Dumfries Galloway
The Old Smith

The Old Smith

MAIN STREET, Dumfries Galloway, United Kingdom

Soup • Pasta • Coffee • Breakfast


"We were passing through the village on a meandering route to Gatehouse of Fleet and timed it nicely for some lunch. We parked a short walk away just off Whylie’s Brae at an official car park as the streets are narrow and spaces were at a premium elsewhere. The café is in a traditional cottage style building but has been modernised internally. There was outside seating available at the entrance, which would have been an attraction had it not been raining at the time of our visit. There were a number of visitors present, staff were friendly and there was therefore a pleasant ambiance. Despite the offer of specials, which included a homemade pasta dish of the day, we were looking for more of a snack. There were decent options in this regard and my wife ordered a Tuna Mayo Cheese Jacket Potato which was served with three different salad garnishes carrot sultanas; baby broad bean sundried tomato; and a house coleslaw £7.75). I ordered a soup sandwich combo Broccoli Stilton soup and Chicken with lemon mayo sandwiches £9.00). Service was very good and the fresh, tasty and quality produce made for an enjoyable lunch . We finished things off with an Americano and Flatwhite coffee £2.70 each) which brought our bill to just over £22 which we thought was good value. Tempting as the cakes looked, we resisted indulging to save our appetite for later. Toilets were well maintained. There are small gift options on display for purchase. Check opening times currently only on Friday Saturdays during winter months."

Truffles Bistro

Truffles Bistro

20 Bank Street, DG1 2NX, Dumfries Galloway, United Kingdom

Steak • Pasta • Tapas • Curry


"I’m not quite sure where to start with this as I’ve never experienced such poor service in a restaurant before but I’ll try. So we were a party of 10 celebrating my mother in law’s 60th. My partner isn’t from Dumfries and Galloway so just told me he’d looked this place up and decided to book it. I hadn’t really heard of it and had initially wanted to go to the Bank but after looking at reviews of Truffles and seeing people speak highly of the food I thought let’s give it a try. I noticed many speaking about how awful the owner was but I thought surely he can’t be that bad if people are still going and people are still leaving good reviews. How wrong I was! Another warning sign I should have noticed was that we initially booked in for the Friday but changed to the Saturday and they were able to accommodate that easily last minute so clearly aren’t busy. We were running 15mins late. I called to let them know and apologise. The waitress who answered the phone was accepting of this and said it was ok. On arriving the owner ‘greeted’ us. I again apologised and he shrugged his shoulders but let us in. We all sat down and he immediately came to ask us if we wanted drinks. We were looking at the drinks menu and discussing what we wanted when he repeated in a slow and aggressive tone DO.YOU.WANT.ANY.DRINKS??! It was extremely awkward. My dad asked about red wine and he used his notepad to lean over my dad and aggressively hit the menu and point to a wine on the list. We ordered drinks which included 2 pints of beer. As he walked away we all felt very uncomfortable and decided we did not want to spend our money in such a venue when the atmosphere was cold and aggressive. We all decided to leave. My partner spoke to the owner letting him know his front of house manner was appalling and that we’d be leaving. He said he didn’t “understand people” and that he expected us to pay for the pints that had been poured. I gave him a £20 note and he aggressively gave it back to me, stating he had no money in the till to give me change and swiftly snatched the pints back and put them behind the bar. We then left and were politely accommodated in the Bank next door (which I would highly recommend). As we left, the waitress apologised on our way out. I actually felt bad leaving her in such a cold and horrible environment. That owner should not be front of house. He is rude. He is right, he doesn’t understand people and has no people skills whatsoever. I would avoid this place like the plague and go next door to the Bank! (The one star is for the waitress who we had to leave behind)"

Knockinaam Lodge

Knockinaam Lodge

Portpatrick, Stranraer DG9 9AD, UK, Dumfries Galloway, United Kingdom

Cafés • 5star • Seafood • Lodging


"My wife found this when looking for a place for us to spend our wedding anniversary. It sounded good on paper. It was a long and tedious drive for us though and I wasn’t sure it was worth it. I was totally wrong! This place is superb and well worth any drive! The setting is great-it has its own beach and there is a small patio where you can sit and there is a heater there too if you need it. There’s a nice lawn in front of the hotel too where those with dogs took them for a walk. The rooms are all different and all well appointed with their own en suite. The costs of the rooms reflects the size of the room and not the facilities. If you are tall like me (6ft 2) I wouldn’t go for one of the rooms in the roof as the coomb ceiling is a pain. However the thing you go there for is the food and that is sublime! It is a set menu in the evening which reduces waste and helps control costs. You get 7 courses, all quite small , but at the end of the meal you are adequately fed but not full. We were there for 3 nights and had a different meal every night. All the dishes were superb but we had mushroom soup one night and it was the best soup I have ever tasted! In fact it was one of the best foods I have ever tasted! The breakfast is very good indeed and you can order whatever you like from the menu which is very comprehensive. I found that set me up for the whole day and I didn’t need a lunch. I must also mention the wine. The wine list is very comprehensive with some difficult to come by wines in it too like Chateau Musar. On 2 nights we went with the wine pairing list which I thought was very good value, especially the cheaper of the 2 lists we had every night. The hotel is a good centre for seeing things in the local area and , despite going in November we found things to occupy ourselves for the 3 days we were there. They have various themed weekends too which sound brilliant. But the hotel is so good it is worth going to anytime. We will certainly be back."