I once had a pretty uncomfortable experience at the Castle Hotel (see here) but have been back a couple of times since with much better results (see here for one such occasion). Happily this visit was another winner. A table for six plus highchair was booked in the dining room, and we were shown to the bar first for drinks and to peruse the a la carte menu. When our table was ready we moved through to the dining room, although it was a wee while before our starters actually arrived. I had the traditional Greek salad; feta cheese, black olives, tomatoes, cucumber and salad leaves, and it was just fine. Other starters sampled included Gressingham duck breast, served with relish and a slice of gingerbread (apparently a very good combination of flavours), and "devilled" whitebait with tartar sauce (it didn't look particularly devilled to me but then I wasn't eating it). For my main course I had salmon fillet on crushed new potatoes, served with a fresh salsa and not-so-fresh green beans (they were a bit overdone for my taste). It was a huge fillet of salmon by restaurant standards, and in fact I couldn't quite finish it. A delicious dish. The roast beef and lamb options were also declared to be top notch. No-one had room for pudding, but teas and coffees all round. I asked for lemon with my earl grey tea and was brought a fairly hefty slice rather then the thin slices I usually expect - I suspect it came from the bar stock for plonking into glasses. Picky but there you go - sometimes the little things really count. I did also notice there was a large platter of delicious looking tablet and chocolates on the big sideboard where the staff served the food from, but sadly we weren't offered any with our teas! I can't tell you how much the bill in total was as I was lucky enough not to be paying, and in fact there were no prices printed on the a la carte menu either. Having had a few good experiences after my first unfortunate visit, I've really warmed to the Castle Hotel. It's a genuine family affair too, and the owners, Linda and Andrew, usually make a point of stopping by for a brief chat. One member of our party was celebrating a birthday so Andrew brought in an elaborate cupcake, complete with candle, and sang Happy Birthday. Afterwards we all enjoyed a walk in the sun down to Huntly Castle, where hubby and I broke off from the group and wandered round the castle with two tubs of Rizzas ice cream....a lovely day out.
http://www.castlehotel.uk.com/cuisine/therestaurant/ (on a side note, I'm loving the musical notes that chime out as you hover over the website's navigation bar!)
Visited 1pm Sunday 10 April 2011
