At the bottom of the list of reviewed Angus restaurants on TripAdvisor, sits the Room With a View Restaurant at the Piperdam Leisure Resort.
With seven scathing reviews on the website, people are advised not to visit Room With A View.
But should the opinions of seven people really make or break a restaurant, which is rated 1.5/5 as a result?
I wanted to test out the offering to see for myself if the reviews are a fair assessment of the quality of the menu.
So, I headed along with a pal to taste the food.
Room With A View: the service and the food
There have been complaints about the resort itself, with guests complaining about a lack of running water at their lodges back in August 2023.
We didn’t have high expectations, therefore, when myself and my colleague, Poppy Watson made our way out of the city to the resort.
The countryside setting is beautiful and on the crisp winter day of our visit, the log cabin-style doorway looked warm and inviting from the outside, if a little dated.
We made our way to the restaurant and, having made a booking in advance, were directed to a table for two by the window.
There certainly is a gorgeous view from the Room With A View Restaurant, but once seated, our first interaction with the staff wasn’t particularly inviting.
We weren’t asked how our day was going or any of the usual polite chit chat. We were immediately asked if we knew which items were not available on the menu.
There were a total of eight items missing from the menu, including the Sunday Roast. Far from ideal if you have travelled there on a Sunday – like us – especially for that.
This wasn’t a great start.
However, our mocktails arrived promptly.
I enjoyed my Virgin Passion Fruit Martini (£5.34), which was tasty and well-presented. The flavour was the perfect combination of sweet and creamy.
While Poppy’s Raspberry Ripple mocktail (£5.25) had a nice tang, she found it watery.
After ordering our starters and mains, a server returned after a few minutes to tell us that an item we had ordered was also missing from the menu.
How were the starters at Piperdam’s restaurant?
Poppy’s Vegetable Tempura starter (£7) arrived well before mine, but despite this, her dish was lukewarm.
The veg (bell pepper, carrot and broccoli) had a nice thin batter which had a great crunch to it, and it wasn’t mushy on the inside.
When my starter arrived several minutes after Poppy’s, my face fell.
Do not order the Piperdam Prawn Cocktail (£8.05) on your visit to the resort.
The description on the menu stated there would be a Marie Rose sauce, but there was none in sight.
There was a watery layer of something at the bottom of the plate, but it seemed more like juice from defrosting prawns rather than the creamy sauce I was anticipating.
The small Atlantic prawns were chewy, and the few larger prawns did not have an appetising flavour to them.
This was very disappointing and I couldn’t eat more than a few bites. Perhaps the prawn cocktail should have been one of the items missing from the menu.
I wasn’t asked if everything was alright with the food despite the fact that I hadn’t eaten more than two bites.
NSFK – Not Suitable For Karens
Our main dishes were on the colder side too. I joked that certain “Karens” wouldn’t be pleased with the standard of food or service.
Poppy’s main dish, the Vegetable Risotto (£13), was also disappointing.
Though the menu stated there would be chargrilled veg, she was a little aggrieved to find out this only meant three pieces of broccoli.
The risotto itself was bland and sloppy for her, and she only managed three or four forkfuls.
The side of Millionaire Fries (£7) she ordered was huge. Not many people would be able to finish off the huge portion, even if sharing.
Though the truffle oil, Italian cheese and garlic mayo on the chips was tasty, we would have both preferred thin, crispy fries, not the thick, cold oven chips we were served.
However, much to our surprise, my main was a welcome success.
As they were out of Sirloin Steak, I ordered the Ribeye Steak (£23.25) with peppercorn sauce (£2.70).
The dish, while a little cold, tasted brilliant. I was pleasantly surprised after my unappetising starter.
There was great presentation, and the peppercorn sauce was perfectly creamy. The mushroom was cooked well and had lots of flavour to it.
Colour me impressed.
Sticky Toffee Pudding didn’t hit the spot
Though we were both pretty full at this point, we decided to share a dessert to find out if it would be another hit or another miss.
The Sticky Toffee Pudding (£6.95) was sadly another miss.
One of the best parts of this dessert usually is the contrast between the hot pudding and the cold cream or ice cream.
But sadly, the pudding wasn’t anything more than lukewarm. It arrived after a delay with the comment: “Sorry it took so long, I don’t know why.”
The ice cream was lovely, with a strong vanilla flavour, but unfortunately neither the ice cream or the pudding itself tasted homemade.
Poppy’s Americano coffee (£2.50) was perfect, though it took too long for us to get staff’s attention to order this. She eventually went up to the bar to place the order.
The verdict
There were ups and down to this visit. However, I don’t think it is the worst restaurant I have ever been to.
The staff were friendly, if a little forgetful and at times disinterested in us.
The venue is so gorgeous and in such a great location. It is a shame that the food doesn’t match that standard.
Information
Address: Fowlis, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, DD2 5LP.
T: 01382 585000
Price: £85 for two mocktails, two starters, two mains, one soft drink, one coffee and one dessert
Scores:
- Food: 2.5/5
- Service: 3/5
- Surroundings: 4/5
The restaurant did not respond to requests to get professional imagery taken, as is standard with our published reviews.
A spokesperson for the owner of Piperdam Leisure Resort, Away Resorts said:
“We’re sorry and disappointed to hear your dining experience was not satisfactory.
“Whist we’ve encountered some unexpected challenges, including staffing at our Room with a View Restaurant, we’re embracing the opportunity to make positive changes.
“A dynamic new General Manager has recently been appointed, bringing fresh perspectives and a future dedicated to elevating our customers dining experience.
“We remain committed to providing a great service and we thank customers for their continued support as we navigate through these adjustments.”
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