The Riverside

Enjoyed a tasty lunch here. Party of four and each of us enjoyed our sambos (Reuben, Fish Finger and Ham & Cheese toasty). Mugs of broccoli soup were polished off. My only issues were the staff could have been friendlier and our order wasn’t accurately taken but that said I would recommend here for a nice casual lunch.

I visited the Riverside at New Year for coffee after browsing the local shops. The drinks were delicious and good value — if we’d had more time I would love to have tried the food as well, which looked amazing.
The café has clearly been refurbished recently and has a modern but cosy feel, including a big roaring fire for the winter months. Well worth a visit if you’re in town.

I’d passed by the Riverside’s striking painted brick-​house exterior and wondered just what was inside. It’s every bit as charming; spacious with a nice little bar at the front and several walk-​through rooms for dining. It’s a cosy pub with both comfort hearty food and scrumptious cocktails on the menu. You could quite easily lose track of time and cocktails, nestling by the tweed cushions.
I just can’t not order a burger, it’s like it’s my foodie destiny. So, of course, if I try somewhere new, you bet that there’s one just thing on my mind. I went for the burger with the addition of cheese. It wasn’t a bad burger, hell no! But it wasn’t the best I’ve had for several reasons. — The bun wasn’t toasted, the cheese wasn’t melted on to the patty, and the consistency of the meat wasn’t the best, it was falling apart and it also lacked the juicy goodness of a seriously good burger. If I’d to rate the burger alone, it’d be 3 stars. BUT… the chips! Om nom nom. You know when you get double/​triple/​quadruple (delete as applicable!) chips and they just totally don’t live up to that title? I know, right! But not at The Riverside where the twice-​fried chips really are all that; crispy, seasoned to perfection, basically just heaven in potato form. — That’s some five star chips right there, Riverside! Oh, and the accompanying relish was a real treat too.
There was just one thing on our minds after main course, and it had been since we laid eyes on the menu. I’m talking the SHARING DESSERT PLATTER, y’all. For £13, you can get yourself a devilishly sweet line-​up of deserts. If you can resist the temptations of the almighty combo that is the chocolate pot with salted caramel popcorn, apple and blackberry crumble, sticky toffee pudding AND a helping of coconut ice cream fresh from the Stewart Tower Dairy, then that’s just madness. Sheer madness. Oh, and there’s butterscotch sauce and double cream to accompany this wonderful sugar-​fest, oh yes.
WOAH. I tried to pick a favourite and I couldn’t, it was all just far too good. — The choc pot texture was heavenly smooth, the sticky toffee pudding deliciously oozing and the coconut ice cream light and sweet. I’ve been dreaming about it all ever since, and I think I’ll be dreaming it about till I have another and another and another.
Service was attentive and friendly too. I’ll be swinging by the Riverside again, for sure!

Wow, what a lovely wee place! Came here with Nicola C after previous plans got cancelled and had such a lovely time!
Having worked in the wonderful (!) town of Alloa for going on 2 years now, it came to my attention that I don’t really go places in the area, most likely cause I’m so spoiled with the many amazing establishments Glasgow has. Plans were made to visit somewhere in the Stirling area for dinner since Nicola works nearby and we were between two places — I’m so glad we picked here!
The Riverside is fairly new and is in a gorgeous big building beside (as the name would suggest) the river in Dunblane. The staff were absolutely first class from two moment we got there and were so attentive, despite the fact the place was pretty busy as you would expect on a Friday night.
We had both had a swatch of the online menu before we came so our order was taken pretty quickly (we did have another look just to be absolutely sure of course!) and the food didn’t take too long at all to come — not sure exactly how long because obviously we were gabbing, but it wasn’t worryingly quick and didn’t seem like a long time either. I should point out that they have dedicated vegetarian and gluten free menus too which is pretty good and not something you see in most places.
I went for the sausages and mash with gravy and cabbage, a meal I’ve eaten in various pub-​grub places with varying degrees of success. This was really excellent! Everything was really well cooked, tasty and the cider and apple gravy was just yummy!
Now the dessert. Oh. Oh my. We decided on the pudding board to share which consists of their three main desserts — sticky toffee pudding, apple and blackberry crumble and a chocolate pot that comes with SALTED CARAMEL POPCORN. It’s also served with a generous helping of cream and Stewart Tower ice cream, of which ours was coconut and chocolate and was totally delish! Every single thing on the board was incredible, I thought the two of us might explode from how good it all was!!! Seriously, get the pudding board. Share it with someone, have it to yourself, have it instead of dinner! Do it!!!
Everything was very reasonably priced as well, especially since the pudding board was only £13 when we’d expected it to be £15 — result!
I can definitely see myself coming back to The Riverside at some point in future, they have loads of other things on the menu I’d like to try and it really is very lovely inside. Try it out if you’re out that way!