The Contented Vine in Scottish Borders

Don’t be put off by the unprepossessing frontage and entryway (the building was formerly a cinema). Inside is a large, characterful dining room with a bar at one end, which is given a delightful ambience by lit candles on every table. What’s more, the menu offers a tempting selection of dishes which - in our experience - are expertly prepared and presented and absolutely delicious! The service was prompt, friendly and professional and the prices very reasonable for the calibre of the dining experience. A lucky find for us on a Bank Holiday Monday evening when many other restaurants were closed. So good that we returned for more the following evening. Highly recommended!

Dined at The Contented Vine for the first time with my partner. Service and staff were excellent, very attentive. The environment was lovely, with just the right lighting and spaces between tables. The food was good. The sharing platter was excellent, a great choice of meats and cheeses. I ordered the Bolognese which was good but lacked sauce. The cheesecake was fairly tasteless, with a gelatine texture. However overall I would recommend a visit.

Had a meal here last night and would definitely recommend. The food was excellent. The service first class, and excellent value for money. Many thanks

Great food with efficient and friendly service definitely recommend. The sea bass special was so tasty and very nicely presented

Nice Italian restaurant in converted cinema. Food was lovely and great selection of wine.

Stayed in Kelso last night, looking for a decent restaurant to eat, we were recommended this restaurant by a small micro brewery bar in the square, the recommendation didn’t disappoint, great food, good service. Definitely recommend this one.

We booked a table for 3, prior to our visit saw there was disabled access ramp. On arrival we negotiated our elderly mother up the ramp and when entering saw a lift, we asked a member of staff to work it and she said it didn’t work. Not that it was out of order but it didn’t function. there were 3 steep steps down to the dining area which was impossible for our mother. Also, if a customer is in a wheelchair they would not be able to access the dining area either. The member of staff advised there was no other entrance. So, in short, we had to leave very disappointed. This restaurant needs to make it very clear on their website that they are not suitable for persons with a disability that means they cannot manage stairs.

Fabulous meal at this lovely restaurant for the weekend of Borders Art Fair. Delicious food and great staff. Thank you!

The most delicious dinner, great staff and wonderful atmosphere!

What a fabulous restaurant! Food, wine choices good, perfectly cooked and great attentive staff Absolutely recommended and we’ll be back!

Myself and my husband had an excellent meal, service was great everyone so welcoming , fantastic restaurant to eat, well definitely be back soon

What a perfect place to celebrate my 60th birthday. We loved every minute. The food was perfect in every way. Great staff , cracking atmosphere. Thank you

Me and my boyfriend had a fantastic meal here tonight, food was exceptional couldn't fault anything. We both had 3 courses and ate the lot. The staff are very friendly and welcoming and nothing was too much trouble. The place is lovely and very cosey. Will deffinetly be back.

Superb meal Great location Good company Very reasonable priced Would love to come back when we are up this way Toilets were very clean and tidy But not as good as the food

Thursday evening, it was very quiet ahead of a red weather warning, so understandable. But nonetheless, the three of us were made to feel very welcome by the excellent service. The quality of food was excellent too - shoulder of lamb, seafood pasta, chicken breast mains, nice bottle of wine. Definitely will be back & strongly recommended.

Lovely atmosphere, superb food and friendly and helpful staff. Will definitely come here again next time in Kelso. Really super restaurant and being a vegetarian lots of choice. Happy to make a dish minus the meat!

Outstanding meal when we visited your restaurant. Staff were great. If ever in Kelso and wanting great food and drink look no further than The Contented Vine, you won't be disappointed.

Food was ok, pricey. Great service from staff. Was quiet so not much atmospher

1st visit to The Contented Vine. We were impressed. The quality of the food and presentation were excellent. Good service and atmosphere in a friendly very well presented restaurant. Possibly Kelso's hidden gem. We will definitely return.

Fresh, delicious food. Lovely atmosphere and helpful staff. The whole place had a great vibe and I can’t recommend it enough. Our mains were all fantastic. Green pasta, carbonara and gammon. The portions were generous and so tasty.

We visited this restaurant as it’s the only restaurant in town.I should add we also ate at the cobbles, fire & salt (twice) , the Schloss & the waggon. The restaurant must have 60 covers & the tables are crammed in. Unfortunately for us we were seated in the middle with everyone pushing past us . The food was average , very 1990s . My venison main course whilst nicely cooked was such a small portion I could see more plate than food & was definitely hungry at the end. My lyonnaise potato was the smallest portion that could be cut without it collapsing. Plain boiled veg. The sticky toffee pudding was the same, looked very pretty but tiny. If you want to treat yourself & you’re in tbe area save your money & go the Schloss or eat in one of the pubs.

We ate here on our last night in Kelso. I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough. The food is outstanding, the service is first class, and the setting is beautiful. If you are looking to treat yourself to an excellent night out, you will not go wrong booking a table here.

The seafood platter here is off the scale - all about the quality and generosity of the food and the best langoustines I’ve ever had. You can also tell this place is run with care and as a happy team who were attentive and made every effort to enhance our evening. Highly recommended.

The staff were very welcoming and friendly. Service was good and food very tasty. Loved the atmosphere with low lighting, tables well spaced out. It's an interesting building too. First impressions matter and the entry hallway seemed a little forgotten and dusty. An easy fix. We enjoyed our time there and would return.

Enjoyed our meal. Well done to Johnny and team serving our food and drinks this evening.

Fantastic food and wine, great staff, varied menu. The puddings are fantastic! Highly recommended, booking essential.

Arrabiata was very spicy, but nice

Delicious food, attentive service and fine wines. Four hungry fisherman enjoyed it so much that we went twice this week. We could not recommend it enough, long may they continue.

First class! Delicious food, attentive service and fine wines. Four hungry fisherman enjoyed it so much that we went twice this week. We could not recommend it enough, long may they continue.

We came across this loveky restaurant while staying in Kelso we ate there 2 nights the food was amazing sraff were lovely would highly reccomend

I ordered steak which was supposedly 10oz. The steak was not 10oz and when my meal arrived it was obvious straight away that half the steak was gristle. When I complained to the waiters, who were very sympathetic and full of apologies, they sent for the manager, I said I would be happy with a reduction in the price of my meal but she totally refused this twice when asked. She said she would order another meal for me and it would take "5" minutes. When after 20 minutes my meal arrived by which time everyone else had finished their meals and I ate alone. This completely spoiled the evening for me, and to be honest could not understand the reasoning behind this. Some training required for management. Although the two young men waiters who served us were attentive and apologetic.

Steak was cooked to perfection. Great food and service

We had no idea about this restaurant, and from the outside it is very easy to be underwhelmed (they really should look at this), so we went in very unsure to have a look. We were greeted by very friendly and helpful team, and then we sat down for an outstanding dinner, starters and mains were excellent as was the wine. We didn’t have desserts but we have no doubt they would be to the same standard. This is a family run restaurant of 12 years, real attention to detail, crisp white table clothes, fresh white rose on every table, sparkling clean glassware, and as I said fresh, perfectly cooked and presented food. We were up from London visiting, and as you can tell from this review we think the Knox family are doing an excellent job

This is a great restaurant! Fabulous food, attentive service and a lovely atmosphere!! Well done Contented Vine - you have it spot on!!!

Absolutely the best meal we’ve had in a long time, service was five star. Couldn’t fault it and will definitely be back when I return in December with friends.

Friendly staff. Good food, reasonably priced. Desserts all homemade.

went for dinner on a Monday night Absolutely outstanding cuisine and service whether Italian or scottish food ordered Must be booked as very popular Venison dish superb and Gammon steak great

We had a lovely meal. The service was very good. Each course was spaced out nicely. A mix of Scottish crusine and Italian food.

Forth visit to this place , absolutely fabulous food and atmosphere.

This restaurant is truly wonderful, a great welcome, refined and tasty cuisine worthy of a gourmet restaurant. Incredible value for money. We had a wonderful evening with family. Thank you very much for the Whiskey tasting.... and for your kindness.

We discovered this gorgeous restaurant last year and fitted in 2 visits in a week. This year it was a pleasure to return, twice in one week again. The food is the best in Kelso, lots of choice, quality produce with great flavour combinations. Amarone della Valpolicella was delicious, good choice of lagers too. All staff were very helpful but both Rosie and Johnny were particularly friendly, efficient, polite and helpful. Looking forward to going back tomorrow

Wonderful restaurant, friendly and efficient staff, beautiful, well presented food, can't fault it, very highly recommended.

I absolutely loved this restaurant, which we discovered in Kelso when visiting for the weekend - delicious food, beautifully presented, and lovely ambience / setting - staff exceptional - a true gem - well done to all the team 😀

Really high quality food, great service!

This was a chance find, and very glad we found it. The staff very very friendly and attentive, and the food was excellent. we were there early in the evening but approx, I hour later, it was packed, (as we had to go back for a forgotten item), so it is obviously a popular place.

An amazing restaurant but don’t be put off by the exterior! The restaurant is beautiful! Staff amazing but even better is the food. Absolutely fantastic and pricing is very reasonable. This has to be the go to place to eat in Kelso!!

Had a meal here sat night (15th June)we were walk ins meal beautiful, service lovely and price reasonable for the quality can really recommend 👌

Lovely evening , very enjoyable.

Booked while on holiday in the area. Everything was first class: the food, the service, the atmosphere and the staff. Would highly recommend. Special shout out to Johnny who went above and beyond for us. Wish it was local and not 200 miles away!

We were looking for somewhere to have supper before the Talisk concert, saw this and a gentleman walked past behind us, recommending it. A great find, food excellent and good value - the two young people who waited on our table were great, the owner was engaging and overall it was a really nice experience. If we are in Kelso on an evening then this will be our 'go to' destination

We had a lovely dinner. Great sharing platter to start then beautifully cooked meat for main course. We were served by Jonny and Rosie who were fantastic, they were friendly and efficient and made our evening really enjoyable.

Had a lovely relaxed meal tonight, service was great and food was lovely!

Phoned up just after opening time to see if we had to book, we're told no they had availability that night. We were recommended the Contented Vine while visiting Kelso for 2nights, well worth the visit!!

What an amazing place to go to for a meal. The food was excellent and the service was excellent too

Excellent food, well served in good surroundings, great evening. Very friendly and welcoming.

Always very good food and superb staff.

Great food and very nice atmosphere

Great local restaurant lovely staff.

Nice atmosphere and good food. Friendly and efficient service.

A lovely place to eat. service was great and the food was amazing. will definitely be back!

Cant fault the food staff or price. A fantastic place with great atmosphere

Service always perfect. Food fabulous!

Disappointed with the main course which was described as Rack of Lamb, nothing like it, got two small pieces of lamb with very little meat on it, this needs to be changed on the menu and for £25 was not worth the money. Luckily the pudding made up for it.

Very good food, great service and very reasonably priced.

The food was really delicious. We had the duo of market fish which was really good, tender, fresh and tasty. My OH had the rack of lamb, which was two lamb chops... I think it should be at least three to constitute a rack, so he felt the portion could have been bigger. But it was delicious and he thoroughly enjoyed it. The service was a bit slow, we think they forgot our dessert order, but the staff were lovely and we weren't bothered at all. I had a chat about whiskies with the manager, and was recommended a dram from a local distillery as a digestiv. The only negatives for me were, the physical menus were tatty and dirty, they needed upgrading to do the food and wine justice. A laminator and better folders would make a world of difference! Secondly was the toilets, which were unisex, which I wouldn't mind if it wasn't so dated. The old tiles and decor made them feel dirty, (the urinals were smelly) they were really unpleasant considering the rest of the restaurant is so lovely, modern and clean. These two things would bring the whole experience up to a far more luxury standard.

An absolute gem. Would return to Kelso simply to eat here again. Always been quite cynical of online reviews but The Contented Vine deserves the recognition.

Just had a wonderful and lovely dinner with my friends, it was a great experience. Food was excellent, we loved every dish. The service was exceptional, staff was super friendly and helpful. Great wine selection, we enjoyed the Barbera quite a lot. I definitely recommend this place.

Don't be deceived by the outside, the menu was diverse and everything we had was delicious and good value. This would be our top recommendation for dinner in kelso. We had pasta, mixed starters, venison, deserts and wine, all great, a lovely evening. A waiter even went to the trouble to draw a map of the UK for one of our group from NZ/Cambodia.

Really excellent find. Great food and really friendly service. They fitted us in on one day and it was so good we came back the next day but we had to book as it was buzzing. Food better than much more expensive options in the wider area.

Amazing food and great ambiance! Most deliscious scallops. Their carbonara really deserves to be famous. Pana cotta, best we had yet!

Fab last minute find! Gorgeous food and great service , lovely family meal

Exquisite dishes, friendly engaging service and chilled stuff perfectly chilled. A fantastic family meal. Crème Brûlée of the Moment was divine. The whole meal was magnificent and memorable.

Most excellent and well prepared food

Excellent food and service we both had duo of fish and it was lovely , would recommend

Great place in Scotland to go to :-).

Great experience, food and service. Thanks 👍

Absolutely brilliant as always. A superb place for the family to share my 80th birthday. Thanks a million.

Wonderful meal after a long day

Warm and friendly welcome in a lovely setting. Food was excellent and they have a good selection of drinks, including Whisky. Priced reasonably. Thankyou

Ihana ruoka. Kamala meteli. Palvelu ok.

Lovely place, very nice, intimate dinning experience, mood lighting and very delicious food, enjoyed our visit and will definitely be back.

Really nice venue, once inside it is very cosy and we'll appointed. Ate here twice and had a great meal and good service. The only negative is the menu board and outside (some plants?) could and did put us off. But don't be put off a really nice restaurant with friendly staff.

Had a lovely meal the food was great. Well worth a visit

We booked on the day (a Sunday) and were able to eat at the time we wanted (7:30). Although not crowded, there were several diners - enough to feel comfortable. Service was satisfactorily rapid. We were hungry, and asked for bread and olives before our starter. This was served very quickly and included olive oil and sundried tomatoes. The waiters were very youthful but perfectly competent. The starters (scallops and goat's cheese) and mains (rare lamb) were extremely good, the latter properly pink yet tender. We were too full for a dessert, but the coffee was good. An excellent meal to celebrate 30 years of being married.

Had a wonderful meal, highly reccomend this place.

Excellent food in a relaxing and friendly atmosphere.

Gorgeous room. Nice chill atmosphere. I've given the food 4 stars because my lasagna was pretty bland. The starter and desert were great though. 4/5 would choccie mousse again

My partner and I have been here a few times and are always impressed by the standard of food, attention to detail and the lovely atmosphere of the Contented Vine. The servers are all very friendly and continually ask if everything is ok which is very welcome. If you want to experience top notch food in the Scottish Borders look no further this is the place to go.

Meal was top notch and presented beautifully, lovely atmosphere and friendly helpful staff. Highly recommend!! Can’t wait to go back :)

Excellent Mediterranean restaurant great range of food good wine list really enjoyed

Very pleasant ambiance, great food and friendly staff. I shall certainly return when I am next in the area.

Super night, great food and service, recommend you try it.

The staff were lovely and very efficient. The food was perfect, and the atmosphere was spot on. Will definitely be going back.

Poor service with average food. Much better places today go in Kelso

Very pleasant ambiance,atmosphere candidates food.

One of our favourite places to eat at. I wish it was a bit lighter inside , but the food and service are always top notch!

Fantastic restaurant. Great menu and superbly cooked. Staff were friendly and helpful. Only downside, was the background music. Too loud and not in keeping with a restaurant experience. It’s hard to enjoy a meal, when up can hardly hear your partner speaking and not very relaxing when the music is almost nightclub in style. Other than that, it hits the spot, so will definitely try again. Well done.

Absolutely fantastic meal, brilliant friendly staff, great service and the food was first class!!

What a fabulous night. Every course tasted and looked so fresh and the quality was everything we could have wished for. Worth every penny of our bill and would highly recommend.

Excellant service, choice of gins.