Ship Inn

Invergordon The Ship Inn is located on the Shore Road of Invergordon directly opposite the Service Base. The restaurant/B&B has recently been refurbished and it looks great inside. It has plenty of seats and has an open fire that was lit, which made for a cosy atmosphere. As this was the morning, the restaurant wasn’t too busy so we were seated instantly. We were also served immediately. The breakfast is an all you can eat buffet with all the items laid out, except for the eggs, these were cooked to order, so there is only a 5 minute waiting time for these and they were cooked to perfection. The downside to a buffet is that the food can be overcooked or dried out by the time you get to eat them. The item that suffered the most from this was the beans. They were what I would describe as ‘clumpy’, there was a small film of bean juice on top of the beans and all the juices had dried up. The black pudding seemed to have also suffered slightly and it was quite dry. The sausages and bacon were fine though. The breakfast also included a hash brown and it was also great to see a lorne sausage – this is the first one we have come across in our breakfast reviews. Overall the breakfast appeared to be grilled apart from the mushrooms. The meat produce provided could only be described as average – there was nothing more-ish about them – but the bacon was good, you can’t go wrong with bacon, can you? The breakfast is advertised as an ‘All you can eat Breakfast’ on the board outside for £6.95, but it fails to mention that toast is an extra 50p and the tea and coffee costs an extra £1.20. For £6.95 I would expect them to be included, after all they aren’t expensive items and certainly not £1.70 worth. Unfortunately this breakfast is more like the Ryanair of breakfasts, with added extra costs that you weren’t expecting. In total you will have to pay £8.65 for a breakfast with items that you would expect to be included in the breakfast price, therefore this is the most expensive breakfast we have had, costing 70p more than its next competitor. In the points review, the breakfast loses a point for not including a tattie scone, which is necessary for the basic ingredients in a Full Scottish, however the breakfast is not advertised as such. To achieve the Ultimate Full Scottish Breakfast, tomatoes and haggis would also have to be provided. The breakfast gained a point for having a lorne sausage though and the hash brown was a bonus. The breakfast failed to gain any more points on the produce as it was only average and the items weren’t all cooked to perfection – probably due to the hot plate. If all these items had been provided, the score would have been higher, maybe a 4 but unfortunately not a 5 as the items were not freshly cooked and the produce was not the highest of standard. Therefore the breakfast only scores a 2 out of 5. This breakfast would be better if it was cooked to order, but it is understandable considering the market they are catering to. Workers from the service base wouldn’t have time to wait 15-20 minutes for a cooked breakfast, so a buffet is the best option. The food is in no way bad and it was a good feed. I did think that the breakfast was overpriced, and £6.95 would be reasonable with tea and toast included. I had expected greater things from the breakfast as the lunches in the Ship Inn are superb and well priced – possibly the best lunches in Invergordon. Recommendations for the Owner to achieve Full Scottish Breakfast Greatness: (In order of priority) 1.       Don’t charge extra for tea/coffee or toast. 2.       Include a tattie scone. 3.       Include tomato and haggis. 4.       If you can – cook to order.
	Breakfast served at times	8am-11am Mon-Fri
	Breakfast advertised as	All you can eat Breakfast
	Price	£6.95
	Breakfast contents	Unlimited Amount Choice of Fried Egg, Poached or Scrambled Sausages Lorne Sausage Bacon Black Pudding Hash Brown Beans Mushrooms Toast – choice of brown or white – 50p Extra
	Tea/Coffee Included	No - £1.20 Extra, unlimited refills
	How cooked	Grilled
	Service Time Queuing	Instant
	Service Time Waiting for Order	5 minutes
	Star Score	2/5
	Points deducted for Website	No tattie scone, tomato or haggis. http://theshipinvergordon.co.uk