Latest favourites and wishlist by colinji

Peter Equi & Sons - review by nikim

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:20:40 +0000

Peter Equi & Sons - review by nikim

Rating: 3.8

Location: 9-11 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Tags: good value, british, family & home feel

My family and I were staying at the Hilton in Strathclyde in July 2008 and a man there in the leisure suite recommended this cafe/ice cream parlour to us. We went and thoroughly enjoyed it-from the fish and chips to the fantastic ice creams to the service it was all just perfect. We went back last week on a daytrip and the staff were making new ice creams for photos for their new menu and we got to eat them free! How fantastic is that! My husband and I shared a knickerbocker glory and the kids shared a banana split - then the kids got to take the ice creams away that they would have had on the kids menu! Absoultely brilliant place and well recommended by us. I am craving another one of their fantastic ice creams as I write this!

Peter Equi & Sons - review by Meringue

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:02:02 +0000

Peter Equi & Sons - review by Meringue

Rating: 3.8

Location: 9-11 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

I was introduced to this place by a friend when I signed up to attend Bell College. After visiting the place once and tasting their ice cream - I was in love. They have so many different flavours - I think Turkish Delight has got to be my personal favourite! I don't really rate the cafe / restaurant and found that the few times that I've sat in and eaten that the length of time to bring your food is long considering the type of food they serve i.e. fish and chips. The waitresses can also be quite rude. Get a take away ice cream on a nice hot day and you're in heaven!

Harveys - review by Roguephoenix

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:42:06 +0000

Harveys - review by Roguephoenix

Rating: 2.7

Location: 1 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Tags: live music, modern pub, different pub food, friendly, relaxed

This public House is located at the end of peacock cross, Burnbank in Hamilton. Formerly called Haverys but has since been taken over buy new management and is now called the Tap room.

The layout of the public house is rather small but with mordern decor, with plasma screens TV's and entertainment weekly it gives this small but friendly, public house, some character. The bar is well kept and the staff are all friendly. Whenever football is being aired on the TV the staff put on half time free food which usually consists of sandwiches and pies.

The service is extremely good; with serving the obvious alcoholic beverages they also make cocktails from scratch right in front of you. It is almost like a scene from the movie Cocktail. They also sell hot food in a separate part of the bar; the food is not just your typical pub food but also caters for different tastes. The waiters and waitresses are all extremely helpful and the food is delicious.

Overall the Tap room is extremely friendly and has a great atmosphere, with entertainment as well as live music which appeals to different age group. The Tap room can get rather crowded due to the fact of the lack of space but don't let this put you off.

Peter Equi & Sons - review by sinky1965

Fri, 23 May 2008 17:42:46 +0000

Peter Equi & Sons - review by sinky1965

Rating: 3.8

Location: 9-11 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Equi's make,s without a doubt, THE best ice cream. Simple as that. However, a while back I took my kids out to Equi's for a sit-in ice cream treat. There were plenty of empty tables.... I'd estimate the place wasn't even half full. We had a look at the ice cream menu and my kids excitedly pointed out what they wanted. The waitress came over to ask what we wanted, then snapped "We don't sell ice cream on a Saturday evening. The seated area is for meals only." okaaaaay, but the pace was only half full, and there were no signs alerting customers to the "meals only" rule..... what would have been the problem with serving 3 ice cream sundaes? I emailed the place and got the reply that the cafe (it isn't a restaurant) only serves meals on a Saturday. No apology about the kids being disappointed.

So they have lost my family's custom.

Great ice cream. Passable fish n chips.

Wouldn't go near the place again though. Glorified chippy with seats. Obnoxious, curt staffand ZERO customer care in my opinion.

Dunkeld House Hotel - review by macmadd

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:07:16 +0000

Dunkeld House Hotel - review by macmadd

Rating: 3.0

Location: Dunkeld, PH8 0HX, Dunkeld, United Kingdom

Phone: 01350 727771

Website: http://www.hilton.co.uk/dunkeld

I booked and received Hilton confirmation on July 3rd for the night of August 16th. Not only they had the nerve to debit my credit card the total amount of the stay on July 4th (1 and a half month before my stay) but when we arrived the room was not available due to an overbooking from the hotel.
They had all the time to inform me about this inconvenience, thus allowing us to choose another hotel.
On the contrary, at our arrival, an arrogant duty manager offered as compensation a bottle of
wine (!) and accommodation in a lower class hotel in Dunkeld village, granting us with the so-called suite. The hotel was old, quite shabby, with vintage spider nets on the windows of the room, which was bad smelling due probably to no occupancy in months. It was on the main road of the village so the noise of the traffic was loud and annoying. To top it all we waited for half an hour in respect of the agreed pick-up time for the driver from the Hilton to be taken for dinner, actually no-one had told him that he was supposed to fetch us and we had to call him. We had chosen Dunkeld Hilton for its class, peace and beautiful location and we have been obliged to sleep in a lousy village hotel.
To finish this long story, I received a few days ago an e-mail from Hilton thanking me for staying in their hotel!

Dunkeld House Hotel - review by colinji

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:17:03 +0000

Dunkeld House Hotel - review by colinji

Rating: 3.0

Location: Dunkeld, PH8 0HX, Dunkeld, United Kingdom

Phone: 01350 727771

Website: http://www.hilton.co.uk/dunkeld

Tags: massage

Dunkeld
If your ever in the Perth area and you want to spend a wee bit extra cash on a nice place to stay, this is the place. This is a superb hotel set in beautiful grounds with the Tay perhaps 100 meters from the hotel.
The fishing is good but even if it's a bit slow you can get service right down to the water. Fill yer boots! If your like me, you may take it a bit far and have one too many and fill yer waders as well.
If you like golf, there's a wee 9 hole course a couple of miles away.
There's a pool, sauna, steam room, massage, archery, shooting, quads and a tremendously well stocked bar. I even enjoy the walks there, which makes the excellent food all the better.
My wife and I got married in Dunkeld Cathedral, which is set at the entrance to the estate. Perhaps because of this I'm a wee bit bias.
The only downside is that it's no longer Stakis and is now a Hilton. This in itself shouldn't have caused problems, it's just made it a bit more expensive and the booking service cannot be called anything other than crap. I've cancelled plans to visit twice because I had to book through an international call service that didn't seem able to book the rooms I wanted at the time I wanted. Terrible service, hopefully they've scrapped it by now. Phone the hotel direct and hope they don't redirect you to the service.
If you want to spend a wee bit more, try the Duke & Duchess suites& things that make you go mmmmm!

Thainstone House Hotel - review by colinji

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:06:14 +0000

Thainstone House Hotel - review by colinji

Rating: 4.0

Location: Inverurie Road, AB51 5NT, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Phone: 01467 621643

Website: http://www.swallow-hotels.com/hotels/thainstone-house

Tags: posh, mature, international, family & home feel, massage, business, vegetarian

Nice looking old country house set in large grounds, about 10mins north of Aberdeen Airport.
The company I work for hold workshops here sometimes. Some of the rooms are superb but other are barely adequate, just be sure which one you get before going. Rates are slightly above average for the area but they do a lot of discounted stays. The food is really good, especially the breakfasts. The bar is a comfortable place for a few beers but quiet. The have a sauna, solarium, Jacuzzi, Turkish steam bath, pool, loads of places to cycle & a golf course nearby if that's your thing.
All in all I can think of a lot worse places to spend company time.
Recommended!

The Eagle Inn - review by colinji

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:57:35 +0000

The Eagle Inn - review by colinji

Rating: 2.5

Location: 180 Bellshill Road, ML1 3SG, Motherwell, United Kingdom

Tags: pool, traditional pub

The Eagle Inn
What a place! Not only is it next to the train shunting yard and Motherwell Bridge yard it's also right next to an estate called Forgewood.
Apparently when Forgewood was built, it really was the place to get a council flat, large rooms and large communal grassed play areas for the kids. Somehow over the years this changed from a nice place to live to a dumping ground for undesirables. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are a lot of nice people still there, it's just that the others overshadow them. I know how bad it is there I owned a flat there for about 10 years. Fortunately I've always work away so I've really only spent about a year there in total over the years. This is an area that you don't need a TV, just pull up a chair, open the curtains and there you have something like a scene out a mafia movie with boxes of goods being magicked away.
Anyway, so this is where a lot of the clientele come from. To be fair to the bar, the beer was good and the crack was fantastic, stories you wouldn't believe but were hysterical all the same and there was never any trouble. So if you're in the area, have a pint. It is one of those pubs that was originally a pub, it just has a real feel of being a man's pub'. It even still has the trough around the bar.
I was in by myself one day and I began to listen in a conversation 2 window cleaners, who were the worse for wear, were having. One was telling the other a story but laughing all the way through, an infectious laugh that had me going in no time. Whilst trying to wash the pigeon sh*t off one window he realised something was wrong, the sh*t was on the inside. The tenants had turned one of their rooms into a do dookit (pigeon loft).
Honest, it was funny at the time.
Salt of the earth! At the right time, a great bar for stories.

Peter Equi & Sons - review by colinji

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:12:20 +0000

Peter Equi & Sons - review by colinji

Rating: 3.8

Location: 9-11 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Tags: top food

Peter Equi's is or was just an ice cream parlour but is now a fish & chip shop that sells ice cream. I'm not a fan of fish and chips but the ice cream is excellent. There are loads of different flavours and I've tried them all! Could have something to do with my weight problem&
Apparently during the 2nd World War, Mr Equi would buy ingredients from the locals through their ration books to produce his ice cream. Mr Equi would constantly be fined by the authorities but such was the demand, the fine costs were negated.
If your passing, pop in and have some, even if it's raining and it will be because it's always raining at the Peacock Cross, the wettest place outside Dumbartonshire.
Enjoy, I do.

Harveys - review by colinji

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:51:06 +0000

Harveys - review by colinji

Rating: 2.7

Location: 1 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Tags: standard pub food

Haven't been in here recently but Layclerk is right, a truly scary bar with 2 other scary bars within 100 meters in either directions. The Silver Tassie is one but it occasionally has bands that do tend to be entertaining.
My sister had a flat about 300 yards along the road from here, in the old Purdy building. The picture sums the Peacock Cross up just right, grubby, dreach & drap. It always seemed to be raining when I went to visit and all to frequently we'd all go for a pint in the Peacock Bar then to become Harveys. Quite a colourful collection of people who thankfully left me along because they new my brother-in-law, to be fair it wasn't that bad.
Drinking in here probably inspired David Livingstone to wander the world! However there always seemed to be a new species in the corner, next to the bandit with a vodka & Iron Brew clutched in claw.
About 30 yards down the road is Equi's, possibly the best ice cream in Scotland. Pass the pub and go for an ice cream.

The Brandon Works - review by colinji

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:10:22 +0000

The Brandon Works - review by colinji

Rating: 2.5

Location: 41-61 Merry St, ML1 1JJ, Motherwell, United Kingdom

Tags: underground

Haven't been in for a while and only really went in because it's across the road from my wife's work. My wife works for the Social Work department (alarm bell should be ringing).
Yes the carpets are sticky but the Fosters draft is fresh & cold. They have had Spitfire on occasions, great if you like a pint you can chew but it does knock you senseless.
It's actually not a bad place but during the day and early evening it is full of Social Work clients & staff. 2 social groups I'd rather stay clear of, my wife excluded.
Just incase she's reading.
Has she a membership here?
Am I already in trouble?!?
So if your passing and you fancy a pint you could do worse.
The 'To Let' sign is gone as that floor is now full of Social workers, who says they are all mad as hatters!

Aitchies Ale House - review by colinji

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:15:26 +0000

Aitchies Ale House - review by colinji

Rating: 4.0

Location: 10 Trinity Street, AB11 5LY, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Phone: 01224 575972

Tags: traditional pub

A wee cosy pub near the train station, full of punters that after a full trip of graft want a fine pint or 7 before buying a few tins for the train.
Excellent staff who wear white pinnies as a uniform that does the place proud. Very clean and possibly the best pint I've had anywhere.
Come the trips between Christmas & New Year, the owner always makes a point of coming over to wish the boys well and offer a free dram.

Costas - review by colinji

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:01:31 +0000

Costas - review by colinji

Rating: 4.0

Location: 17 Campbell Street, ML3 6AS, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Tags: lively, greek, expensive

Great food! What more needs said.
2 things have changed recently here that has changed my opinion from 5 to 4 stars.
The happiest waiter I have ever encountered, has apparently ditched his wife & kids and run off with another woman back to Greece.
The 2nd, and this'll seem trivial to most people but every time I've been in lately they've had no buttered asparagus! Not normally a big fan but on top of the beef mignons, fantastic.
Not the cheapest place to eat but well worth the money.

Electric Bar - review by colinji

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:06:56 +0000

Electric Bar - review by colinji

Rating: 3.5

Location: 291 Airbles Road, ML1 3AW, Motherwell, United Kingdom

Phone: 01698 268393

Tags: live music, beer garden (in progress), sport pub, pool

The Electric is the closest pub to my home so it has become my local.
Still a bit of a man's pub & a bit of a clubhouse for ex Dalziel pupils.
The crack is good but not for the thin skinned. There's a real cross section of people drink here, which is probably why the banter is so good. There are MD's to forklift drivers, from the eloquent to possible tourette sufferers (or is it us that suffer?), sorry Boab.
The pub was a bit run down and quiet when I first went there but Stuart & his brother have splashed some of the profits and the place is now a lot fresher. The pub is getting busy and there's more ladies coming in now (that's excluding the fanny at the end of the bar). This can't be a bad thing. Stuart has set up bands & DJ's etc, this hasn't always been successful but that is probably due to the local rag getting the dates wrong.
All in all the chat is lively and the beer is good, what more do you want in a pub. The only downside for me is that's there's too much football (not my thing) but there's usually a wee game of poker to be had.
Give it a visit I think you'll enjoy it, if you do you owe me a pint!

Harveys - review by Layclerk

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:42:13 +0000

Harveys - review by Layclerk

Rating: 2.7

Location: 1 Burnbank Road, ML3 9AA, Hamilton, United Kingdom

Tags: scary

Standing at Peacock Cross and formerly known as the Peacock Bar, this certainly used to be a scary place on the very few occasions when I ventured inside, usually to meet a colleague from work who sometimes drank there.

Of historical interest is that the cottage where the explorer David Livingstone was born is about 100 metres along the road from here, so presumably this was his local when he wasn't off finding Africa and stuff!