An afternoon in the Kitchin

Oooft, I.  AM.  STUFFED. And I had the meal I’m about to discuss several days ago (at the time of writing…several weeks ago as of now!).  So, I went for a rather delightful meal the other day with my family to a place called ‘The Kitchin’, a Michelin starred French restaurant near the docks.  Run by Tom Kitchin and his wife, it’s a restaurant with a simple philosophy: From nature to Plate.  Simply put, they look for the freshest ingredients in Scotland and serve you them on a plate or a bowl or ramekin or, well, you get the idea.

The weekend actually started on the Friday, when my parent came up for the meal (I had bought my parents and my sister the lunch package with wine for Christmas) and we went for a drink at the local pub.  Along with my sister’s friend Andy, we had a drink before some homemade ramen for dinner with some sake.

The next morning, we headed off to this rather delightful restaurant and were ushered into the bar for a drink before our table.  During the drinks, we were served some crudites with a blue cheese dip.  Crudites are kind of like long crisps in four different flavours (including squid ink), which were deliciously moreish.

After a lazy drink, we were ushered to our table were we were soon being served by a veritable army of servers, as they brought us fresh baked bread that was still steaming and our first dish: an Hors d'oeuvre of cool carrot and ginger puree with carrot and radish.  Not exactly the prettiest dish to look at (don’t think about what it looks like – Gourmet Ed) but refreshing and tasty.  A good start.  In addition, we were all given a rolled up scroll that had a map of where all the ingredients were sourced from as well.  You know a meal is good when you’re given a scroll with it.

Next was our starter, in which I had the Lamb Haggis Cannelloni with summer vegetables and a lamb consommé.  And it was beautiful.  Truly a beautiful starter that really raised the bar for most starters I will have.  I don’t know where to get lamb haggis but by god, I am going to look for it.  In addition, because we bought the wine package, I was served a nice glass of Moulin-A-Vent ‘Les Michelons’.  

Now, the wine package meant that for each meal, we were served a glass of wine that was matched to the deal, which really added an extra dimension to the meal.  Not only did we get the wine, but the sommelier would come and give us information about the wine.  You even learned during the meal!!!  Fantastic!! 

Next up was the Guinea Fowl with crispy potato terrine, peas and mousseron mushrooms which was just as brilliant as the starter, serve along with a fine glass of Etna Rosso.  With the juicy bits juicy and the crispy bits crispy, you can’t get much better.  I’m totally underselling it but I am really not a food blogger so I won't pretend to be.  If you're interested, the first picture is a massive lobster my sister had.

Then, it was with a mixture of sadness and anticipation that the final meal was served: my lemon curd soufflé with Knockraich Farm yoghurt ice cream.  There is something about your dessert being light and fluffy whilst still being roasting hot that is just…fun.  It helps that I’m a sucker for anything lemony… 

After wolfing down my perfectly formed soufflé, there was just enough time for a coffee.  The coffee was also served with some petit fours, an orange macaroon and a salted caramel truffle.  Despite being 100% stuffed, I still managed to squeeze these sweet treats in and then I was done.  I melted into a suitably stuffed puddle of food glory.

OK, so I basically just served up a blog describing what I ate for lunch one day, but I just had to.  The meal was one of, if not the best meal I’ve had in my life.  It was also a nice afternoon spent with my family as well, bonding over a shared love of food.  Bliss.

Pick of the Week

Juicy Rap News – Have you ever been watching the news and thought to yourself, ‘I wish this was being rapped to me?’  Me neither but if you have, then this is for you.  And it is brilliant.  The description is very much in the title: a group of rappers who rap about key issues of the moment.  The colourful characters also help to add a rather amusing dimension as well.  Warning, side effect: you will never see the regular news the same way and will hope the presenters will burst into song after watching.

Music of the Week

Time for a golden oldie this week, and one of the heavy metal lovers out there: Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark.

Well then, I will see you all next week...if I've reformed from my puddle of food glory!