Just a quick blog this evening. A busy week saw us heading to the Riverhill Courtyard, Helensburgh to check out the Friday Burgers. Ordinarily we would have worked our way through the 5 for £5 each cocktail list but I was driving, we had E with us and J is more of an IPA man. However, I have sampled most of them on cocktail evenings and I would recommend. To the burgers: beef with cheese for E; spiced lamb with a coriander yogurt for J; and buttermilk chicken for me. They were absolutely delicious. Soft, fresh, homemade brioche buns with succulent, well seasoned meat, crunchy pickles and divine relishes. There is a veggie burger for those less carnivorous but I confess I didn't take in what it was.
The nif naf and trivia...... 20% military discount Mon-Thurs, Wednesday is Steak Night 2 steaks and a bottle of wine £30, Cocktail Masterclass £20 per head. For more details: www.riverhillcafe.com
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The softly opening Ferg n Lou's is a very welcome addition to the Helensburgh and Lomond area's cafe scene. Located in Garelochhead, on Main Street, the now transformed cafe offers a warm welcome, very reasonably priced tasty food and the awesome coffee that can only be from the Cardross based Home Ground Coffee Having only meant to drop in for coffee, a glance at the menu meant we were clearly going to stay for food and at only £3 for a warm, well filled bagel there was no reason not to. One of our party, after an active morning, went for the "Breakfast Bunny Chow" and when it came out, I experienced a pin prick of regret that I'd already had a decent breakfast and really couldn't justify having a second one. A light brioche bun filled with beans, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, sausage and egg with peppery rocket on the side. It was declared delicious and just the right amount. iI can see Ferg n Lou's swiftly becoming a popular place for a quick, light bite to eat or a place to linger over great coffee and cake. The customers today were a diverse bunch from walkers to sailors, ladies who lunch and workmen stopping off on their break. I love the South African influence, the simple yet bold flavours and the freshness of their food.
Big thumbs up. Ferg n Lou's Main Road Garelochhead www.fergnlous.co.uk 01436810264 We've been meaning to visit the Luss Smokehouse since it opened this summer but as ever we've never quite managed it until today, and still didn't manage it since the Smokehouse was shut up tight (failed to check the opening hours online so entirely our own fault!). We decided to cross the road to the Luss Seafood Bar instead, which we then discovered is closed for a refurb. There is a good reason for the refurb though which is to be able to serve hot food, exciting news so we will be back when it's up and running again. Undaunted, we headed for the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel for lunch.
We've been coming to the Loch Lomond Arms since it reopened in 2012 and it's been mostly hit but on occasions miss. Back in 2012, the food was stunning with a great (and excellent value) children's menu and it became the place to visit a couple of Sundays a month whilst the other halves were deployed. It never failed to be the highlight of the weekend with superb food and staff. At the back end of 2013 something changed and it wasn't the same so we stopped coming and the couple of times since then it's not been quite right, the food just wasn't as good as it had been. It was nothing worth complaining about but not worth the drive from Helensburgh. Today was a sandwich day. I had a Ham, Pickle and Egg sandwich and J a Luss Smokehouse Smoked Salmon sandwich. When I say "I had", I mean I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a cracking (pun fully intended) sandwich with masses of melt in the mouth ham and soft, brilliantly coloured egg bound together with punchy, crunchy piccalilli on flavoursome Mhor bread. Accompanying the sandwich were two pots, one of potato salad and one of crisps. The crisps were fine; plain ready salted own brand crisps but I felt the sandwich deserved more. It was crying out for warm, homemade game chips sprinkled with sea salt - nothing else required. J was under whelmed and disappointed on the amount of filling front. If you're going to serve a sandwich that showcases a local product such as Luss Smokehouse smoked salmon then load the sandwich up, show it off. There was one, lonely slice of smoked salmon that didn't even reach the edge of the bread, which for £9 is pretty miserly. That said, the salmon was delicious on delicately flavoured dill cream cheese and cucumber slices - perhaps the plan was to leave us wanting more. In summary, we’ll be back with the child. The full menu is interesting and varied and having got one sandwich spot on (we’ll gloss over the other sandwich’s short comings); it’s a safe bet that the rest of the food will be as good if not better. |
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