Ok, so in all honesty I just joined Ciao to make a little pocket money....and it seems theres a who...
Ok, so in all honesty I just joined Ciao to make a little pocket money....and it seems theres a whole little world here that i never knew about!! Wow!!!
Member since:01.09.2008
Reviews:9
The Doll' House Restaurant in St Andrews is a very popular restaurant among tourists, locals, students, and St Andrews very cosmopolitan transient community.
It is owned by Simon Littlejohn (of Littlejohn's restaurants) and Alex Knight, who I think have owned it for about 13 years together. The Doll's House Restaurant is the flagship restaurant of the group 'House Restaurants' - which also include - The Grill House (St Andrews), The Glasshouse (St Andrews) and The Riverhouse (Stirling). All of these restaurants have their own style, ambience, and each focuses on a particular genre of food.
The Doll's House is a bistro style restaurant which claims it focuses on Scottish cuisine with a French twist - which I think in the majority is true - but their Hungarian Goulash, and the Cantonese monkfish stirfry which I saw on the menu fills neither French nor Scottish category!! I think perhaps the restaurant has developed further since their promotional blurb was written - now being a more fusion food sort of restaurant, rather than the food being influenced by 'the auld allience'! The Doll's House claims to support local business by using 'fresh local produce' wherever and whenever it can - and I have to back them up here by saying that almost on a daily basis I see the local fruit and veg van delivering produce there.
This restaurant has a lovely warming ambience, and looks fantastic - with dusty old shelves full of books, and bric a
brac, and lots of old fashioned kids toys - but alas no actual Doll's House!! They have great music playing in the background -just enough to give the restaurant a comforting level of noise, so that conversations remain private. The downstairs area seats around 40 I would guess, and the upstairs around 50. I think some of the tables are a bit close together though, and restrict privacy. Table one and table four are the best in the restaurant I think. It's very relaxing later in the evening here, but if you go to get the early evening menu - you will be given a time to leave the restaurant, so they can re-use the tables. This is usually about an hour and a half and I find this a bit restrictive. The staff generally give you a warm reception, but on occasion we have been left standing at the door for some time before anyone attends to us - the staff sometimes seem to be blind to the customer! The majority of service is good here, with cheerful staff who do their best to help, but i think it's the management that seems a little unflexible - unwilling to bend on table vacation times - or letting you eat 'off menu' - eg asking for the chicken,but with the sauce from the steak. Drinks seem to take an awful long time too.
The menus are very varied and change on a weekly basis I believe. There are three menus available - the lunch menu, the early evening menu, and the dinner a la carte menu. Lunch is served 12 - 3pm, early eveining menu is served 5 - 7pm and the dinner menu is served alongside this from 5 - 10pm.
Lunch costs £6.95 for two courses - starter and main course (dessert is not one of the options included in the 2 course meal). Starters include things like soup of the day, compound salad of chicken, pineapple and cashew nut, with lime mayonaise, chicken terrine with asparagus and pink peppercorns etc. The main courses include things like mushroom stroganoff with fragrant rice, chicken supreme in a leek, ham and apple broth and rump steak with barbeque and bacon sauce. There are about six starters and six mains to chose from - more expensive produce such as steaks have a supplement of about £2.95 on them, which then takes your menu to just under a tenner. There are desserts available, but cost around £3.50 extra - they had some delicious old fashioned choices such as syrup sponge pudding, and apple crumple and custard - but I suspect not all of these were homemade.
Early evening menu pretty much just serves the same as the lunch menu, with a couple more choices and no supplements. It costs £12.95 for two courses - again starter and main only - you can't substitute a starter for a dessert. This also includes a drink - a glass of house wine - a bottle of lager or a soft drink. This menu is advertised as 5 - 7pm, but really it's 5 - 6.30pm, as they wont allow you to make a reservation for the early evening meal after half six, as you have to have actually ordered by 7pm.
The dinner a la carte menu is served from 5 - 10pm. It has a large selection of food, including some of the options from the early evening menu, plus a large choice of other meals. Starters such as black pudding with a poached egg and a hollandaise sauce, or smoked salmon and prawn roulade is served here - the menu really steps up a gear. The main courses have things such as grilled seabass layered with smoked salmon and parma ham in a mustard cream, or chicken stuffed with stilton in a port sauce. It's delicious!! There is also a nightly 'specials' board, which had around 6 starters and about 8 mains on it - and they really lived up to the title of special! A La Carte starters cost between £4 and £8, and mains cost between £8 and £22. The general cost of a main lies around £14. This menu is quite expensive I feel, but you do have the option of eating earlier for something a bit cheaper.
All the food in this restaurant is served with 'family' style veg and potatoes - a bowl for everyone to share. This is one of the Doll's House's failings. The portion is very small, and never seems to be enough to go round. If you ask for more veg, I felt our waitress was a bit cross with us, and it took ages to come. At lunch, it's usually boiled potatoes (a bit dull), with two kinds of veg, such as braised red cabbage and carrots. In the evening, you get fancier potatoes - such as dauphinoise, and three kinds of veg. The chefs here cook vegetables as they are meant to be cooked - al dente, but I have to confess, I like them a bit squishier than that!!
There is also a childrens menu available, which suits this family friendly restaurant. It has food such as poached salmon and potatoes, homemade burgers, fishcakes, chicken goujons, steak etc. Nice simple food, which appeals to a broad range of kids. This menu gets a free colouring in pack and a free soft drink.
Overall I like this restaurant, and go there because I enjoy the lunchtime and early evening cheapo menu. I think it offers great choice, and it's different to anything else in town, as it has such a mixed clientele. The food tastes great and is so beautifully presented - so you always feel 'wowed' by your food, no matter what you have ordered. It also serves a selection of vegetarian dishes - and if you phone in advance, the chef will make sure there is something to accommodate an unusual or particular diet. I also like that it's so child friendly - it even has a toy box and books etc for kids to play with, which is a great idea. The downfalls are the uninspired veg plate, the inflexible,(and sometimes a bit rude) managers, and I feel it looks a bit tired and grubby sometimes - but saying that, I think that's just part of the look, rather than a hygeine issue. The loos are a bit unpleasant too - although they are clean, I could only describe them as a bit scabby!! I do think though that this restaurant will always be a mainstay in St Andrews, and the fact that it is always so packed, only speaks for itself.
The Doll's House Restaurant 3 Church Square St Andrews Fife 01334 477422
Pictures of Dolls House Restaurant (St Andrews)
Outside the restaurant, on the terrace, looking onto Church Square
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Advantages: We went to the Grill House instead were the staff are excellent. Disadvantages: My mother has difficulty walking and we had to walk elsewhere.
Advantages: We went to the Grill House instead were the staff are excellent. Disadvantages: My mother has difficulty walking and we had to walk elsewhere.
Dec 14th, 2008
exceptional by (4%):
very helpful by (96%):
