The Kailyard by Nick Nairn

We had two super meals here recently. The restaurant has a lovely and cosy atmosphere. Staff were extremely pleasant and attentive. Reasonably priced. The chicken was amazing with the tarragon sauce. Only gripe would be to have a larger choice on the menu, ie pasta, risottos, fresh prawns , seafood , crab.

Food was amazing. We both had chicken supreme with the haggis/potato cake, absolutely delicious and flawless. Puddings were also excellent. Good diversity on the menu and staff were quick and professional.

Food was excellent couldn't fault it, we booked a table for 18:15 and service was spot on as well. Would definitely recommend.

Spent a lovely evening here last week. The first time I've been to the hydro to eat although have lived in Dunblane for years. The Kailyard was superb, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect.

Excellent dinner on St. Andrews Day. We had smoked salmon to start, followed by chicken supreme for me and mushroom and cashew nut wellington for my husband followed by sticky toffee pudding and cheesecake. The meal was beautifully presented and served by delightful staff.

Excellent hotel food by Nick Nairn based on the 2-3 course fixed price menu. The cured salmon starter was awesome and the burger probably the best I've tasted in a hotel. The missus had prawn cocktail and supreme of chicken with haggis bon bons and thoroughly enjoyed it. Great gastropub style food, good portion sizes at a reasonable price too.

This is my only five star review for restaurant on the basis that I wouldn’t hesitate to go back. Had a DBB deal at the hotel and really enjoyed the food and setting. Superb. Only thing was breakfast in the morning was a bit of a let down after such a good evening meal. But still fine.

My family and I visited 'The Kailyard' in the middle of a cross-country move that was not going to plan and nothing could have improved our spirits more! What lays in store is a truly excellent dining experience and one which just leaves you wanting to come back for more. Before we even touch upon the beautifully balanced food, the service is really superb. On a whole, the staff are welcoming, friendly and will treat you like royalty. A special thanks to Lauren who was our waitress for the evening and who never left us wanting for anything. As would be expected, they have a comprehensive drinks menu and I can definitely recommend the Malbec. For starters I went with a Salmon and Prawn cocktail - a dish which seems to be seeing a resurgence in Scotland in reasont years. A beautifully balanced dish, with the perfect ratio of seafood to salad. The prawns we're fresh, the smoked salmon was delicious and with the crunch of the iceberg lettuce it's just a wonderful combination! Not sure why they ever fell out of fashion. This was followed up by incredibly tender pheasant, served with apples, chestnuts, potatoes and gravy. These flavours paired wonderfully together and you can't put a price on the smile it brought to everyone's face as they took their first bite. The buttery chestnuts and lightly crunchy apple worked so well with the pheasant - it was just perfect. One of the best dishes I've ever had! If you can find room for desert, you won't be disappointed by the apple and bramble crumble. The crumble is delightfully oaty, and not overly sweet. The filling again just brought a big smile to my lips. A personal favourite of mine, but just cooked to perfection. The apples were not crunchy, but perfectly firm and the brambles were deliciously sweet. It's served with custard, but it's really not required. I prefer my custard slightly thicker, but I can't fault it on taste. All in all, a really great dish. As a meal together, you can't really ask for better. Expect to have a great experience, enjoy some lovely food and all for a reasonable price! I can't express how good value 'The Kailyard' is for the experience you will receive. We'll be back.

Food was almost perfect, highlight was the Daube of beef, it was so tender tasty and melt in the mouth.

Had dinner here but weren't staying. Great food in a relaxing atmosphere. Menu is set price for 2/3 courses not cheap but worth the food and night out.

I had the curried parsnip soup it was delicious. Creamy loveliness followed by the cheese burger which I also enjoyed very much. Hope to return soon.

Food was lovely. Restaurant was quiet as we were in early. Good service and friendly staff.

Very impressive! Superb steaks, at not too bad a price. Loved the interior and feel of the restaurant. Staff very attentive.

Great dinner. Have been a few times and never been let down. Never had a bad meal yet.

I really enjoyed the food here. Started with the haggis bonbon, followed with the Lamb rump, finally creme brulee. I really could not fault the food, nor the service. This was the best meal I have had in a long time. Loved it l.

Tasty food, nice menue, slow service.

+6

I have not been here in years & really enjoyed it once again,all the produce is of high quality, had the full English & couldn't really find a fault, the coffee machine is a bit temperamental, but that's my only fault.

+1

I suppose I expected a seperate small restaurant for nick nairn but in fact it is also the main restaurant for the hotel. It is a large hotel and so a large dining area which gives the restaurant a slightly soulless feel. The food was good and we enjoyed it but there were some coach parties in and the kitchen was obviously stretched. As a result the presentaion of the main courses was rushed. The service was very good and compensated for the other niggles. Overall very good value for money, avoid coach party nights and get a window seat.

Had a meal there on Monday night. Lovely setting. My starter, whipped goats cheese was v nice and tasty as was my main course of Salmon. However the dessert a pineapple cheesecake was completely tasteless. I don’t mean it tasted bad it just had no discernible taste whatsoever. I would normally have mentioned this to staff but someone had taken Ill in the restaurant and ambulance were there so it didn’t seem the time to complain about a dessert.

We all had a nice evening the food was absolutely delicious!!!! the staff were very nice too. I noticed some of the furniture in the dining area had quite bad stains on the material but apart from that the place was very nice, nice clean toilets although the automatic taps did not work however, the other row of manual taps worked fine. It is a stunning building and the sun set was breathtaking! My parents had their honeymoon here over 50 years ago! It was lively and quite busy but the staff were friendly and very helpful. I like places where they know about coeliac disease and the staff seemed to understand the importance of that! I can’t wait to visit again… xEx

Stayed for an overnight with a set menu for dinner. Choice on food menu was small but the food was nice. The restaurant needs some TLC put into it as looking aged and tired.

Food is good though portions are small and limited choices on menu. Service good the first night but very slow the second night. Maitre D have us drinks on the house by way of an apology. 👍

Really loved my spicy prawn cocktail. Great food but very rushed although this may be due to the challenges of accommodating people during covid.

We used the bar menu felt it was better value for money and lots of choices. Service great x food excellent x couldn't ask for more x

Lovely restaurant and the staff were really nice. First night my boyfriend and I stayed the food wasn't up to much but on the second night the food was excellent.

It was ok/fine, I think that the name Nick Nairn draws people to this restaurant. The service was better, been there done that.

+1

Main review on Tripadvisor but the basics are I had really bad steak with an insult £11.95 surcharge. I would expect something superb for that, it wasn’t in fact just the opposite. Served with some wilted greenery as decoration and some chips, greenery wasn’t supposed to be wilted just not fresh, same as greenery decoration on my starter, would have been better left off. Steak was just badly cooked and tough. Unfortunately if you want to stay in hotel you really have to eat at this restaurant. I haven’t worked out whether this restaurant is ruining Nick Nairn reputation or whether he is affecting the Hilton brand!

Quite disappointed with the Steaks served at the Kailyard. With two great butchers in Dunblane it appears they do not use them or buy their meat locally. Good attentive service from the waiting staff.

Meh. I was excited to eat here but wasn’t really impressed. There was something about the food that just lacked any genuine feel - it was dry. Perhaps from the menu being too formulaic to appeal to most, and the product being too over-prepared and stale (from sitting in the fridge or oven too long?!) to cater to the large restaurant. I wonder if Nick checks up on this place and if he does, I would be surprised he is happy to still attach his name to such food that seems to have decreased in quality. Ok for a family meal, but not one to seek out for the true foodies out there.

Christ almighty, don't go here. Nick Nairn should be VERY ashamed of this place. Very disappointed in all honesty. We love trying new places and new foods. Starters were very nice, we had the terrine and the beetroot. Mains very disappointing. Roast was one little carrot with some lamb and mashed potatoes, hardly any jus at all so dry. I had the gnocchi, it honestly tasted like someone had spilled half a salt shaker of salt into it. Couldn't have more than a few bites. Aside from an apology from the waitress there was nothing done about it than it being taken away. So we left. Staff also kept incessantly asking whether we needed anything far too often, interrupting two or three times per course, which was irritating. The bag of salt should be taken away from the chef and staff should be educated. I have complained to the manager.

The food was perfect! The server’s were inattentive. We were denied the reservation time we asked for but was offered 15 minutes before and after. We chose the earlier and noted that the dining room was never more than half full. With our plates empty for over 20 minutes with servers checking on and chatting with the guests around us, we finally went to the cashier to pay our bill. There was a server at the register who left as soon as I got there. The other server finally allowed us to pay our bill but was very short with us. I cannot recommend.

Dull dark ambience could be tolerated if the food was good. Basic drink coffee was bitter, as if the coffee machine had no been cleaned. Informed the steward - who gave no reaction or apology. Smoked salmon sandwich was the most average sandwich with a few roquette leaves and some crisps. Served in a quarter plate. The presentation in a small cafe is better than this. Quite a disappointing experience. Wouldn't recommend a visit and myself not go again.

We ate here this evening whilst staying in the hotel. When we went to book a table in the restaurant (they don’t take walk-ins even for hotel guests) we were informed that there were no tables for another two hours. As we are frequent travellers and had only booked the hotel a few hours earlier I decided to book, what a mistake I made; even during the process of creating the booking the gentleman walked away to fix a card machine for a colleague. With a one year old baby this was less than ideal but we happily went back at 8pm. We were then made to stand in a queue for another 10 minutes before we were seated. They had forgotten the requested highchair so we reminded the gentleman and he said he’d go and get it. Another 20 minutes later our very helpful waitress arrived to take our drinks order and apologised profusely when we pointed out the missing highchair. Generally the service across the restaurant was poor with a clear lack of management or communication. I’d assume something went really wrong with their service this evening as I don’t remember seeing such poor service for many years. The food was ok when it arrived and the waitress seemed to work hard to make up for the problems we had seen early on. Overall service was 1/5 but through no fault of our hard working waitress. Food quality 3/5 average for a Doubletree. Value for money 1/5 they were charging £32.95 for a steak and £4.50 for a Coke! Almost tourist trap prices, and that’s from somebody who stays in Hilton brand properties several times per month. I’ll review the hotel separately upon checkout and I’ll update Flyertalk also but the poor F&B service has unfortunately let the whole hotel down.

Nick Nairn is a Scottish celebrity chef. He became the youngest Scottish chef to win a Michelin star in the early 1990s, and after that he must have given up or he was having a bad day when I was there. We had really high expectations for our dinner being foodies ourselves and to be really honest I’ve never been so let down, first of all the waiter put us at a table in direct sunlight, my wife couldn’t see across the table it was so bright, the back of my neck was burning to be honest the waiter should have known better but when all the waiters are part time young workers with no experience and no maitre d' around to run and organize the hall that’s what you get. At the table another disappointment the chairs are old, faded and haven’t been cleaned in years the varnish was peeling off the top of the table, now being a Michelin star chef menu restaurant you would surely expect a waiter to explain the whole menu and the specials you’d also expect a wine sommelier to come over offer a drink and wine explanation that didn’t happen. The food, my wife ordered a smoked salmon and prawn dish and I ordered the roasted beets, now my dish was ok just lacking flavor my wife’s dish was placed on top of her napkin the waiter just sort of dumped it there so unprofessional and the dish looked like something from the 1960’s and 70’s a very old fashioned looking prawn cocktail that you would make at home with enough cocktail sauce to drown the whole prawn population I was seriously surprised not something I would expect to see from a Michelin star chef, the main dish, 1 cod and 1 chicken dish, now these looked great very modern plating, nice contrast but that’s as far as it went the fish had no seasoning just a really salted skin the couscous was salty with no other flavors coming out, the chicken was cooked perfectly but all I could taste was a little bit of liver from the haggis filling and salt no other flavors at all. The desserts again looked good, modern plating and to be honest tasted good. Overall the place looked old unclean and worn out the waiters like robots with no hospitality skills and a kitchen that doesn’t really care about the customer food experience a really disappointing experience from a Michelin starred chef menu restaurant.

This experience was a disappointment, the host / manager wasn’t very pleasant. I have an allergy to nuts and one of the dishes had chestnut puree we had asked if this could be removed to the waitress she said “ yes I will go and check with the chefs “ . She didn’t come back to say anything at this point we didn’t know what we going to have for dinner . We then made the host / manager aware which explained what had happened the attitude was appalling, he had a snappy attitude towards my partner we had only wanted to check as my allergies are quite severe . I have been to the hotel restaurant on vists at the hydro many times but this was the worst experience , I have ever had . The food was really good just ashamed that the front of house couldn’t keep up to the same standards . The lack of communication was shocking .

Horrible experience with unfriendly and rude front of house staff. Ill-mannered male at front desk of hotel who used degrading tone and language towards me when I presented him with a request. Possible undertone of racist behaviour as I was a guest at an Asian wedding. Dont dine here if you have any self respect.

Poor service and over priced food We decided to have a main and desert. The food took over an hour to arrive, in this time nobody came to appologise or offer us any more drinks. This is despite the fact the restaurant was extremely quiet! When the food came it was average at best. The seabass was messily presented with cold veg and the chips with the burger were far too salty. At the price the restaurant charges it was terrible value for money. We didnt have desert in the end, so 2 mains, a beer and a gin was over £50. We were asked to pay at the front desk as the card machine wouldnt work at our table, which we did and then left. An error had been made using the machine and the payment was void. The waiter therfore ran after us down the hotel corridor with the card machine and made us pay again while other guests watched from the bar/seating areas!! I understand we had to pay but considering the restaurant and hotel had our name, contact details and room number surely there was a more subtle way of getting the money than embarrassing us in the hallway!!! The whole experience was extremely disappointing and made worse by the expensive price tag!!

So disappointed to have to make this comment but Sunday night 25th September and the Kailyard Restaurant was complete chaos. Starters arrived an hour after we ordered. The main course, vegetables were uncooked and served an hour and half after ordering. There was no wine list available or prices confirmed when we ordered. The fruit salad dessert was made up of melon, watermelon, apple and pear with a small amount of pineapple, all unripe fruit. Guests walked out after waiting ages to be served. The hotel was full, and the kitchens unable to cope with the numbers. Despite this pressure the staff were polite and worked hard to serve the guests. The bedroom corridors were strewn with used glasses from 10.30pm Sunday night and were still there at 10.00am Monday morning, carpets needed hoovering. it was second rate. The breakfast too was poor, rescued only by the good quality bacon. This hotel lacks leadership and effective management, such a pity. I wonder does Nick Nairn know his name is attached to such poor quality? The Dunblane Hydro is a key establishment in Scottish tourism, please, the owners need to seriously improve the management of this hostelry. Dunblane is such a great visitor destination completely let down by ineffective management.

Having visited the Kailyard for my partners 50th birthday while visiting family in Scotland, the disappointment I felt having had a meal with Nick Nairns name attached to it was nothing short of pub grub! Living with a real foodie this was a let down as I felt Sue would prepare and present something better at home, Oh well another overrated effort portraying itself to be the real deal. I would detach your name ftom this Mr Nairn. Sorry! Only being honest.

Sorry not lunch with Nick sent to a desperstely needed updated bar. Seating was minging as they say. A young waiter was left on his own to cope with too many departments needing attention. It took 35 min to get a drink another 20 min to get a menu 15 min to order and only because I had to complain to the barman about the lack of attention. When the food eventually came it was actually very good.But would not recomend it to anyone as is.