Eating Out on Arran
There are many and varied places to eat on Arran, from the highest cuisine, through great pub meals to simple coffee shops serving homemade delights. Many of us know some of them rather well, but there are always new ventures, new chefs and new ideas, so this column seeks to expand readers’ knowledge of what Arran has to offer. Please send in your own suggestions for places to explore.
The writer, whose pen name ‘the Mystery Muncher‘ disguises his/her identity in order to avoid suspicion of favourable treatment, will seek to give fair and honest appraisals of meals taken – while their main qualification for this task is purely a love of good food. And all meals at own expense.
The Black Grouse at Blackwaterfoot is my starting point, because it offers adventurous, imaginative food and is not yet nearly well enough known. On a late May evening we arrived to find a warm log fire in the bar and an impressive array of modern gins. The welcome is friendly and warm in this family business – a restaurant offering ‘contemporary Scottish cuisine’, attached to Blackwaterfoot Lodge with its 5 rooms.
Dinner is served in the conservatory, light, comfortable and surrounded by green garden. Our starters were unusual, rather different from standard Arran cuisine, showing the hand of a chef who questions the conventions, finding his own expression. Cauliflower spring rolls, with crispy cauliflower and cauliflower coulis were pleasant enough, but the pork belly braised 8 hours, served with smoked potato croquette, apple chutney and date puree was superb, beautifully tender, a delightful mix of textures and tastes. Deconstructed kedgeree – local smoked haddock, curried leek risotto, pea and lime puree, topped with a poached egg – was equally surprising and delicious.
Main courses continued to challenge conventional expectations. Perhaps the star was the wild garlic crusted, locally caught pollock nestling on wilted greens within a moat of seafood bisque? Or was it the deconstructed (note the theme) vegetable crumble? This ordinary sounding dish was pronounced truly heavenly, an elegant mound of freshly cooked vegetables, asparagus, beans, carrots…. bound together in a subtle sauce and seeded with crunchy titbits. For meat eaters though there was no doubting that the star was in fact the venison dish, combining on one plate steak and a little pie, neat and crispy, with beetroot sliced and smeared. The venison – sourced on Arran of course – was pronounced perfect and so tender the knife fell through it.
Hard to follow this main course act, and perhaps the desserts needed a little work, while still offering unusual tastes and combinations. There was rhubarb and vanilla pannacotta, with poached rhubarb and pear and ginger puree, crumble and ginger ice cream. Light and delicious, perhaps a bit too heavy on the gelatine? The souffle du jour – an apple crumble soufflé – was a bold attempt and very tasty, but suffered a structural malfunction in the separating out of the soufflé. The accompanying toffee ice cream gained it forgiveness. Finally the chocolate and orange cheesecake, with crispy orange slices and orange sorbet, was ‘very nice’ – but in my opinion, the chef is too restrained with the chocolate. People who order chocolate desserts expect masses of dense chocolatey flavours – or is it just me?
These are tiny quibbles as the evening was one to savour and remember. No coffee machine, but excellent, strong and generous coffee in cafetieres were brought to the bar. The wine list is short and wide ranging, with weekly featured wines, some by the glass. Service is efficient and friendly. I cannot recommend the Black Grouse highly enough, and hope that many Arran folk will brave the trek over the String or round the coast to the West.
