Cafe At Designs - Dumfries Galloway

We ate lunch here after wandering down the high street in Castle Douglas. The staff were friendly, there was a pleasant busy atmosphere. The meals were really great as were the coffee and cakes afterwards. Good toilet facilities and enjoyable browse in the shop too.

Lovely well run cafe with excellent home made cakes, Lemon Drizzle and Orange and Almond Polenta cake were to die for! Lovely staff and service from this young enthusiastic team. Lovely ambience throughout. Would most definitely recommend.

Not the first time I have reviewed this venue, but sitting in the garden, shaded from the blazing Galloway sunshine, dog at my feet, wife by my side .... what could be a nicer way to while away a morning. Dogs allowed only in the garden, but there is shelter if the weather is not the best. Good service, good coffee and great cakes. The shop associated with the cafe is full of quirky, classy books, presents and trinkets.

I just had lunch at this restaurant. The service was terrible. They brought the wrong food, and the soup was tasteless. I will never return.

The last time I visited here was pre COVID. I was a little disappointed this time. The usually high standards seem to have slipped somewhat. We sat at an uncleared and dirty table and despite it not being a very busy early Monday lunch time, waited an age for a young girl to come over. She took the used crockery and then disappeared again. We waited that long we were considering leaving. However she eventually came to take our order and we had to ask for the table to be cleaned. She came back with a small piece of kitchen roll and gave it a brief wipe. It still wasn't properly clean. The food arrived quite quickly, while my partner said the soup was tasty the presentation of it in a shallow bowl with it slopping and spilling over the wide rim and over the sides was very poor. The bread of my croque monsieur was so hard and dry it was almost impossible to cut and there was barely any cheese on top of it. They seem to be rationing sugar cubes as we were given a small dish with 3 cubes in it to go with a pot of tea for 2 people. I had to go to the counter to ask for more and was again given three tiny bits. Was less than impressed with the dirty finger marks and smears around all handles and on the doors to the toilets and the toilets themselves were quite shabby with peeling paint/wallpaper on the walls Not sure I will bother to return again.