Duck Bay Hotel & Restaurant

I had such high hopes for Duck Bay Marina but, ended up leaving completely underwhelmed after my recent girls lunch there…
I’ll start with the positives though, the setting, it’s a short drive out of Balloch and sits right on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. The views are stunning there’s no denying and it has plenty of outdoor seating which is great!
Then there’s the menu… it’s huge… which is good as you know you’ll not be stuck for choice, however, I often find this a bad thing as too much choice usually results in below average food as the chefs struggle to cope with the variety on offer.
In the end I opted for the mac cheese, a classic, you can’t go wrong with that, right? Wrong! Yes it was a decent size portion and served with garlic bread but under the vaguely crispy top was a very liquid sauce which without the garlic bread to mop it up, I would’ve needed a spoon for. The pasta was also slightly over for my liking but appreciate everyone is different on that one.
After a short break we decided to have a sundae each, my sweet tooth taking over I had the tablet variety! It arrived with umbrella (urgh), wafer (double urgh, they’re so tasteless I never see the point in them) and doily (a recurring theme throughout the meal — doily’s may have been a thing in the 90’s but their only purpose in life now should be to make paper snowflakes, not to line plates…). I counted 4 squares of tablet, 2 scoops of ice cream and a dod of almost butter-​like cream with some toffee sauce and was charged £6.95! £4.95 maybe, but £7?! Daylight robbery!
Meal aside, staff were all pleasant, but never the same waiter twice, and it was constantly stowed; sadly I think that was more down to location than quality of food on offer. I think there is plenty potential but needs dragging into the 21^st century first…

This isn’t a review on the food as i haven’t eaten here in a very long time and quite frankly I forgot what I even had (obviously not memorable)
However I’m reviewing the service and the tea I ordered
Walked in and went to the bar while a young lad stood around looking awkward and ignoring me for a while, I finally got him to move and serve me, ordered a tea to sit outside with and was given some uht milk pots … Charged £2.50 and I wanted to pay by card, he started talking to another team member and I stood with the machine in my hand across the bar waiting on him taking it, I even said here you go twice at which I was ignored for his chat
Then I «make my own» tea (£2.50 remember) and the uht had horrible little white bits floating in it
I sat and admired the view which I admit is the reason I stopped here
Will I use the hotel again for food or drink on a stop
Nah I don’t think I will

The view here is lovely, admittedly I didn’t take a photo due to the miserable raining weather. There is something about water that is beyond relaxing to just watch and admire the loch.
The food here is functional pub food. My mum and I shared tempura prawns and vegetables. Which were lovely but a huge portion!
I had the fish pie which was lovely and warm, again a massive portion. The carrots and peas were a bit cold on the side but there was enough chunks of fish in the pie to keep me happy and full!
A fairly busy place, but bookings are not taken. So can be potluck with being close to a window.

The food was okay. But no ducks at duck bay. Disappointing.

Avoid this place.
Came here for a wedding. The scenery is gorgeous and the wedding reception was nice. However, the hotel staff is not what you’d expect.
I’m a value buyer, £135 for a small room, maybe ok. And room was clean. But why only two stars?
General thing: no Wifi even it is advertised. I need that for work, yes even weekends.
The last snafu was when we were checking out. They don’t have credit card machines on all bars, you sign the bill. They tried to charge me £100 on a night I didn’t even visit the restaurant. Everybody makes mistakes, so I explained that I hadn’t been there. And the woman at reception didn’t believe me! Art that point I lost my cool and wanted to see the manager.
The bill was corrected, naturally.
If to have a good experience stay somewhere else.

Many years ago, my husband spent a night at the Duck Bay Hotel and had fond memories. Although we ended up staying at a local B&B, we decided to head to Duck Bay for dinner in their restaurant.
We arrived mid-​week and we were the only people in the dining room for half of our meal. We arrived early and there were a few other patrons that showed up when we were leaving around six.
The view is beautiful. We were seated by a giant glass window with views of the loch.
I ordered the Fisherman’s Pie which was creamy and decadent. My husband had a Caesar Salad with salmon. We both had a glass of wine and very much enjoyed our meals.
The service was friendly and fast.
This is a very lovely restaurant and if I ever travel to the area again, I would very likely return for dinner.
If you eat here, make sure to take a little walk on the marina. There are some cute sculptures on the small dock!

I had lunch at the Duck Bay restaurant last weekend. It was a lovely setting, and the service was good. However, the food was bland, and calling it mediocre seems almost too kind. We were hungry and opted for entrees rather than burgers. It was a horrible mistake. My veggie lasagne had (previously) frozen vegetables, a few soggy noodles and a bit of ketchup-​like tomato sauce. There was orange cheddar melted over the top. Missing: ricotta, herbs, mozzarella, and any evidence of italian influence other than the name. I could have made a much better vegetarian lasagne myself. The chef is welcome to call me, and I’ll tell him how to do it. Italian-​style food isn’t rocket science, and I didn’t think I was taking a risk ordering it. Alas, I was wrong.
We split a tempura stack for an appetiser. It wasn’t as bad as my entrée, but the vegetables were tiny slivers covered with massive amounts of batter. I couldn’t even taste them. I don’t usually post bad reviews, but… well, the burgers looked better than what we had, so if you go to this place, don’t try ordering anything serious.

We arrived and had a 10 – 15 minute wait for our table — they give you a pager so you can wander a little whole waiting. The weather was absolutely glorious so we took to the loch-​side, jetty-​style bar. It was so beautiful! Unfortunately, we stood at what can only be described as the slowest moving bar service ever! The guy was friendly and wasn’t slacking but we were buzzed for our food before we could order a drink. The queue wasn’t huge, which made it a bit frustrating! Indoors we were served very quickly! The bar didn’t made me think any less of the place, it must’ve been that bar guy. The inside is beautifully decorated with a big fire place and views over Loch Lomond. For starters I ordered ‘Haggis, Neeps & Champit Tatties’ — for the non-​Scots followers this means haggis, turnip (neeps) and mashed (champit) potatoes (tatties)! My main was a chicken and mushroom crêpe. This was so, so tasty! Part of the crêpe was crispy from being baked, part of it was submerged in the creamy sauce, and the final part was fused to the melted cheese on top. It was very heavy, but absolutely delicious!
See my entire review with pictures here: