Archive for April, 2008

Visiting the Highlands

My bride and I (!) have just returned from two smashing weeks near Inverness.

The first week was in Fort Augustus, at the south end of Lock Ness, staying at Old Lock-Keeper’s Cottage. This was the perfect start to the holiday, with plenty to keep us entertained for a relaxing week. Of the two pubs, the Bothy and the Lock Inn, the Lock was my favourite as it’s more “pub which serves food” compared to “restaurant with pub bar”. In both the food was great (ignoring the very odd Baileys Cheesecake at the Lock), but both sadly expensive on the drink front. With the beer at £3 per pint and soda-and-black at £2.50, I’d be permanently skint if either was my local. Fort Augustus is well worth a visit and is well placed at the midpoint of the Great Glen.

Then eastward towards Beauly, to the Belladrum Estate. We were lucky enough to stay at Tigh Romach on the estate, a restored folly. Tigh Romach is a well-equipped place and very welcoming too: the fire was set, the floors heated and the radio tuned to Classic FM as we arrived. Belladrum makes a fine base for exploring the northern end of Lock Ness, the Black Isle and surrounding stuffs. For eats, we enjoyed the Old North Inn at nearby Inchmore, the Corner On The Square delicatessen in Beauly and the Forbes Cafe at Muir of Ord :-)

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Filed under holidays : Comments (0) : Apr 22nd, 2008

Great cheesecake

There’s nothing  better than a great cheesecake, as it combines the two basic food-groups ‘cheese’ and ‘cake’.  So when the cheesecake urge strikes, the natural place to go is The Cheesecake Shop in Colwick.

Kate and I just had a splendid slice of their ‘Traditional American Baked’ and we had to immediately buy more. The service in the shop isn’t the friendliest (quite the opposite in fact) but it’s worth enduring for the quality of cake.

Cheesecake is for winners – and that’s 100% of fact.

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Filed under food : Comments (0) : Apr 3rd, 2008