Following a night shift I decided to try and stay awake and get back into day mode my taking my mutt to the park with a friend. In the early evening we decided as it was still sunny that we should go somewhere for a drink (non-alcoholic for me as I’m still on the dryathlon) that was either dog friendly or that we could sit outside. As they lived nearby we decided to sit outside Wee Lochan as we were lucky and there was a table free. There was already another doggy there (outside) so we knew my pooch should be ok.
The lady who served us looked a little nervous when she saw we had sat down and I thought she was going to say they were full and couldn’t serve us food, but we said we were there for drinks and she offered the pre-theatre menu if we wanted a look. It was 2 courses for £14.95 and 3 for £17.95 and sounded delicious. I hadn’t eaten since my night shift so I couldn’t really refuse at that price, and although my friend had eaten an entire pizza for lunch he was unable to resist joining me. I had eaten here before so knew it should be good.
We both had the Stornoway black pudding with poached egg, pancetta, red onion marmalade and dressed frisee lettuce to start. Now I tend to be a bit on the fence with most black pudding and can occasionally find it a little sickening. This, however, was decidedly amazeballs! The black pudding was delicious and perfectly complimented by the marmalade and the poached egg which was nice and runny with a well cooked white. Couldn’t fault it.
I then had the confit duck with champ mash, carrot fondue and ginger lime and sultana. Again this was a lovely dish but didn’t quite hit the same heights as the first course. Confit duck is hard to do badly as it is intrinsically flavoursome and succulent as part of how it is made, it went beautifully with the sultana, ginger and lime sauce. I was craving a lovely glass of red to go with it, but sadly not allowed.
My friend had the roast sea bass with buttered spinach, crushed potatoes and mussel and saffron creme. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and the small mouthful he let me have was delicious. The fish was moist and the sauce delicate and not at all overpowering the delicate fish.
I decided to go with dessert and went with the dark chocolate tart with creme fraiche, this was both chocolaty and also light meaning that I wasn’t struggling to finish. It wasn’t a write home about pudding but it was chocolate so what’s not to like!
Everything was beautifully presented and I could not fault the service, even the bread rolls were lovely and they brought out a bowl of water for the dog on request. Love this little place!
Verdict- highly recommend
flighty foodieuk 