Puffers cafe in North Ayrshire

Food is a bit pricey although well prepared and delicious. Service is 1st class and when they noticed I am disabled they did their best to help me. lovely view of the harbour.

Excellent meals and service, a pleasant surprise as I never knew they had such a lovely variety of food on the menu. I thought it was only a small cafe. Will definitely be going there again.

Delicious food and a great selection, something to please everyone. Fantastic service and lovely views across the water. Definitely recommend.

Great place for a bit of lunch or a latè and cake

Very busy when we arrived. Prices reasonable. We were under pressure of time so didn't manage to eat but pleasant surroundings and very nice girl who served us.

Regular spot for a coffee when cycling. And those views

Been here a few times now always beautiful food .hot well prepared and staff very nice and helpful.

We visited on our way to the maratime museum. The staff seated us quickly and gave us a table with plenty of space to keep his walking frame out of the way. My brother had the breakfast it was nicely presented and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I had the days special sea bass with teriyaki noodles it was perfectly cooked and delicious. All together a delightful experience.

Fab location and food. We chose this cafe due to the location to our rented accommodation. Great choice of breakfast options at a reasonable price. Service was good and food great

Great place for food excellent location!

Nice little Cafe with lovely views of the sea/harbour at Irvine. If you want a window table it's best to book

Great place for food, coffee great. set on the harbour wall, great views across the estuary.

Cute little cafe that you access through the Maritime Museum gift shop. It has great views of the harbour front and even better if you can get a window seat. We were there as a large family and ordered, fish and chips, rice bowls and burgers. The food was just average, nothing to say "yum" about. The service was underwhelming. Drinks were delivered but after that the service was slow. We had to wait awhile for our food and nobody checked back in afterwards to see how it was. It took awhile for the servers to recognize that our plates needed clearing and one was even standing by cleaning cutlery. This cafe has potential to be wonderful but they need to focus on their flavour profiles and service.

What an amazing experience, the staff were great and very knowledgeable about the food and all fresh made, as for the food itself it’s outstanding, had the Loaded Naan with Thai Red Curry and I’ve got to say I’ve never tasted anything so good, even the desserts are delicious, the position sizes are great and well worth it, a definite 5* place to eat all day long.

Service was good, location is nice, but the food is terrible.

Decent food at great prices in a nice roomy venue with good views. Will be back.

Excellent quayside restaurant with great views. We had Coffee and a selection of cakes which were delicious.Staff are very friendly and helpful and evrn gave us a good venue recommendation for dinner at night.really comfortable and bright restaurant atmosphere.

Great meal, lovely views, and friendly staff. Would highly recommend Puffers.

Asked for a scone...got a processed toasted teacake?

Great views, good service and food. Can be noisy tho (so reduced atmosphere score). Staff very attentive

I have eaten here on several occasions and the food is always good . Specials are on offer and are varied . Well worth trying . Coffee is also good and for me that is a big plus. Staff also friendly and faces are remembered. Nice touch ! It does get busy but is not overly loud like other places . Thanks to all .

We stumbled across this fabulous eatery on a day out at Irvine beach. The staff were SO lovely. They made us so welcome. We ordered macaroni cheese with garlic bread and a Puffers special wrap. Both were delicious. A bonus - it overlooks the river. Will definitely be back and would recommend 100%

A wee gem I'll certainly visit again. We went for a spot of lunch whilst visiting the nearby museum, 5 mins away. It was a busy Saturday afternoon, but after a very short wait our party of 5 were accommodated and orders taken. Every dish that passed us looked fantastic, but I ordered the Puffer burger which was outstanding. Double burgers, bacon, cheese, jalapenos, special sauce, and absolutely one of the tastiest burgers I've ever had. My wife enjoyed the Vegan veg rice bowl , and my 7 year old son loved his lentil soup and bread. Great service, and I'll be back to try the yummy looking cakes ☺️

Went for breakfast and was really impressed. Had the Puffer's breakfast and it was great. Good coffee and well cooked food. I recommend it strongly. Great panoramic views.

Amazing place staff amazing food fantastic 1st time there yesterday and omg I would back again 😋 😍 xxx

First visit, friendly, excellent food and choice. Busy but we weren't rushed, will return.

Great friendly place. Food is delicious and the staff are very helpful. X

Assisted seating fair menu served quickly

Lovely place to visit xx staff friendly and knowledgeable xx

Revisited Puffers Cafe, 6 months since our last visit. Found the food and service to be still excellent with a varied menu. A particular delight are the fresh cakes, apparently some made by Puffers and some bought in locally. If you book a table in advance you might be lucky enough to get one next to the windows with a view of the harbour. Will certainly return when next in the locality. A good idea to check opening times before you go - they seem to be tied in with those of the Maritime Museum.

Place was busy, but the head waitress took our phone number and phoned us back very quickly when a table was available. This allowed us to carry on viewing the exhibits and the shop at the Maritime museum.

Excellent restaurant beautiful view good food, excellent staff.

lovely coffee and strawberry 🍓 tart...Magic

Fantastic food and view. Definitely recommend. Best lunch in the area by far. Staff are very friendly and the lunch was great after a walk on the beach.

First class service very friendly staff and great atmosphere and the breakfast o boy so good thumbs up

Great little cafe associated with the Scottish Maritime Museum. Good range of food from breakfast to lunch or just a snack. Breakfast is excellent, haven't tried lunch yet. Good variety of delicious looking cakes (also not tried yet). Staff are super friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend a visit.

Great breakfast. Excellent service and super staff.

Lovely view across sea, nice hot chocolate, lovely Waverley boat creation and nice n clean. However something condescending about staff. Hard to explain. Passive aggressive? Used to regular customers ?? Tense atmosphere too. "Off". Visited once but would not go in a second time. I also don't know who that was taking payment (female) but customer service classes may be a good idea !! Always a pity that cafes don't pay attention to reviews - Word gets around and people reward them by never returning.

A further visit to the his establishment, always busy, food of a good standard. Staff friendly.

My brother and I visited Puffers Cafe today for breakfast and to be honest we were both disappointed with what we received both service and food. I had the Puffers breakfast and my brother had the three eggs cheese omelet. The breakfast was not up to the usual standard, the fried egg was rubbery and the bacon rasher was so hard it snapped, and the omelet was bland without any seasoning and there was supposed to be bacon and mushrooms but these must have been in short supply and the service was very poor as it was not busy when we went in but we had to wait about 30 minutes from ordering to receiving our food,and we had to ask the waiting staff when we were going to get our breakfast. Overall it was a disappointing experience as we have been here before many times and we have never had any complaints before. We would be reluctant to go there again unless the usual high standards and attention to detail are restored.

First time in the Puffers cafe... amazing choice of menu, staff are lovely, excellent service and food was well worth its money... Will deffo be back to try more of the menu.

A family favourite - we had our family lunch here for five adults and four under six...excellent position overlooking the estuary, excellent choice of food for all, and welcoming staff...a joy to visit...!!

Tasty and very reasonably priced food. Stunning views if you get a chance to sit by the window! Family and pet friendly.

Ideal place for a coffee, snack or lunch, everything is first class and the staff are all helpful and cheery. Plus the harbour views are great 👍

Excellent view, excellent location, excellent lentil soup. Waverley bloomer o.m.g. Glad to see people talking and not on phone. No WiFi a bonus Waverley bloomer chicken mayo peppers cheese Cheese and ham toastie. Salad dressing omg 2 bowls of lentil soup 1 diet Coke 1 diet Fanta.

Food fantastic and the happy and helpful staff make it a must to visit,capped off with the lovely views over the water

Roll and slice, only filled half the roll.

The Puffers Cafe is part of, but apparently not run by, the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine. The Museum is located about half a mile west of the main shopping area. As you approach the Museum the main site is on the left of the road but Puffers is through a gate on the right. Access to the cafe is through a gift shop. The cafe itself is surprisingly large with view along one side over the harbour. You can probably sit outside of the weather is good enough. There is an excellent range of food on the menu, from snacks up to full sized hot meals, Service was prompt and friendly. If anyone from Puffers reads this the only drawback for me personally was the printed menu which is in a glossy plastic sleeve and printed in small italic lettering, This makes it almost impossible to read for someone with poor eyesight. Otherwise a good find and excellent experience.

If you visit Irvine you need to visit Puffers Cafe. Excellent food and service. This has to be the cleanest cafe I have ever visited. The staff are lovely and friendly and the food is spot on. I can't recommend it more highly. Keep up your high standards, much appreciated.

First visit to this cafe but it won't be my last, food was delicious all the family cleared their plates, the wait staff were all very friendly and helpful, prices also were reasonable.

Nice place, staff were helpful and the prices are quite reasonable.

Excellent cafe with large menu of great food Staff very helpful

I went with my gran and had a very lovely lunch, the cakes are great and they had a gluten free caramel apple cake that was amazing 🤩

Did not have a good experience here. Food took ages to arrive and it wasn't up to a good standard. It felt like we were sitting in a creche with small children running about everywhere. I didn't have any children with me so maybe that's why. I have heard great things about this place but sadly it wasn't for us.

Wonderful location. Spotless cafe. Efficient and friendly staff. Extensive menu and great quality food. Gluten free paradise! High recommend a visit to this cafe and shop.

Went in for our afternoon tea the woman was so helpful and the afternoon tea was absolutely beautiful and the even song happy birthday to my daughter just was the best day for her xxxx

This is a must visit! Food is great, staff are brill and the craic is spot on!

Great food and reasonable prices. Would go again Pleasant staff.

The food was awful. Poor quality frozen chips, scampi and garlic bread. I suspect my macaroni cheese was packet as I’d never tasted macaroni like it and it was inedible. No GF options. Shame as the museum is decent and cafe has views.

The staff got a bit lost when it was busy

Wonderful little restaurant / cafe with good reasonably priced food. Great views over the estuary and a small delightful maritime museum and shop. Easy parking and seemingly really popular. Fantastic service from the waitresses, especially Kimmie who mostly served us Recommend this establishment to anyone looking for a nice well located traditional cafe serving good traditional food

Good .seating outside in good weather its a shame the kellpies are no longer outside a good attraction for visitors

Really nice calm atmosphere lovely welcoming staff and food was delicious complements to the chef. Will definitely be back with family again.

I ordered a ham omelette, it came with cheese, they said they all come with cheese, it never said so on the menu, they then made me another ham omelette, but this time it came without the ham through it, just a pile of ham, dissapointed

A very good meal and friendly service.

Cakes are bought in and service is not the greatest. The woman was not very friendly. Wouldn't rush back

Lovely lunch today. Very clean restaurant. Staff very friendly 😄

I went here after my museum visit. Despite a rainy weekday, the cafe was bustling and I had difficulty in getting a table. So consider booking. Nice views over the firth. It has a good menu with a wide range of starters and mains. I had Nachos with chilli, which was very good. Staff were efficient and friendly. You pay at the till after you finish.

Had lunch with my wife at the Puffers Cafe at Irvine Harbourside. We had eaten there on a number of occasions before, but it looked like there had been a recent change to the decor and menu. As it was, the food was superb : we both went for toasted bloomer sandwiches (can thoroughly recommend the "Scottie" (haggis, lettuce, cheese and caramelised onion). The only slight niggle was that the restaurant was really busy and - while we were well looked after, in terms of getting seated at a table and having our initial order taken and delivered - there was no follow up. Even when we managed to ask for a cake and a coffee, it never arrived. As we looked around, it seemed that the focus was still on getting people seated and taking their initial order, but no more attention to the customers who were already eating and drinking. We ended up just paying and leaving, which was a bit of a shame as the weather was great, the views out the window were great, and the food and drinks were fantastic.

This has a great choice from a full breakfast to a filled roll of choice and everything in between. Local specialist butcher supplies cracking slice sausage and bacon - perfect for an early morning roll

Dropped in for lunch and we were NOT disappointed !! The Steak Baggette was absolutely delicious, the cajun chicken pasta had a kick to it and again ..... was brilliant !! The staff were friendly and helpful, we didn't have long to wait before our order was taken and was promptly served .... So, delicious food, friendly staff, nice atmosphere, pleasant surroundings ..... am I missing anything ... ??? ... oh yes, booking our next visit .... very soon.

We visited twice in 3 days for lunch here as it was so good the first time we wanted to go back. The staff here are so lovely, all are very friendly and it does make a difference when staff are all nice. Food choices are simply beautiful. Even the simple sandwiches are gorgeous, lots of choices and everything is very fresh. All the cooked options we saw were very tempting and desserts looked amazing. Also everything is very well priced for what you get. Thoroughly recommend trying The Puffer if you haven`t already been, it is a little hidden gem in Irvine.

Great food! Staff excellent... Lovely venue with lovely views to Arran.

Food was very good, soup was homemade and the chicken sweet chilli bowl was lovely. Staff were pleasant and the prices are very reasonable.

Great cafe attached to the Scottish Maratime museum

Popped in for light lunch of soup and sandwich and coffee and cake , we've been to puffers quite a few times but this was our 1st for a while , noticed a few changes and think the menu offered some more choices , all in all we enjoyed everything we had , service was quick and friendly and we intend to visit again .

Very lovely staff always willing to help you good food and what you pay for food is ok

Such slow service we left before they came to take our order. Another couple left at the same time for the same reason. They need to up their game.

Hubby and I had breakfast a nice table for two with a view of the sea.Service very quick.Waitress was very pleasent and attentive.Breakfast lovely ,hubby got puffer.I got all day breakfast which is smaller than puffer.Served with toast.First time here going back Friday.This wee place is well worth the visit ,a lovely gift shop on site too.Well done puffer cafe..*****booking advisable

Came here with my partner for dinner. Arrived at twenty to four. Waitressing staff were lovely, food was nice. We were told to sit at one side of the restaurant as they were cleaning which was fine until the started coming over to our side cleaning and spraying disinfectant where we were trying to eat. The ladies were run of there feet cleaning as there presuming boss started at them continuously. I hadn’t even finished my food and by the time I sat my fork down somebody came and swiped my food away. Atmosphere felt very tense and unwelcoming. Won’t be returning anytime soon.

This place is absolutely lovely. Never mind with any of the nearby cafes, this is the one to visit. Amazing service and amazing food. The choice on the menu is incredible as well. Well worth a visit.

Great spot, good food and very friendly service

First class Food great service very homely atmosphere

Top notch staff and great food! Even when ultra busy they coped with a group of eleven in a courteous, efficient and speedy manner! Waiting time for the wide selection of dishes chosen by our group was less than expected and certainly less than many larger, more prestigious establishments I’ve been in! The food was excellent and the menu varied. It has excellent views across Irvine bay and it is a comfortable, friendly atmosphere to dine in. Well done guys!

Lovely venue with a very friendly staff. Good selection of cakes. Highly recommend coming for a visit with friends.

Good food lovely service will definitely return again

Clean, excellent service, friendly staff, good food and value for money. Would definitely recommend

Very friendly staff ! Wide selection on menu ! Cakes Scones tray bake ! Prices not to bad ! If more than 5 people best to phone and book ! Only negative toilets outside and not really decorated and cold x

Friends we're taking me out for a birthday breakfast (Nov 22) they said you choose the place. For some reason I said Puffers at Irvine Harbour. I’d been there year's ago when it was a greasy spoon cafe. But I remember the views of Arran...

First time here Was a lovely wee cafe Friendly and helpful staff Nice and clean Didn't booked just walked in Nothing was a bother for them

The food is very tasty and well priced, We have never been dissapointed , The staff are pleasant and go the extra mile to give good service.

A popular cafe if you are visiting the Maritime museum. It was very busy when we arrived but we were advised when a table was available-& were lucky to be by the window. There is a great view of Arran & a variety of birdlife...

I visited Puffers yesterday to meet friends. I had a very fractious toddler with me. The young staff were superb with him, even allowing him to watch cartoons on their phones. Our soup was lovely and the wee one ate all his lunch. The young...

Stopped when cycling as it was such a glorious day I thought a coffee and sit outside would be just right. Lovely coffee and cake, very nice sitting outside, but the real treat was the staff, absolutely super crew. So good to meet people who...

Visited for lunch. Had lentil soup which was lovely and a panini. Panini wasn't up to much at all, bread very cheap tasting, wasn't toasted very much,and the cheese was awful, had no flavour at all (was more like the fake catering cheese used on...

Been here several times in the last few weeks. Good choice of menu, food really tasty, excellent value for money, service good and very friendly. This place fills up really quickly for lunch so best to book in advance and request a table next to...

Excellent place to go for lunch. The food is tasteful and cooked to order. Price very reasonable. Very impressed with their hygiene measures. After a table has been vacated everything is washed thoroughly.. staff cheerful and efficient. Toilets have hot water. Highly recommend .

Popped in without a booking and delighted to find it fully Covid compliant with staff masked, test & trace in use and good social distancing in operation. Staff were friendly & welcoming to first time visitors. Food and drinks were hot, tasty and great value....

Great views, great food and friendly staff Sitting looking out of the window enjoying our beautifully fresh food was wonderful! Great place to relax, quite big place, roomy and easy to get in and out of! Prices were very good and portions considerable! Definitely worth...

Had a look online for somewhere close to caravan son had rented and saw here. Lovely service and very courteous The food was first class and couldn’t be faulted ..well worth a visit if in the area But either call to book or go early...