Dinner for 1 with wine £35.00

I recently went to Scotland for the first time and despite what all the naysayers say about Scottish food, I went to eat.  I mean not just to eat.  I went to hike and drink whiskey and well mostly to drink whiskey but also to eat.  I was determined to come back to London with tales of the incredible meals I’d had.

My first attempt was the Loch Fyne Oyster bar on Loch Fyne.  This is by no means an off the beaten path restaurant.  It has branches all over the UK promoting Scottish seafood.  This however is the original and is supposed to be the best.  It also gets very mixed reviews for service so I was pleasantly surprised when I called to make a reservation that the nice man on the phone promised me a table with a great view.

The drive up to Loch Fyne from Glasgow was chock full of jaw droppingly gorgeous views.  I kept having to pull over to get out of the car and just gawk.  I figured that when I got to Cairndow the beauty would be marred by an enormous tour bus welcoming commercial mega-enterprise,  but it wasn’t.  Simple sign, the place is not very big and shares its space with a garden center.  If you didn’t know it was a famous location you might just pass it by.

Unbelievably I ended up at, as promised, at a great corner table with the best view of the Loch.  I couldn’t believe they’d actually remembered.  So far so good.

The service was a little slow but it was just as well as I had serious trouble deciding what to order.  So I ordered everything.  I started with oysters of course.  I had high hopes for these oysters.  In theory these should have been some of the freshest, sweetest, bestest oysters I’ve ever eaten.

Oysters with Shallot Vinaigrette

And they were.  They were some really really amazing oysters.  I briefly considered canceling the rest of my meal and just having 18 more oysters.

Next came the salmon course.  Even though its called an oyster bar, Loch Fyne is also very well known for their smoked salmon.  I had a sampler which came with salmon smoked four different ways.  Gravlax,  smoked, Braden Orach (strongly smoked) and Braden Rost (kiln roasted).

Salmon Sampler

Choosing the sampler was the best way to go.  It was so interesting to have such significantly different flavors and textures from the same fish.  They were all spectacular and a great introduction to Scottish salmon.  All that was missing was a bagel and cream cheese.

For my last course I moved on to my beloved scallops.  These particular scallops were baked in their shells with mashed potato.

Scallops

The most intelligent thing I can think of to say about these scallops is aaaaaaaarrrrggggghhhhh…  They were just so sweet and creamy.  The mash had a good crusty top to it with the scallops inside perfectly cooked.   This is a dish that looks like it is possible to replicate at home.  Really simple – no extra faff – just perfect.

I could not force myself to eat a pudding I was so stuffed.

If you are anywhere near Cairndow in your Scottish travels definitely book a table here – it will be worth it.  And if you can’t manage to get in for a meal they have a fantastic shop right next door where you can buy fresh and smoked fish and fixings.

Book I was reading:  Scotland A New History

Loch Fyne Oyster Bar
Clachan
Cairndow
Scotland PA26 8BL

Dinner for one with several glasses of wine:  £42.00

I’ve come to Lynton in Exmoor National Park, Devon to see if I can find some of that romantic rocky English coastline I’ve read about and to stuff myself full of seafood.  This is my first real outing on my own in England and so far so good.  I’ve managed to tackle the absolutely insanely steep hills in my car without bursting in to tears or driving into the sea so when I arrive in Lynton I am in a fabulous mood.

After checking into my B&B I wander around town looking for a meal. I stop into what is supposed to be the best restaurant around, the St. Vincent House to see about booking a table.  The owner who is also the chef tells me – without ever looking at his reservation book – that they are completely full all weekend seconds after I watch him take a booking for a table of 2 and giving the couple options on the time to eat.  His code for I ain’t wasting a whole table on one single girl.  Scratch that one off of the list.  Dejected I ask for advice from the proprietress of my B&B. She recommends a relatively new place in town called On The Steps.

The restaurant itself is literally situated on a set of stairs tucked into a tiny little space.  The interior is cozy without being stuffy.  It has exposed wood beams, an old fireplace and simple wooden tables.

The nice man who greets me – turns out to be the owner and executive chef – hands me a menu on a single piece of paper.  This is always a good sign at a seafood restaurant.  It always concerns me when a place serving fish has a laminated menu in a big leather folder.  That usually means that they are serving you whatever they got whether it is fresh or in season (i.e. its all frozen and comes from a large corporate distributor).  The chef explains that they change the menu daily based upon what they buy in the morning from the local fisherman.  This is a very good sign.

Amuse-bouche

While I am perusing the menu I am provided with an amuse.  It was a lovely little melon foam.  I am normally a hater of foams but this was a nice pallet cleanser and it perked up my appetite.

Lundy Squid with Pernod Veloute and Samphire Grass

For my starter I have Lundy squid with Pernod veloute and samphire grass. This was quite possibly the most perfectly cooked squid I have ever had.  Just lightly lightly grilled it was sweet and not at all chewy.  It might also just be that it was the freshest squid I have ever eaten as Lundy Island is just due west of Lynton.

Samphire grass which I’d never had before gave the dish all the salt it needed and the pernod based butter sauce tied it all together.  There was just a hint of anise that did not overpower the dish.  It was simply great.  I sat there smiling at my plate like an idiot.

Grey Mullet with Crab Cake and Watercress Puree

My main course had more fantastically fresh, expertly prepared, locally sourced goodies.  Line caught grey mullet perched precariously on a crab cake that was all crab and no filler.  It could have used a little hit of acid but overall it too was excellent.

I ended the meal with a cheese plate which consisted of local Devonshire cheeses and a glass of Muscat. Anyone who knows me knows that this is precisely my idea of heaven.

When I told a good friend of mine who is quite the foodie of my weekend plans for hiking and excellent food in Devon he had warned me that I should expect to suffer nothing but horrible microwaved pap in any restaurant in the English countryside. Clearly he’s not been spending much time outside of London these days. There was no microwave in this restaurant I am sure.

It was really clear to me that the chef/owner really cares about the food he serves and the experience his customers have.  I will go back to Lynton just to eat here again.

On The Steps
Church Steps
Church Hill
Lynton, EX35
P: 01598 753614
(they have no website that I can find)