The best restaurants serving British food in Dee Dumfries & Galloway Lowlands

Messaged direct 20/08/2022 and Dragonfly replied they have ceased serving food recently. Accommodation is available as self catering or B&B and unaffected.

The restaurant was pretty average, the service a bit of a letdown. 3 of our 4 main nears arrived at the same time the 4th was another 5 minute wait. The same with our desserts, when 2 arrived, and again a 3 or 4 minute wait for the other 2. To top it off our teas and coffees arrived just as we had started our desserts. I had a nice curry, my wife's beef was tough.

As it’s a small popular place booking in advance is probably recommended. We were looking for a table on a Saturday night during the Spring Fling event in the region so left a message with the restaurant whilst traveling to Kirkcudbright. The owner returned the call and fortunately, thanks to a cancellation, was able to arrange our reservation for dinner the following night - a promising start. On the evening of our visit the bistro was busy however there was still a relaxed ambiance about the place. The sole waitress taking orders and attending to the tables was pleasant and seemed knowledgeable about the menu and the only other member of staff appeared to be the owner/chef. He popped out and chatted with us towards the end of service to allow the waitress to get home as a few diners like us were finishing off drinks and still to receive their desserts and settle their bills. He seemed sociable and relaxed and clearly hadn’t adopted the Gordon Ramsay approach to the restaurant business. Being a small place we were not surprised at the outset that the menu was limited to about half a dozen items per course including specials however it gave a decent choice in our view. We both ordered a “special” for starters - Tempura Battered Prawns (£7.95). As was the case throughout the evening, the dish was served up to the table in good time. Six king prawns each with a sweet chilli sauce with a salad garnish and balsamic. It was a tasty start. For mains my wife ordered the Seabass, served with king prawns, a white wine & tomato sauce and fresh vegetables (£21.00). I had Duck a L’Orange (£21.95) which was another item from the specials board. Neither of the mains dishes would be winning prizes for presentation however most importantly they both tasted good. The fish was nicely cooked and my wife enjoyed the other parts of the dish. The duck was also good albeit the chef was later surprised I’d left the fat on the plate. I queried if people normally ate the fat and he commented that they often do and that he rendered it to make it more appealing. Thankfully this was not an overly fatty duck breast in any case but I was quite happy to leave the small amount I did on the plate. For dessert my wife had Sticky Toffee Pudding with ice cream and I had a Citrus Tart served with a small selection of fresh berries and cream. The puddings were £6.50 each and both enjoyable. Overall we liked our experience at the bistro and with our three course meal for two costing just under £72 we thought it was reasonable value for money. We had added a bottle of NZ Yealands Sauvignon Blanc wine for £25 only just keeping the bill under £100. A walk to the harbour to watch the sunset as we headed back to our accommodation rounded off the evening well.

Delicious soup, sandwiches and freshly baked cakes. Cheerful staff who helped with choices and comfortable seating area for a family Thank you

Went yesterday with friends for the senior citizen lunch, £13 for three courses! Amazing value for the quality of lunch we had. So many choices for each course too. We ate in the conservatory looking out to the beautiful grounds on such a nice sunny day so that was a bonus too. Already making plans to return

We go here every month or so... to grab some of their lovely pastries... My dear wife goes in and spends 40 minutes selecting the delicious items. Delicious items that are well priced. It's a treat worth enjoying!

Food was so disappointing, we waited an hour for the starters, lettuce on the Asian salad was brown and wilting. On the mains chicken supreme ok but others gelatinous sauces.. so poor considering time we waited and hefty prices. No atmosphere-bright and bare. Reminiscent of Scotland in 1980s.

Friendly staff, scrumptious food and great value!! My husband had the Dirty chips with haggis and cheese melted on top and I had the goats cheese salad. Both were amazing and very filling. I only wish I had room for their cake too!! Gives me a reason to go back again though.

Is it ok for a hospitality business not to take any details from customers during this time I think this is very irresponsible and I do hope no one has the virus and just carries on passing it because this business does not care, not one member of staff had a mask on and members of the public could go behind the bar and serve customers if the staff where busy

Popped into here for a bite of lunch. First time in Kirkcudbright. Picked here as it had a lavatory and was quite desperate. Once inside, it was a lovely clean space with a friendly welcome from the staff. We chose the soup and scone; two choices, one of each flavour. After a few minutes we were presented with too substantial bowls of soup and half a huge scone each, as we’d only ordered one. Both soups were delicious and hearty; the scone was light and tasty. We couldn’t finish it all, so the staff carefully packed up the leftover soup for us, which we look forward to having for lunch tomorrow. Great find, great food.

Faulty Towers has nothing on this place..Nice setting ok food..very very expensive for the quality but would I go back ..no

Great food and service. We always try and visit once a month and never disappointed. Always good service and friendly team

We were given a one night stay voucher to the Cally Palace Hotel as a present, so we were quite impressed by the massive well kept grounds surrounding it in the countryside near Gatehouse Of Fleet. Quite an impressive building to view as one drives along the driveway to this imposing building. A building opens up to a rather sumptuous reception area as one enters through the large front doors, to be met by friendly well knowledged staff, and this feeling of sumptiousness continues as the corridors to the various parts of the hotel are walked. Our room (115) had a balcony and faced the rear, with a view over one of the golf holes and lovely very old trees, so the sun entered the room in the morning, although the heavy curtains disguised the fact that it was daylight outside. The room was spacious having lots of storage space for all a travellers needs, and had all that was needed to enjoy a stay at this hotel. The huge beds were very comfortable and we slept through the night - just like babes. Our room had been described as one that had been 'recently decorated' (how long ago?) however, being kind, it really needed some attention to the lighting, shower plumbing, bath panel, squeaking bathroom door, and to the decoration once more as it showed signs of wear and tear. Dinner, served in the Dining Room was very nice and the waiting staff were both friendly and well informed on the menu choices, and the choices to select from were broad and inviting, what we selected to eat also tasted very good - 'well done!' to the kitchen and serving team. We also enjoyed the gym, swimming pool and hot tub - excellent, felt so refreshed after using these facilities which were faultless. Breakfast was a good experience, with a vast array of well presented fresh fruits and foods for 'all tastes' available - eat till you drop buffet, and if required special food requestes are readily and happily catered for. Again, an army of well trained servers were on hand to support all patrons needs, Well done!. After breakfast we enjoyed a stroll in the grounds / golf course taking in the fresh air wafting from the nearby sea before finally checking out. All in all a very good overall experience, the minor 'issues' with our room may have been unique to that room only. Yes, we would return and enjoy the facilities of Cally Palace Hotel, the attentitive, friendly and knowledgeable staff and the beautifuk surroundings in a pristine corner of Scotland.

We recently had Sunday lunch in the evening in this establishment. We visit the area every year and were impressed by how this particular venue had been renovated to a high standard. Food was delicious but as ours was the last booking of the day we felt that the staff just wanted to get us out of there as quickly as possible!. Most of the staff were lovely as friendly (shout out to the two Asian staff, absolutely amazing) but one waitress in particular seemed very grumpy and unprofessional, not really explaining in any friendly detail why we had to get our drinks order in so quickly and then sighing when we tried to order drinks with our meal. For the price we paid, we expected a more professional service from all staff. The food however, was delicious. Good portions which were fresh and lovingly prepared. But maybe if there isn’t sufficient time to give guests an exceptional experience, maybe the last booking should be an acceptable time to accommodate the working hours of the staff.