Arthur Street Kitchen (ASK)

After a long day shopping in the rain in Ayr we opted for ASK because it was close by, inexpensive, had good reviews and had an amazing Gluten free selection. Lovely, spotless, airy place, comfortable booth, friendly welcome and prompt drink service. Food took a while to come despite it being relatively quiet but this can often be a sign that the food will be freshly prepared and worth the wait. By the time the food arrived we were starving; it looked good, so we dug in. Unfortunately we had a few major and a couple of minor issues. The beef burger didn't arrive with the bacon as advertised. After one bite of the dry pattie, our son decided that It really did need the bacon to add some flavour and moisture. It took ages, several attempts & some hand waving to finally get someone's attention. The restaurant had gotten busier by this stage but a courtesy check a few minutes after the food is placed should be routine. Bacon was then offered and brought (not well rendered) on a side plate; offering to replace the now cool burger would have been better. GF Veggie burger was completely inedible and got sent back- more a potato cake in breadcrumb than a burger; a dry potato pattie containing almost raw veg, a pale crumb, very little seasoning, flavour and no condiment to add moisture to the GF roll. We didn't have time to wait for an alternative order at this point. Sweet potato fries were nice. Chicken Balmoral was ok but the chicken was dry and the GF haggis was unusual in flavour & texture- dry, almost crunchy and lacked that spicy depth of flavour you'd expect from haggis. Kids chicken tempura & chips was massive but the chicken was very dry, bland and the batter was pale and a bit doughy in places. The problems we raised, when we managed to attract the attention of staff, were remedied eventually, we weren't charged for the sketchy veggie burger & sincere apologies were offered by the lovely staff. We've had great dinners and experiences at the stage door cafe and the new place in Silverburn from the same group but the food and service just weren't up to scratch at ASK on this occasion and I'm not sure that we'd give it another try.

Lovely meal excellent gluten free options. Staff very friendly x