The Scots have this dinner thing figured out. If I was ever to open a restaurant - I’d pick up a few things from them. First you are seated in the lounge where your drink order is taken and you are provided with the dinner menu. Then your dinner order is taken and you are left to enjoy your beverage in the comfy atmosphere. After a bit of time, the hostess returns to tell you that a table is ready for you in the dining room. The first time this happened, we thought that a table had literally just become available which is why we started our evening in one room before taking the journey over to the dining. Nope….I suppose the thought is that, why sit at a table anxiously awaiting your meal when you could be relaxing in a room that feels like someones lounge. People I know don’t actually have lounges in their homes but it reminds me of the game Clue which makes me smile to myself. I probably played that 500 times while growing up so its fun to pretend I’m living in the game of Clue. Except there’s no murder mystery to unravel but that might be kinda cool too. You know what i mean, I’m not trying to be creepy. Anyways….we've only had this experience twice as most of our meals have been fish and chips to go or at the local pub, but we thoroughly enjoyed it both times. I also have no idea how prevalent this practice is throughout the country and perhaps it was just a coincidence that we experienced it twice in one week!
So what have we been eating? I consistently ask the locals where to go and not rely on any guidebook. We haven’t been disappointed. The best fish and chips we had was in Portree on the Isle of Skye. Six and a half quid and plenty of fish and chips for us to share! Over the years, Jake and I have come to do a lot of splitsy’s. Ya know, order two dishes and split them. Sometimes we choose to do that and other times I’m disappointed with what I’ve ordered and he is such an awesome husband that he splits his dish with me. Also known as going halfsies - this ordering system works out well on this trip in situations where we both want to try something. In Fort William we split the venison pie….and it…grew on us. Seriously. The first bite kinda smelled weird and tasty super gamey - but literally the second bite was better than the first, the third better than the second….it was kinda weird actually. Sorry vegetarians but I absolutely love steak. So….I’ve been told that Scotland is known for its Aberdeen beef and its Orkney beef…so the nights I’ve splurged I’ve had sirloin steaks. They haven’t disappointed and I’ve been able to have them cooked how I like it - medium rare. Jake has gone for the bit more adventurous mutton and lamb shank. I tried both but they still tasted like lamb so I wasn’t into it. Isn’t it amazing how each of our taste buds are so unique? Unrelated - but what the heck is salad cream? It looks as gross as it sounds and its everywhere here…in the same kind of packets that you’d find ketchup and mustard to go. Over here they charge you 10p for a ketchup pack and 5p for a plastic bag if you want one at the grocery store. Waste not want not - we love it! Today is our last day in Orkney and so we splurged on a nice seafood lunch. If you want to look it up, it was called Skerries Bistro and it was on the very southern tip of South Ronaldsay island. A pretty incredible location but unfortunately we were in the fog so couldn’t really enjoy the view. I’m not letting stuff like that get me down and ya know what, I think I would have if I was only on a weeks holiday. It’s a great feeling if you just enjoy the moment you’re having and not thinking about the moment you are missing out on. The food was great although not enough for me. Seriously, I’m always hungry. Jake asked me the other day if I was like that growing up. I’m not sure! Mom? Dad? I bet Mrs. Therrien would say yes because I always wanted to eat the Twix and Swiss cake rolls from their hallway cupboard and their ice cream in the freezer. LOL. Anywho, I had Orkney diver hand picked sea scallops. They were pretty good but Jake’s seafood platter looked much more interesting except I’m not into that kind of seafood (smoked salmon, pickled herring, crab….ick….).
Last night in Orkney then two in Edinburgh before heading off to Norway!
~Jesslyn