A festival of chocolate sounds like a good idea don’t you think? The people of Perth clearly think so, because their festival is being held this weekend, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of November. Chocolate stalls will be in King Edward Street and hosts include Marie Campbell, a contestant in this year’s Bake Off and Iain Burnett of The Highland Chocolatier who will be doing a truffle tasting.
The Bankhead Farm Shop is popular with men according to the owner, Nancy Wishart. There’s no cafe, no gift shop and no supermarket crowds and no temptation for impulse buys, so, as Nancy points out, ‘you can’t overspend’. That’s because Bankhead, near the villages of Crombie and Cairneyhill in Fife, is very much a working farm, that just happens to have a shop, not a destination cafe or lifestyle shop
An Edinburgh stalwart Howies restaurant celebrates 25 years since the first one opened in 1990. Named after its founder David Howie Scott, who deliberately eschewed fine dining to create an informal bistro, the restaurant has been sold and bought back by the owner in the intervening years. During that time it has been a consistently popular venue for groups and office nights out which is probably down to a number
We have a pair of tickets to the Good Food Show Scotland to give away in our tasty, free-to-enter competition. The show is on at the SECC Glasgow from 6-8 November and tickets normally cost over £20 each. There’s lots for the food lover to do at the show: you can see your favourite celebrity chef cooking live – Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry, Michel Roux Jr, James Martin and Tom Kitchin
Where do you go if you want a pint with a nice view? The Ship Inn in the waterside village of Limekilns is worth considering for its views across the Forth of Firth. It may not have the dramatic proximity to the Forth Rail Bridge that the bars and restaurants in South Queensferry have but the village has attractive Scottish stone-built cottages plus the streets are less manic so it’s
Shieldbank Coffee Shop Monday – Closed Tuesday – 12pm until 6pm Wednesday to Sunday 10am until 6pm Shieldbank Coffee Shop is a small country coffee shop one mile outside the picturesque village of Saline within the grounds of Shieldbank Riding and Vaulting Club. They specialise in home-made soups, home baking, various light lunches, coffee and locally blended teas. In the warmer weather the terrace is open. You can watch the
The Court House Coffee Bar & Restaurant in Kinross, Perthshire opened in Spring 2015. The two local entrepreneurs, Jamie Fraser and Gerry Alexander, who started the restaurant, have created a lovely interior from the former Court House. Although it’s a long time since it was a court house – the last case was in 1977 – the history does provide a good back story. For instance, the room now used
Our latest fish recipe from Elaine Hardie at Fyfe Smokery, Dunfermline could not be easier. Here is a wee recipe that will go well with sole or plaice. Plaice is plentiful just now, so the price is good. The fillets should be dusted with seasoned flour, then pan fried in butter till flaking. Keep the fillets warm till you make the lemon butter sauce: Whisk together 50g unsalted butter, 1.5
Don’t panic, like we did, at the tiny portion of chips in the mini frying baskets served at the Tailend restaurant in St Andrews, Fife. The waiting staff will bring you more chips when you are ready. Once you’ve relaxed because your extra chips have arrived you’ll realise the haddock is really fresh at this Market Street restaurant which is also a takeaway and fishmonger. Maybe being a fishmonger helps
Beaujolais by Paul Rudge, Reubens Wine Store, Dunfermline, Fife Geographically, Beaujolais is part of Burgundy, but from the wine point of view there seems little logic in the association between the Côte d`Or and the pretty, hilly, granite band of Beaujolais vineyards that run along the west bank of the Saone towards Lyon. With annual production sitting at 133 million bottles you’d think the region would be dominated by factory