debbiemcgr's Qype profile

Although the Hideaway is slightly out of town it is worth the trip to get to. Its very old fashioned and traditional with its decor which gives it so much of its charm. The menu is varied and offers a selection of traditional and more modern dishes. My favourite is the chicken with haggis and whisky sauce, followed by sticky toffee pudding which is totally gorgeous. The facilities are well kept to a high standard and the toilets are clean and well looked after. There’s not much room in the car park; if you were making a night of it you might prefer to get a taxi and leave the car at home. Then you can have a drink - but bear in mind that the drinks are on the pricey side.

Albertos is one of my favourite restaurants in Dunfermline. It has a nice central location and you can easily park in the glen bridge car park at the back if you can make it up the stairs. This restaurant has a lovely atmosphere, there’s always an exciting vibe and the staff are positive and friendly. Albertos is always hosting a hen party, birthday party or works do of one kind or another,so it is certainly a lively place. The food is delicious and there’s a wide variety of dishes available, including of course, pasta and pizza as you would expect. Albertos has firmly established itself as one of the hotspots to eat out in Dunfermline.

Although this store is a bit on the small side, they still stock a nice selection of the ranges available within the larger River Island stores. This is the place to go for trendy fashion, although the prices are a bit high sometimes for what you get. In particular I love the jeans from River Island, they are always modern in style and wash and wear again and again without losing their shape. The staff here are friendly and go out of their way to help you. If you are in the changing room and need a different size they are happy to collect it for you. I’ve also never had any problem returning an item to River Island if it wasn’t suitable. My sister loves the River Island sales and we always pop in when one is on to rummage around for bargains.

As a big fan of Next I absolutely LOVE this store! It is huge and has all the latest ranges available in all the sizes. Everything from the Directory is available and more. The Homewares section on the lower ground floor is fantastic and they have a wide range of furniture on display for you to look at and have a sit on before buying! The clothes from Next are such good quality and are built to last. This goes for the children’s clothes as well as the men and women’s. I buy all my daughter’s clothes in here, especially trousers, because all the little girl’s trousers have adjustable elasticated waists. The Next Sales are a fantastic opportunity to grab yourself a bargain at half the usual price - well worth a trip into Manchester for!

This Pizza Hut has all the features you would expect from this chain. Recently they have extended their menu so there is now even more choice. This is a great place to take the kids but its always busy and sometimes there’s a wait for a table. Sometimes we take away from here and if you have a voucher it can be worthwhile. We went to my nephew’s birthday party here and all the kids loved it. You can’t go wrong with pizza, can you! The all-you-can-eat pizza deals are the best, but be warned, you won’t be able to move afterwards! Fortunately there’s loads of free parking so you can park close by. Also handy if you are visiting the cinema which is just across from here.

Carnegie Leisure Centre is somewhat dated these days; although I believe grand plans are underway for a revamp over the next couple of years to modernise the facilities available. At present the centre has various facilities including two swimming pools and a toddler pool, sauna and steam rooms, gyms, aerobics facilities and tanning studios to name but a few. The changing rooms are not accessible or suitable for families - I believe these will be rectified with the opening of the new leisure centre in 2011. The sports facilities are due to be improved too with squash, badminton and tennis facilities as well. Hopefully this will give a boost to the town.

I’m a big Costa fan and this place is no exception to the standard you’d expect from Costa. The downside here is the access - with all the stairs it isn’t very friendly for those with mobility problems or pushchairs/prams. On the plus side, to get a window seat and snuggle into a brown leather sofa with a hot chocolate (with mashmallows and cream, of course!) and watch all the shoppers milling by down on the street below is a treat in itself. The staff are busy but friendly and the bathrooms are cleaned to a high standard and maintained throughout the day.

There’s a brilliant atmosphere in the Trafford Centre and Costa is just the place to go to relax, have a coffee and a break from shopping, and watch the world go by. Its a bit pricey but the coffee is fantastic, my favourite is the hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows - a real treat! The cakes are yummy, in particular the lemon drizzle cake is delicious. The seating is spacious here and a variety of seating kinds to suit every taste. Although its always busy and sometimes you are pushed to get a seat where you want. Such a quick turnaround though ensures that everything is always nice and fresh which is reassuring.

As far as Primark stores go, this is one of the best I’ve been in for the sheer size of it and the volume of choice on display. Cheap and cheerful doesn’t even begin to do it justice. Primark owes its success to the fact that they sell clothes dirt cheap and people these days love a bargain. The store is manic busy from about 10am onwards and some days I have queued in excess of half an hour at the checkouts, despite the fact there are dozens of tills. Its just so busy. As the day wears on the store gets mroe and more messy, especially the shoes section which ends up like a jumble sale. But overall this is a fantastic place for picking up a cheap fashion item - just don’t expect it to hang on through a load of washing!

Martin & Co are one of the best-known letting agents in the area and using them gives you some reassurance because of their size and success. As with all letting agents, they are pricey to use. However, this gives landlords peace of mind that they will be getting quality tenants to live in their properties, and gives tenants the peace of mind that the letting agency can be contacted directly should any issues occur. My experience with Martin & Co is that I had to pester them several times to get the information that I needed - they were not so good at responding to email communication and I got a better response when I called on the telephone. Their offices are not very accessible - a large steep step leads into the office entrance.