The best restaurants in Kelso and District Scottish Borders Lowlands

Becattelli's sells artisanal gelato to die for. Wonderful ice cream made with local ingredients, full of flavour and none of the nasty ultra processed fillers. Friendly and accomodating staff and delicious flavours to try. We love the 3 Hills Espresso Coffee flavour and Pistachio in particular, but you really cn't go wrong. I highly recommend this to anyone in Kelso or visiting.

I would highly recommend this cafe. The staff are very welcoming and friendly....the food is delicious! Freshly made pizzas, fish n chips, kebabs, pastas, burgers...spoilt for choice.

Happy New Year Miss Coulter ! J.

We have been about 4/5 times now with family and friends and i cant rate this place highly enough. The food is 10/10 taste, as described and better, it’s also been consistent to a high standard every time which i find is a hard one to keep up but they do. The price point is fantastic also i mean the average meal is 10/12£ WOW for the high standard of food its crazy. The service is friendly and relaxed and so chill with no rush to leave either. I also love that busy or quiet the food comes very quick!!! One last thing the cocktails are lethal.

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.

A really top notch hotel for the traveller who likes peace and quiet. The rooms are spacious and the beds extremely comfortable. The hosts were very welcoming and the facilities were really good.

Food was not great, and the dining room and cutlery was dirty

We had a lovely lunch in this small café. The chowder was delicious and the staff were friendly and efficient. They prefer payment by cash if possible. (They have a toilet for customer use, but it is at the back which is up a few steps.)

This cafe is now under new ownership and is called THE KNOWES. It is open from 9:30 until 4 (3 on a Sunday). It has been under new ownership since February this year and has had a lick of paint and a fresh menu - albeit broadly similar to the old one. Having visited the cafe several times on visits to Kelso over the last few years, it remains my favourite venue to get a hot drink and a simple meal. The premises are kept very clean and presentable.

Ordered a chicken vindaloo. The chicken was dry, tasteless and hard like it had been precooked 2 weeks in advance, The vindaloo sauce had a very strong taste of cloves which ruined it. And the onion bhajis were rock hard, as though pre made and warmed up for too long in an oven. Apart from that it was a great meal I.e. the pappadums were freshly made.

We had earmarked this place for breakfast one morning and rushed to get down before they stopped serving brekkie at 11:30. We arrived just after but they managed to accommodate us. As I ordered a full Scottish for my husband, I was absolutely delighted to see a gluten-free breakfast listed on the menu. Even the sausage was GF! Other coeliacs might understand that a GF snag is often a bonus when looking for a full fried breakfast. The breakfast arrived with orange juice and a pot of tea as well. Mine was absolutely brilliant. The added addition of haggis (which was not listed on the menu) was a treat since it’s rare to find gluten-free haggis anywhere. Tea was piping hot, the service was impeccable and overall we really enjoyed our visit. Lots of locals with the dogs popping in while we were there and it was nice to see lots frequenting the café. We thought it might be difficult to find somewhere open on a Monday, and indeed some other places were shut, but we were delighted to find Caroline’s was open. Very clean toilets as well.

I officially declare this the best cafe in the land! I spent 100 days walking the length of Britain and Cafe U was the best I visited! I was craving a salad and fresh food and was blown away by this strawberry and nut salad....I would walk back to Kelso for another one of those! Everything was so beautifully presented, delicious and fresh. Loved the unusual menu options too. Also, as I was eating alone, I couldn't help but hearing what was going on behind the counter as the owners and staff interacted with each other...the way they supported each other and spoke to each other and their young team members was really lovely to hear, especially as they were very busy at the time. Massive kudos to the Cafe U team - you have something very special there. Thanks for fueling me on my way. So glad I stopped by

We were directed here by the Hotel next door who were not serving food till 5pm. We walked into this very old interesting church to be met by some very friendly locals who made us very welcome. The building is being renovated so don't expect to find a fully functioning café, They offered us a meal deal of soup and a roll, a slice of cake and a coffee for £5 it was all served very nicely by the locals. If your passing give it a try to support their work. The soup and cake was delicious and a bargain at £5.

I was there on Sunday and a lovely meal at lunchtime so when I got treated back again I was happy to go. I was so disappointed the puff pastry steak pie was over cooked meat almost black and stuck to the leather like certainly not puff . The variety on the menu was poor if you didn’t like peas you had no vegetables the chips were below average. The value of meal was extremely expensive due to poor quality of meal,won’t be back.

What a lovely café, everyone was so sweet and friendly, and the cakes were tasty.