Lunch at the Whitehouse, Lochaline
Now in Edinburgh, via the most delicious lunch at the Whitehouse, Lochaline on the Morvern Peninsula. Lovely flat ... two late-night shops opposite, and a baker, which, amazingly, opened for business at 11pm, having been shut earlier in the evening. I bought rolls for breakfast there, delicious soft baps to set us up for a frenetic day at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Yesterday started out leisurely, on the Fishnish to Lochaline ferry, then a tiny walk (so tiny that we stopped at the first available spot to finish the crossword puzzle!), and a stroll up the hill with our friends to the Whitehouse. This is a beacon of excellence in an utterly remote part of the British isles, all the ingredients sourced locally, and beautifully presented - in lovely unpretentious rooms, the plain tables laid with slate mats and linen napkins. Perfect.
The short menu is presented on a blackboard by a friendly waitress - it's the kind of menu where you want to eat everything, so it's really hard to choose. Fish for the adults, huge portions of meat for the young (you'd think we hadn't been feeding them all week!), all beautifully presented. As you can see from the photograph, I had the mackerel ;-) with what is called in that part of the world a prawn, but by the rest of the country a langoustine.
The great discovery for all of us was the herb sweet cecily, which looks like nothing so much as a miniature frond of bracken, and which tastes utterly wonderful, sweetly scented, an essence of summer.
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6 comments:
You are making me hungry! The Whitehouse sounds like the place to go for beautifully served local foods. I liked the slate and linen idea. Keep on having fun!
Lovely! Yummy!
As Sue said - keep on having fun!
Have a good time at the fringe! I go every year and would usually be there today at the start, but I am snowed under with wedding preparations. So you will have to enjoy it for me and I will live it vicariously through you!
My sister says cecily smells/tastes of anise - is she right? Your description sounds wonderfully evocative, especially as we're in the dark depths of winter here in NZ - roll on summer!
Yes, Nigel, it's a little aniseedy, but not so much that it tastes like a gobstopper. I'll look it up properly when I get home, because I'm keen to grow it. A quick search on the net shows that it's hard to germinate, so best found as a plant, and a hardy-ish perennial.
More mackerel, I'm liking it!
You are really having the best of times. Love the baker open at 11pm! Wow.
What a great combo to have slate mats and linen napkins!
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