The Knowes Hotel And Restaurant in Aberdeenshire

Have dined here over many years and it has been so reliably good. Recently had dinner and when we arrived for our 5:30pm booking the place was already packed which is always a great sign. Decor is fabulous, staff are always friendly and efficient. The menu was so interesting it was tricky to choose. I'm pescetarian and went for the haddock kiev, never having seen that as an option before. Every item on my plate was perfection and I'd have licked it clean if socially acceptable. Then the creme brulee was just heavenly. Could not recommend highly enough 😋

A really good experience for dinner. Some slight issues with staff not finding drinks. All sorted fairly quickly and drinks were very good. Huge portions, I would have been happy with a kids portion. The Cullen skink risotto was excellent, as was the prawn cocktail. The main courses, pork and apple burger, beef three ways and pork dish were all very good. The Kentucky chicken burger was OK but not great, the crumb was bitter. Staff very polite and helpful.

Went tonight with a friend, was looking forward to a nice meal as I’ve been before. Bad from start to finish. Starters were just shocking, I ordered the chicken liver and smoked chicken terrine 🤣 obviously Don’t know what a terrine is, chucked on the plate with two minute slivers of cold limp toast, no decoration, put it back and got the same plate with half a tiny breakfast bun 🧐 was so hungry I ate it, my friend had the Cullen skink, what a joke, a bowl of tatties swimming in what looked like dish water, that was sent back, waitress came back and actually said “chef said he knew it wasn’t good but there is fresh now, would you like a new bowl” WTAF…….if he knew it was crap then he shouldn’t have sent it out. My friend took a replacement of prawn cocktail, tasteless….cheap frozen prawns (and the restaurant is in Macduff!! she ate it because she was hungry, we both told the waitress what we thought when she came back. Mains, I had chicken cordon bleu with linguine, chicken was dry as hell, linguine was cold and difficult to eat as it had been cut up! Chips were tasteless and cold, only good thing on the plate was the small pot of cauliflower cheese, my friend had the monkfish scampi, which was decent chunks but everything was just bland and tasteless! Each time the waitresses came (and we had 3 different ones) we told them what was wrong with the food and it was just edible. Final straw was being handed dessert menus, one of which was smeared with ketchup and the salt mill was too, shouted the waitress over and on telling her, they were snatched from my hands and I was given such a filthy look. Got up without even touching the second drinks we ordered, went to pay and was asked if everything was okay, we said no and was told we were given every opportunity to tell the waitresses but said nothing, WHAT A JOKE, I Couldn’t make it up. BAD FOOD, BAD SERVICE……Needless to say we won’t be returning.

Amazing We ate here tonight, worth every penny. The food was amazing the best we've had in a long time. So much so we are going back Friday. Lovely staff too.

Our daughter recommended The Knowes as she's eaten here a few times, being local. Friendly, prompt service, a huge menu with something for everyone from pub grub dishes like lasagne to fine dining. Even better, there was a separate menu for gluten-free diners rather than the 'we'll leave off the shortbread' approach taken by many restaurants. While tempted by most of the dishes on offer, I opted for the duck, medium rare as recommended (which is how I like it). It arrived perfectly cooked and each of the vegetables and the hasselback potatoes were also cooked just right. To my delight there was samphire too! Husband had lemon sole with a smoked haddock risotto which looked (and was) delicious. We opted out of starters to leave room for dessert and were glad we did. I chose the 'textures of raspberries' which was actually on the g/f menu but had apparently been on the main menu at times. It was both interesting and tasty and the locally-made ice cream was heavenly! Daughter chose the creme brulee which she said was lovely. The bill was very reasonable for the quality of the meal and we'll certainly return next time we're over on the East Coast.

We booked lunch at Knowes by email, i.e. via the internet after checking their menu online. Sadly the menu prices online were not what we were charged. Haddock was £4 more than we thought it would be. Even the CullenSkink, sorry potato soup was a pound more. Shame really, the haddock was good. I did draw the attention of management to this error yesterday but I find today that their online menu has not been changed. Surely this restaurant should get people in on quality and not misleading (dishonest?) online menu prices.

I'm just back from having a meal at the Knowes and I had a fantastic meal from the mocktail to the sticky toffee pudding. I had the chilli noodles which were delicious and unique for having on a veggie menu. Walking around the place to go to the toilet, the place was jam-packed with people. You know what they always say, if a place is busy, you know the food is good. As well as the staff being very good as well. Would I go again? Of course!!

This was our first visit having heard great things. Wasn’t disappointed, with superb service, amazing food and even better views out over the bay. Hopefully first of many visits - highly recommend and great value for many

We went for a family meal at the knowes on Tuesday, as usual the staff were very friendly and accommodating, the decor is beautiful and the place is spotless. We all had different things off the menu, I had the katsu curry & sticky toffee pudding, it was the best katsu I’ve ever tried & the sticky toffee was to die for. There was 7 of us at the meal and we were all very satisfied with our meals. I would highly recommend a visit. We had a 90 mile round trip for our meal and was more than worth it. This is the 7th or 8th time we’ve been for a meal and every time it’s been consistently fabulous. Great job folks!

Lovely hotel, rooms and nicely decorated with beautiful views over the harbour, ate in the restaurant 3 times, food was excellent service was fantastic, staff were super polite and friendly and happy to help, highly recommend☺️

We did not stay in the hotel but we ate dinner in the restaurant 4 times in one week. Mains included Duck, Venison pie, Cod Paella and some interesting burgers plus standards such as lasagne. Starters included Cullen Skink Risotto with Poached Egg. Dishes are attractively presented, and portions are generous. The restaurant is popular for celebrations. Ask for a window seat, and if you are lucky you'll enjoy a lovely sunset.