The best restaurants serving British food in Kelso and District Scottish Borders Lowlands

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!

We went here for dinner one evening as our original choice was booked up. We managed to get a table despite not having booked in advance. What can I say but the venue is your average town centre pub, (nothing special, but adequate). Unfortunately during our visit, the table next to us had two bickering children who were allowed to squabble the entire time we were there, (that's modern parenting for you). Food: we all had the fish and chips, which was okay but not particularly wonderful. In my humble opinion, the fish although quite large was under-cooked and the batter was very thin. The chips were very good, but just not enough of them and why was there salad on the dish? The plates were very small and it was difficult to eat our meals without losing some to the table and floor. Beer: Not the best choice, unless you like lager and IPA. Personally I prefer the darker beers and stouts which left me with a choice of one, a coffee flavoured dark ale that wasn't bad - where was the Guinness? I've never been in a pub that didn't sell Guinness. Staff: Apart from the guy who greeted us at door, who was a bit aloof, the others were superb! Would I return? No. Apart from not being from the area, it just didn't meet expectations despite it being second on the recommendations from our Landlord.

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.

Have had a home delivery from here twice now and been so tasty, not had any issues at all and really enjoyed every dish!

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.

Only stopped for lunch, food was ok and not unreasonable price wise. Service was friendly but a bit slow, not a place for a quick lunch. Can't talk about rooms, but the bar and restaurant area are a bit stuck in the 1970s - 1980s.

Good selection of beers. Tropicana beer on tap was really good.

We love The Plough, and were very happy to try the food from the new Chef. The choice of burgers is fantastic, and I highly recommend the Chilli one, so tasty. If you like good food, cold beer and a warm atmosphere, get yourself there!

Went in to have a quick drink after arriving and stayed for 5 hours. Such friendly staff and local clientele. Great atmosphere. We bumped in to friends from home and ended up having dinner there too. Food was amazing and very reasonable. Would highly recommend. Pity about the entitled customer who made a fool of himself shouting at the lovely staff.

Great pub with a good selection of beer and scotch. Very friendly staff. As it is at the end of the Pennine Way and is on Cuthberts Way, it is very friendly to walkers and outdoor types in general. The food is good solid pub food.

We make a special visit from Edinburgh to this Restaurant 5/6 times per year, the food is very good although expensive. I ordered and paid for Fish & Chips and Greek Salad with Keish ? for my Wife, with our drinks.£32.00 The young Man came to our Table to advise there was no Keish ? left. My Wife re-selected Greek Salad with Prawns & a portion of chips I was asked to go to the Counter with the Young Man to adjust the order and was asked to pay 95p difference between the cost of the Prawns against the cost of the Keish ? which I did The food was delivered to our table my Fish & Chips arriving first, my Wife advised that I start my meal while it was hot. My Wife's meal arrived and She was enjoying the Greek Salad but there was no Prawns. I was asked to go to the counter to pay for Prawns which had been omitted, I refused and my Wife had some of the salad, the meal was spoiled for her. No Prawns were offered. This spoiled our visit & our day out! She Managed to spend a further £35. in their shop. No more visits to this venue, complaint very badly handled.

With its dark wood furnishings, including a very large gantry, and most of the wall space covered in framed rugby strips, photos etc, the public bar in the Black Swan could almost be described as dark and old fashioned. It can also feel cramped at times as everyone tends to shun the other bar (and rightly so - ‘cos it’s horrible). The public bar is a place where you have a decent chance of meeting some wee, unintelligible drunk bloke (or two) in the corner, but it is also a place where it is easy to strike up conversation with locals at the bar. In many ways the Swan is like a pub from the past and is pretty unique in Kelso. Perhaps that’s why we always come in whenever we visit the town. It is an ordinary, no frills, traditional Scottish pub with good service and good lager and good banter. It suits us perfectly well.

We were here for afternoon tea, although the food was presented very well and tasted great, there were far too many cakes and not enough savoury foods, we asked for a box to take at least 9 cakes home, from the time we asked we had waited over 30 minutes, which spoiled the whole experience, when the boxes arrived they looked like plastic small Chinese takeaway boxes which the cakes didn't fit into and were all squashed, I asked for a bigger box but that was all they had! I did notice other people sitting across from us who waited ages to even be acknowledged, eventually the lady got up and went to reception to see why nobody had came to see them, not the best of service from such a beautiful hotel, although the food was lovely.

Used to get a gardeners breakfast so thought I'd try again. Absolutely shocked. Where the breakfast used to include hash browns, no longer included now. Where beans were in a superate little pot, about 2 teaspoons of beans oozing in lots of juice straight on the plate and soaked the toast. One miniature sausage, one bacon , one egg and toast for £5.50. Will never throw my money away on their food again. Their coffee is even more expensive than the high class hotels. AVOID