A recent winterbreak in Peebles was a happy surprise - dinner, bed and breakfast, complete with friendly, expert service, a nice view, plus gym and swimming facilities for little more than the price of a meal in a good Edinburgh restaurant.
MacDonald hotels - there are others elsewhere in Scotland - seem to get things right, and this one between Peebles and Innerleithen was a nice place to spend a night. The pleasant restaurant uses good ingredients, including free-range chickens and eggs, and cooks them with some flair. The menu is short, sensible, modern. For main dish I had two sorts of steak with a mustard and carrot sauce and herby mashed potato, preceded by a ham terrine. My wife began with a salmon and mackerel roulade followed by lamb. Puddings included an exceptionally light, undemonstrative creme brulee.
Though the wines were not cheap, there were enough good things under £30 as well as a free bottle awaiting us in our room. Though this was no more than a pink Italian Zinfandel (presumably Primitivo), at least it was dry and a welcome, drinkable gesture.
The award-winning breakfast incorporated fresh unsalted butter and the best hotel coffee I have tasted in a long time. When I asked what it was, the waiter supplied the answer promptly. It was Matthew Algie’s Ethiopian, and thus could hardly have been better chosen. We celebrated with a second cafetiere.
25 February 2015
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