back to The Neuk during the Spring. We did not stay here, just enjoyed lunch.