Hotel Reviews
It was a beautiful September weekend and the sun was shining on my drive through the beautiful Argyll and Highlands countryside and onto Oban . This is always a stunning drive through Loch Lomond and onwards through Crianlarich and today was no exception . The Oyster Inn at Connel is absolutely brilliantly situated overlooking Loch Etive and views to Mull , Lismore and Morven .
The Restuarant is an ideal place to lose yourself and unwind with the views alone - but the food ........ ! On arrival at this small and cosy Inn you are greeted by wooden floors and creels and seafood memorabilia everywhere , no doubting this a place for good seafood . I absolutely loved the decor here and the bar was just fantastic full of character . The rooms are spacious enough and are set at the back of the building with all mod cons and spotlessly clean . This is a 4 Star Inn and the reason in my humble opinion is for the food . I had quite simply some of the best seafood and fish ever served to me in Scotland and not overpriced or over rated . This restuarant is not pretentious, but our young male waiter knew his job inside out and his knowledge not only on the food but the wine and surrounding area should be commended.
An absolute credit to the hospitality industry and he should be a shining example on how to treat and serve customers in a dining experience . I digress , My associate had the biggest wooden slab of the biggest and juiciest Langoustines i have seen , whilst i had succulent sea bass served in a thai style soup with noodles . Excellent all round 3 courses were consumed and not rushed . I love love love this place and can not sing its praises high enough. I will be back very soon Oyster Inn at Connel .
Cafe Circa in Doune is in beautiful Stirlingshire countryside and boasts a massive shopping area as its neighbour a few feet away as the Scottish Antiques and Arts Centre. If you are looking for a day out whether its raining , snowing or the sun shining then look no further as this place has it all. My sole intention today was to Assess the Baking for Cafe Circa but ended up having lunch before the marathon session of Cakes. Cafe Circa is a very welcoming , friendly and relaxed Restuarant type cafe with big wooden table and chairs and stone walls.
There is a wood burning centre piece in the middle of the restuarant which you can just picture in the dead of winter and beautiful pieces of Art displayed around the walls and sills. Anyhow i was served by a lovely bubbly and chatty man all dressed in black ( As were the rest of the staff ) and very knowledgeable about the food which was served here . You could tell before the food even arrived that this p[lace was well run. I ordered the Salmon Fishcakes and My associate ordered The Fresh Fish and Chips . Both dishes were served with a homemade tatrtare sauce in a lovely scallop shell and a basket of chips .
The lovely salad was one of the best salads i have eaten , just full of so many different types of fruit and vegetables and cut in long spirals with a lovely dressing. For dessert i had Chocolate Brownie served with little hot marshmallows and icecream. Again Homemade and one of the best i have eaten - truly decadent . My associate had a Highland sticky toffe sponge with ice cream - light as a feather and all you would ask for in a fresh homemade pudding.
What i loved about Cafe Circa was the owners hands on approach which is evident in everything about the place. The staff are always more clued up and attentive when the owners are working and have a presence. There is passion and care put into the food that was prepared and served. Customer service and great Homecooking at a great price is not achievable in Chain type restuarants and thats why places like this will go from strength to strength . I dont know how many times i have eaten in 4 or 5 star restuarants that cant make desserts like the ones i ate today . But dont spend all your money in this Restaurant as right across the pavement is one of the best shopping experiences around ( Purse emptied in less than an hour) . This is a day out so go on and spoil yourself at this suberb Centre and eat the best food around without it hurting your wallet. Slainte
This weekend i had the privilege of staying at many beautiful Hotels ,none more so than Knockendarroch House Hotel in Pitlochry . This beautiful Hotel was once the home of an Aberdonian lawyer back in 1880 . It was sold in the early 1900s to a jeweler - James Robb who then sold it on to the newly formed Pitlochry Theatre Company . In recent times a new family - McMenemie took the home over and turned it into todays finest Hotel in Pitlochry. The Hotel has a 4 star rating and most certainly has earned it with its majestic views alone , overlooking stunning countryside from an elevated and enviable position in Pitlochry. I stayed here one night only and will certainly return. From the moment i entered the welcome was unobtrusive and friendly , just the way i like it. My room was quite simply breathtaking with views from large glass windows on two sides of the room. Very clean , quiet and well equipped . The most pleasing reason for my review however was the dinner and breakfast which was served in informal surroundings , but just excellent. From the onset i had canapes in the lounge before making my way through to the small but atmospheric dining area. My choice this evening was seared scallops on a bacon mash which were cooked brilliantly , piping hot and a work of art on my plate- too good to eat ! Pork medallions and to finish a strawberry shortcake. The breads were all homemade and actually the best bread i have eaten to date in any restaurant . The oatcakes served with the cheese were also homemade and excellent. I can not rate this location ( 2 Min walk to village of Pitlochry) , Food , Service and all round Hotel highly enough and will most certainly return for a longer stay in the very near furture.
A rare day off today was spent with my Mother and sister whilst waiting for my car to be serviced.
Our original lunch destination in Renfrew was closed so we headed to Linwood on a recommendation i had heard about via the website- Linwood farm. Linwood farm is actually not a farm strangely , but a division of Greene King - Farmhouse inns . On arrival i had the usual " judging a book by its cover moment" and thought i may have been sold a bogey by an anonymous web nomination . On entering we sat ourselves down and wondered how the whole thing operated - do we go to the counter or does someone come to you . In the end we asked how we ordered food and were told we had to go to the bar after looking at our menu and remembering our table number. This seemed easy enough ( Even for me ) We met a lovely lady from Greenock who told us how to order wisely ....... Armed with this information i proceeded to order a lunch carvery . I was then given a ticket a few minutes later and told to go the end of the queue and wait. My wait was not long and the choice of the carvery was one of the best i had seen in awhile. I had everything and all crammed onto a tiny plate . Roast beef, cooked ham, mashed potato , roast potato , all sorts of vegetables , gravy , sauces, onions in red wine, yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese ( My favourite and boy could you taste the cheese ) and so much more - very impressive, but the most impressive thing for me was at 2pm (Which is when the carvery ends abruptly ) the food was still piping hot and fresh . Yes i will be back for this carvery . The cakes which are indeed impressive as you enter , mainly for their size , (felt like you were in Gullivers travels ) were the next on our list . My mother had a roulade which would have fed at least 6 and was impressive in size which pleased her sweet tooth. I had the Chocolate Fudge which was just ridiculously huge ( even for my apetite) . I can see the appeal for people and i like the brand regarding the cakes but in my humble opinion they were not as good as they looked. They were all size and no substance. They were also a great price and you could takeaway . The staff were regimental and lacked warmth albeit efficient. Would i recommend - yes i would certainly for the carvery and for the wow factor with the size of the cakes. See you soon Linwood Farm.