September 18th, 2011
Foodie Highlights – The Torridon Inn Category: Reviews
We spent a week away in June up in the beautiful area of Torridon which is located in Wester Ross. The cottage we stayed in looked over the road and onto the Loch itself. The views were stunning all around.
We spent the week with my Mum & Dad so we had on-site babysitters. So it would have been rude not to have some grown up time & go out for a meal. To be honest I was just expecting a ‘locals’ pub with us being in a remote area. So when Anthony told me that there was a rather nice hotel just 2 minute walk away I was quite impressed. Just down this road in fact…
He then went on to say that the Chef (Jason ‘Bruno’ Birkbeck) at the hotel was actually taking part in this years ‘Good British Menu’ programme on BBC. Well you cant ask for much more than that in such a beautiful remote location. The hotel in question is The Torridon & is set primarily at the luxury end of the budget but it also, cleverly, has an ‘Inn’ attached which offers B&B rooms with a pub. And a rather nice pub at that.
The first time we visited we went on a rainy afternoon & sampled the afternoon scones with a cup of tea. The scones were warm & delicious. The *only* quibble we had was that the jam was served in plastic pots rather than homemade in a little pot. I know, just a little thing but we did notice!
Later in the week Anthony & I escaped for our evening out. After a quick drink in the bar we headed for some food – we had reserved a table & whilst it probably wasn’t necessary it did get busy so we would recommend to anyone wanting to go to call ahead & book.
The mussels that evening had been taken of the menu so I chose the sleepy hollow smoked salmon, caper
and shallot dressing with toasted muffin. Try saying (or typing that) after a glass of wine! It was really delicious & beautifully presented (apologies the photos were taken on my phone!) Anthony chose the Stornoway black pudding and apple stack, mixed leaf salad & cider reduction. Needless to say it didn’t stay on his plate for long.
The Mains were more difficult to choose as they are more ‘pub grub’ in style, however after much to-ing and fro-ing I chose the scampi in a basket with chips, peas & homemade tartare sauce. YUM!
Anthony went for the predictable Torridon beef burger with fries, tomato relish and picallili plus the bacon & cheese. He really enjoyed every mouthful.
Despite the fact we were rather full by this point we decided to share a pudding because we were on holiday & we don’t get many meals out these days – this was an easy choice – sticky toffee pudding, butterscotch sauce & vanilla ice cream. Well…
I think you can see it was so delicious I forgot to take a photo. Seriously, I dont think lasted more than 60 seconds.
I should probably also mention, they are child friendly which is perfect for pubs in remote locations! The staff were really nice & helpful and we really would come back. The only downside? The 439 miles to get there and the 439 to get back. Next time we get a chance to get up on the West Coast again I hope we will get a chance to visit. And if we win the lottery we’ll maybe stay at the hotel too!
The hotel are also on Twitter & I’d recommend a follow – they keep you updated with the weather & the fun their ‘Activities’ team are getting up too & some lovely photos.