I recently stayed at the Macdonald Forest Hills Hotel & Spa – the blog post about my luxurious stay is on its way!

To start off, here’s a look at their main restaurant, The Garden Restaurant. It’s probably called that because you have a stunning view of the grounds from there!

The restaurant is run by their newly recruited head chef, James McCulloch Thomson who came to speak to us about his recent appointment to the hotel. He is in the process of building a new kitchen team and changing the way the AA Rosette restaurant operates. He is much like myself in his fondness for Scotland’s natural larder so I was keen to sample the goods!

We decided to celebrate the start of our stay, and indeed, the beginning of the summer holidays with a couple of glasses of bubbly!

And bread…

I wish I could avoid bread as I end up ridiculously bloated… but I can’t. It was so soft and wonderful. Sadly I can’t tell you what the orange one is by taste, and the waiter I asked didn’t know…

Goats Cheese & Black Pepper Mousse with Olive Tapenade & Beetroot Salad

The goats cheese mousse was absolutely gorgeous, although I have to say that the black pepper element was lost on me – I really didn’t taste it. Despite that, it was luxuriously creamy with a beautiful texture. Beetroot and goats cheese are always a beautiful combination, and I really loved the tapenade as an addition. My only complaint is that a I could’ve done with more beetroot, especially given how generously they portioned the cheese! 

Stornaway Black Pudding, Poached Egg with Sweet Potato & Sweetcorn Velouté

This is a simple dish that I’ve tried many variations of before, but the sweetness from the sweet potato and corn was the twist. It was unusual, but I really liked it 

Pan Roast Hake with Potato & Pancetta Salad, Clams & Mussels

Now, this is what I call a main course. This is just my kinda dish – I LOVED every bite. The fish was gorgeously meaty and cooked perfectly with nice and crispy skin and tender meat. The creamy sauce was laced with the shellfish and garden peas which gave pops of sweetness. The chunks of potato were perfect in number and soaked up the sauce beautifully when crushed. Absolutely heaven. 

Spatchcock Quail with Haggis

My friend ordered this, and I’ll just leave you with the picture as I didn’t actually try any. I was totally in love with my own dish! 

Chips ‘n’ Greens

Lemon Tart

How gorgeous are the colours? They taste the way they look too. Beautifully fresh, sweet and tangy.  

Apple Tart Tatin

I’m not a massive fan of cooked apple, but  every now and then I take a notion for it! This was one of those days, and it was s good move. I really enjoyed the flaky pastry with a gorgeous toffee apple combination on top. 

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Macdonald Forest Hills Hotel & Spa

Kinlochard

Aberfoyle

FK8 3TL

http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk

@MacForestHills

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