The Grill Room - Falkirk

I made a reservation for Valentine's night two weeks in advance, only to receive a call 4 hours before my booking informing me that they could not honor it. This establishment is absolutely appalling, and I would not dine here even if it were free. The management should be removed, as it is no surprise that locals do not patronize this hotel. I advise avoiding this place at all costs.

The Grill Room at Airth Castle served fantastic food during our stay. Our first night's dinner was included in the package and the menu, though limited, offered a good variety. I started with the mushrooms in blue cheese and then had the chicken with beetroot, squash, potatoes, and crunchy kale. The gravy was delicious. My partner had the haddock fish cake and haggis burger. The kids enjoyed the winter berries starter, grilled chicken, and fries. Breakfast on the second day was a self-serve continental and full Scottish with delightful coffee. For lunch, the children had the fish taco and ice cream while we had wraps, sandwiches, and fries. Our second night's dinner was part of a £25 per person deal and I tried the chicken liver pate and venison, both of which were excellent. My partner had the fillet steak, which he enjoyed. The only drawback was that the service was a bit slow, possibly due to a wedding and party function happening at the same time.

Had lunch with a friend at this restaurant. Unfortunately, the meals we received were not what we ordered or what was listed on the menu. The chicken caesar salad did not have any chicken in it, and the winter salad was essentially just a large bowl of house salad with chickpeas - missing the feta, pumpkin, and other ingredients as described on the menu. We had to get up from our table to find a server, and eventually someone brought us a bowl of chicken and a bowl of feta to add to our already half-eaten meal. There was no acknowledgment of the mistake when we received the bill. Overall, we paid £60 for two leafy salads, two orders of halloumi fries, one tea, and one coffee, which we felt was not good value for the quality of food and service we received.

After looking forward to Christmas lunch for months and inviting 30+ members of family to what I understood was a well respected establishment I have left with a bad taste in my mouth (and that 's not from the inadequacy of the food on offer). Paying £65 for Christmas Dinner I would have expected a luxury experience but this sadly was not the case. On arrival we were hearded in to a crowding dining hall like farmed cattle. After sitting down at the table I was served a lentil soup that had been left sat in the kitchen since the beatles were in the charts! Cold is an understatement. Shortly after this initial debacle, several members of our party left before even enjoying the overcooked beef that was on offer after queuing for the buffet for 35 minutes. I did however decide to stay and sample the carvery but did find that said beef was tougher than a sudoko puzzle after 18 pints! The turkey was tasty however so must give marks for this. The vegetables were wattery and had a distinct lack of seasoning and the Yorkshire puddings were drier than a Saharan summer. The hall had a star performer from the classic children 's TV Programme The Singing Kettle which was clearly well organised but the decibel levels were astronomical! Screaming at my young son from 3ft away isn 't my idea of a Christmas to remember! There was also an elderly lady who had felt unwell and vomited outside the front door where the smokers were standing. I did see a member of staff notified of this incident so I had assumed that this unfortunate mess would have been swiftly cleared but after several hours I returned to the scene to find the solidified vomit remained. It reminded me of the beef. The wine on sale at the bar was watered down, the draught lager was underwhelming and the staff in the dining hall (no fault of their own and absolutely not a responsibility they should have to burden) were noticeably untrained. Not to mention the lack of direction from any members of management. In 31 years of dining out for Christmas lunch (Covid being the only exception) this was, by some distance, the worst meal experience to date. I now have to explain to my distant family members, who have travelled from as far as Montevideo in Uruguay, that this isn 't the experience I had in mind when I asked them to make the journey. Hopefully any guests unfortunate enough to have booked for next year already are treated to a far better experience. If you plan to make no improvements to the event, I 'd send them to a soup kitchen instead. P.S. here is a photo of the dust on my fingers when I ran my hand along the wall beside my table. The lack of care for what should be such a magical day is upsetting and I will be contacting the health board about the asbestos infused environment I was forced to consume my food in. Merry Christmas

I stayed in this hotel for 3 nights and found the food good. Well presented fresh and tasted good. No fault whatsoever with food or staff.