The Fifty Five Grill - Stirling

In many ways this should be a roaring success, packed out each weekend, as it ticks many of the boxes. The restaurant and bar are impressive, with significant investment clearly having been made by the owner. The food is skillfully prepared by a kitchen team...who care. The pricing is beyond reasonable, even cheap for the quality. And yet, the Achilles heel, the service slow and inattentive doesn’t begin to describe it. On arrival we had to wait several minutes to be shown to our table. Further delays followed to get our order taken and to order drinks and refills you’ll sell more courses and drinks if you look for your customers trying to order them instead of chatting among yourselves. The staff were very pleasant in all of their dealings but clearly in need of training and leadership from the management team. Sadly not an isolated case as this was the third and probably final time we’ve tried the place. A consistent outcome each time and yet so easy to resolve.

I had a frustrating experience at The Royal. Despite the restaurant being superior in my opinion compared to nearby restaurants, it was nearly empty when my wife and I dined there. The new waitress was kind and friendly, and we both enjoyed the beef dish, which was excellent. We also shared a delicious sweet. I frequent restaurants in the area often, and believe that The Royal has the potential to be at the top with good service, but it needs more customers to support it.

I was very disappointed with my experience at this restaurant. I tried to call ahead to modify my booking, but when I selected the reception option, I was mistakenly connected to the kitchen staff who were not able to assist. Upon arrival, I was informed that there was a wedding taking place and that the restaurant usually does not accept bookings, but we were offered the option to sit in the bar area, which we accepted as it had a better atmosphere. However, we were completely forgotten about when the entire wedding party came into the bar to switch rooms. It took a long time for our order to be taken, and there were delays in between courses. Despite asking for a dessert menu, we were ignored as the staff were busy cleaning up after the wedding party. Eventually, we had to ask for the bill ourselves, only to discover that we were overcharged for a bottle of wine instead of a glass. Overall, the service was lackluster and I would not recommend this restaurant. It was disappointing to feel like we were not given the same level of service as the wedding guests, and the online booking system should not be used when there are events like weddings taking place. It was not a pleasant dining experience.

We visited this restaurant this evening for drinks, but unfortunately the bar was brightly lit and lacked music, despite their website advertising a DJ on Friday and Saturday nights. The lack of atmosphere was noticeable, and it was clear that the bar staff were struggling with limited supplies and missing key ingredients. Their frustration was palpable, and combined with the lack of ambiance, we have no plans to return in the future.

Myself and my husband visited for dinner. We had some drinks, including cocktails for me. We both got the beer battered fish and it was amazing. The service was fast and very attentive. The staff were lovely. This was my first visit and I will...be back.