Cuan Mor (Oban Dining)

We had heard from our guide that this was a decent restaurant. We tried it on our "free" day in Oban, right after stepping off the boat from a tour to see seals and other wildlife. This restaurant does not take reservations, but it is on the waterfront, and appears to be always busy. We were early diners, at 5:15 pm. We ordered appetizers, and were told that the Baked Camembert was not available. We ordered, and received a seafood chowder from the appetizer menu. At the same time, we ordered a main dish, the large Scallops, whch we planned to share, but did not receive in a timely manner. The two tables next to us were seated after we received the appetizer. Both tables received full meals, and the table next to us finished and left, before we received our main dish. Before they left, our neighbors passed us a dish of French Frys, as they felt sorry for us! The restaurant had simply failed to prepare our food. They eventually came to ask us if we were ready to order. We explained that we had already ordered. After about thirty minutes, the manager arrived with a steaming pot of mussels. We explained that we had not ordered mussels. He removed them when we reminded him that we had ordered the large Scallop Plate. The strange thing about this is that no one made any attempt to apologize for the delay or the error. When we finally received our meal, the waitress asked if we needed anything else. We verified that this was a large scallops order, as there were five scallops on the plate along with a few small potatoes and some broccoli. All of this was served with a nice sauce, with an attractive presentation, just surprisingly shy of scallops. She explained that scallops were served by weight, rather than quantity. She sent the manager over. We did not complain abut the scallops, but we told the manager, a young man with an attitude, that we did not understand why we had not even received an apology. At this point, it was almost 7:00 p.m. He stated that he had personally apologized three times. We had both failed to hear him. It is statistically improbably that both of us developed hearing loss during our restaurant visit. In short, we politely asked for our bill, paid it, including the 10% "service" charge. We cut our losses. Do they have good food? I think so, based on the chowder. We didn't really eat much of the scallop plate, having lost our appetites. We had planned to order dessert, but didn't. Will they treat you as a valued customer? If you are lucky, perhaps. What we will remember about this restaurant is the way they made us feel. For us, this transcends the quality of the food.