FOOD & DRINK


Our restaurant critic turns her expert eye to one of Scotland’s best places to eat


amuse-bouches, served straight from the kitchen with a glass of South African Vondeling (£5.50), included chilled Loch Rannoch smoked salmon on a dill and horseradish sauce on toast, and an absolutely divine pissaladière, a generous combo of warm, sweet onion and tangy black olive slivers topped with a drizzle of olive oil.


French leave


A pilgrimage to the great Albert Roux’s latest outlet on Lochinver Bay in Sutherland WORDS CATE DEVINE, WRITER WITH THE HERALD


the view of Lochinver Bay from its dining room. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a rare stare at the fishing boats and picturesque village. The menu here boldly states that Chez Roux


T


‘endeavours to use local produce wherever possible’. However, teething problems meant that local boats were not, as anticipated, deliv- ering fresh white fish to the new Roux kitchen, although it did manage to source local scallops, langoustine and crab. Roux revealed shortly after opening that he’d discovered to his dismay that white fish catches of the day were going to Europe. The à la carte menu did include Achil- tibuie organic salmon and Scottish pike. So maybe time, and a bit of effort from his new Scottish chef Lee Pattie, will see more indige- nous stocks staying around. On the night we visited, none of this was particularly apparent. A selection of handmade


124 WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK


he most striking aspect of the Inver Lodge Hotel, where the legendary Albert Roux has opened his second Scottish outlet, is


FIELD FACTS


PRICE: Fixed price dinner, excluding wine: £40 per person RATING:


 Chez Roux, Inver Lodge Hotel, Lochinver, Sutherland IV27 4LU Tel: 01571 844496 www. inverlodgehotel. co.uk


Best of black puddings Our starter was impressive, both for its eye- candy appeal and for its skilful execution. On a white plate, atop a bed of intensely green pea purée, were two juicy hand-dived Achil- tibuie scallops artfully interspersed with two sharply-cut triangles of black pudding from the Buccleuch Estate on the River Nith at Drum- lanrig in Dumfriesshire. Not exactly the most local, but chosen, I am told, because Buccleuch came out top in a blind tasting held by Roux himself. The truly local scallops were deliv- ered earlier that day, and their fresh sweetness chimed well with the peppery, unusually dry and crumbly pudding and a cider butter sauce. I initially felt the size of the starter was a bit


mean, but actually it was just enough – as I was happily to discover when the generous main of roast rump of lamb arrived. This


too was from Buccleuch, and was


served over a bed of porcini and spinach with a timbale of crushed Scottish Rooster pota- toes (Roux’s favourite, recently described as the ‘uber tuber’ of modern cuisine). But the lamb stole the show – because it was not the young, tender meat we’d foolishly assumed it would be. Instead, it was a gamier, sturdier version which turned out to be hogget – that is, last year’s lamb – because of course this year’s gambolling spring-born babies are not yet ready. Although not mutton, it’s definitely an acquired taste (partner described it as ‘sheepy’), and for me it made for a deliciously different mouthful. The pudding was a definite mood-lifter: a


circular chocolate croustillant enrobed with a tangy dark 70% cocoa coat and topped with a foot-high ‘droplet’ of spun sugar holding a single hazelnut. Certainly a showcase for the undoubted skill of Roux consultant chef Glen Watson, the Scot who oversaw the first few weeks at Inver Lodge while Pattie – formerly head chef at


the Golf View in Nairn – was


completing his training at Le Gavroche, Roux’s famous London restaurant which in 1982 became the first in the UK to be awarded three Michelin stars.


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