Roaming report part two - Not so sunny Scotland

So after my fun weekend in Saskatchewan, it was back to Toronto to get ready for my second trip of the month...Scotland! Of course I was super excited, not only to see my family, but also to eat (and boy did I ever!) I grew up in a Scottish household, which means, I grew up eating things like black pudding (I am almost salivating just thinking about it), haggis, steak and kidney (yes kidney) pie and loving every bite. Don't worry, I did eat more "normal" type foods as well, so no need to stop reading if the previous sentence turned your stomach a bit.

While in Scotland, our base camp ("our" meaning my immediate family; sisters, parents, niece,nephew, and brother-in-law) was in Dunoon, which is a pretty, picturesque town across the clyde from Greenock. I arrived a week after everyone else, so the day I landed everyone, but my Dad were off to Glasgow for the day, which meant that my Dad and I  would be spending the day eating and drinking. So naturally after a quick stop off at the house and a quick tour of the town, off we went to the pub for a bit of food and drink.

Ingrams bar was my first meal in Scotland. Both my dad and I went for the steak and chips (french fries) and I opted for a red wine. It was exactly what I needed after a long flight and a long journey from the airport to Dunoon. The meat was tender and flavourful, the crust was flaky and buttery, the chips were hot and crisp, and the peas were pretty good too! I realize now I did not take a photo of the wine, but it was a merlot and it was ok.

(Look at that flaky crust)

The next morning I was promised by my sister, to have a traditional Scottish breakfast, which, not only is a great hangover breakfast (I was not), but also a good jet-lagged breakfast. So what is on the plate? The black disc is the black pudding, which is hard to describe the taste, it's a bit spicy and is complimented nicely by the "brown sauce" (HP sauce, aka my version of ketchup). The square-ish looking thing is square sausage or slice, which again is a bit hard to describe, but I much prefer it over the traditional linked sausage. Then there are scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms. And last, but not least is the breadish looking triangular thing, which is potato scones (or tattie scones as we call them) And they are like little piece of heaven, Pan fried, and then melt a bit of butter and a dash of salt and you are in nirvana. So if you are brave and a food adventurer go ahead and try it, I hope you won't be disappointed because I love it! Just try not to think about what the black pudding is.

(Amazing breakfast)

 So now onto another traditional Scottish meal, fish and chips. Now my Dad has always told me (and he is quite the expert on fish and chips) that you always go to the Italian fish and chip shop, and if it says "Traditional English Fish and Chips", it's probably not that good (maybe it's a way to draw in the poor tourists who don't know any better). Dunoon just so happened to have an Italian fish and chip shop called Lorenzos. They have all sorts of things other than just fish and chips, like black pudding, haggis, chip buttys (again I grew up on these, all it is is a white bun or bread, slathered in butter, and then you put fresh chips with salt and malt vinegar and mow down!). I, as you can see, went for the fish and chips with malt vinegar and salt. Now I don't know if this is the "traditional" way to eat it, but I ate it with my fingers (hey my mum didn't yell at me for not using a knife and fork, so I figured it was ok). The batter was crisp, not too greasy or thick, the fish was tender and moist and flaked apart lovely, with a very gentle fish taste, and then the chips were tender and hot on the inside but crisp on the outside.

(Fish and chips...mmmm)

(The best pop in Scotland)

To wash it all down I had an Irn Bru, which you've probably seen from time to time in Canada (not anymore, something to do with the orange dye, Canada won't let it in). I love it, it's orange, but it's not like orange pop, it's again, like so many things, hard to describe, it tastes like Irn Bru.

(I miss this the most)

So if you ever find yourself in Scotland you have to (and yes I mean have to!) get yourself to a grocery store and pick up one of these bad boys. There are a variety of them from Cadbury's and my goodness are they ever good.  Little chunks of flake that you mix into a smooth, creamy, sweet chocolate pudding YUM!

(Haggis topped burger)

What better way to start a day of drinking/tasting whiskeys in Edinburgh then with a Haggis burger at the Filling Station (yes it's an American eatery, no we did not know that going in, but yes I ordered the most Scottish thing on the menu). No, no the burger was not made of haggis, simply topped with it (you can see it kinda under the egg). If ever you were curious about haggis, but not entirely sure you really wanted to try it, I say this is the way to do it. You aren't stuck with an entire plate of haggis and if you really don't like it you can simply push it off and you're still left with a pretty awesome burger. Haggis is a bit on the spicy side, nothing like blow you head off spice, but definitely has a kick to it, so it really compliments the burger. The egg, at first I was concerned as to how messy it would be, but after the initial smush of the burger the yolk soaked into the top bun and it became like a delicious sauce. The burger itself was tasty, moist, cooked well. Overall the meal was excellent and I kinda wish I could find a haggis burger here!

(Little shots of whiskey)

(Me in front of a small portion of the whiskey collection)

Now onto the whiskey tasting. Myself, I am not a real lover of whiskey, it burns, it leaves a taste in your mouth and overall I generally find the experience to be quite unpleasant. So why, you are probably asking, on earth would I ever sign myself up for something like a whiskey tasting? Well why not, I'm in Scotland, my Brother-in-law really wanted to do it, and at the time no one else really wanted to go, and I was slightly curious. The Scotch Whiskey Experience in Edinburgh is a pretty cool place. There are several different tours you can choose from (we went with gold!) and to start you climb into a replica hollowed out whiskey barrel and go on a little ride that takes you through the whiskey making process. After that you head into a room where you watch a presentation about the different regions in Scotland that make whiskey, the different flavours they are known for and then you get to pick which region you want to try from. With the gold package at the end of the tour you get to try all four whiskey regions (there are five regions, but they only offer four to try).  I will say this, although I am still not a huge fan of the stuff, it was very interesting to do a tasting. Like wine, when you try a few in a row you really do get to taste the different flavours, and for me at least, it was no longer like fire water, but something a bit more delicate and intriguing. Be warned though, the Islay region, is known for their smoky whiskey and it is very true to that. It really did taste like you just inhaled a bunch of smoke from a camp fire, and oddly enough, it sorta grew on me. So even if you don't like whiskey, I say give it a try, it was fun, informative, and you get to keep your glass at the end of it!

(Pasty goodness)

So what does one eat after a day of drinking whiskey (by the end of it we had drank 7 glasses of whiskey)? A pasty of course. What is a pasty? A pasty is a pastry filled with various meats and veggies. It's very handy dandy to grab and go and this particular shop; The Pasty Shop, was conveniently located in the train station in Edinburgh. I opted for the lamb and mint (it also had potato in it) and man was it good.  It was pipping hot, the pastry was flaky and buttery, the lamb was moist and tender, the potato just cooked enough without being mushy and the mint just topped it all of. 

(Chicken tikka)

 Often when I think of the food in Scotland, I think of things like Chinese and Indian take-away, and it's usually pretty good. So looking for something a bit different I went with the chicken tikka at the Times Square in glasgow (pre shopping meal). I gotta say it was pretty good. Nice flavour, a bit of spice but nothing crazy, tender chicken, fluffy rice, crisp poppadum and warm, soft naan.

(A 99)

If you ever hear someone say I want a 99, this is what they mean. It's ice cream with a flake it in. I love flake and ice cream is pretty great too. The ice cream over there tastes different from here. It's creamier and richer and that cone right there is more than enough.

The last meal I had in Scotland was a pretty fantastic restaurant called Darcys. The restaurant itself is really big and open, and clean. I've been told by my cousins that often they will only go out to a place if they have some sort of a special or deal (which you will see quite a lot if you are over there), and this place was no exception. We got a three course meal plus cocktail for around $30 Canadian (not too shabby). To start I went with the prawn bruschetta. It came in a mayo-ie sauce, but not over poweringly, it was tasty, prawns cooked well (not rubbery), the bread was fresh and soft, and the pesto was quite a nice touch.

(Starter)

My booze for the night consisted of a crushed strawberry fizz (it had gin in it) and was strong, but very tasty. After that went down very smoothly I opted for a red wine to go with my meal (I didn't want my cousin to feel left out drinking alone). I honestly can't remember which one it was, cause I couldn't hear the waitress properly, so I just said yes to the first one, but it was good. 

(Vino)

(Cocktail) 

For my main I went with the salmon and couscous with salsa. It was excellent, I really needed something somewhat healthy, that wasn't deep fried or covered in pastry. The skin was crisp, the fish was tender and flaky, the couscous was cooked perfectly and the salsa gave it all a bit of spicy kick to waken up the palate. I was very happy with my selection.

(Main)

And after a nice healthy main it was time for a not so healthy dessert (but it's small so it's not that unhealthy..right?) I went with the sticky toffee pudding. It came out warm, drizzled in caramel sauce with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that was just starting to melt. It was like heaven in my mouth. Moist, sweet and just the perfect size. A superb end to a superb meal.

(Dessert...mmmm)

So there you have it, my trip to Scotland as seen through my stomach. Just in case you didn't feel like reading all the post here are a few of the key tips wrapped up in one nice little package:

Tip 1 - Go to an Italian chippy for your fish and chips

Tip 2 - Pubs are your friend when it comes to having a hearty home cooked meal

Tip 3 - Go to restaurants that have Food offers like 2 for 1 or Prix Fixe menu 

Tip 4 - Go ahead and try the "weird" food in Scotland like haggis and black pudding, you may surprise yourself!

Happy food hunting!