To finish off our stay (more on that to come) at the Macdonald Marine Hotel & Spa North Berwick, East Lothian we tried out their newly launched Sunday lunch concept at their Craigleith Restaurant. With the sun shining we were treated to lovely clear views overlooking the West Links Golf Course and the Firth of Forth. With one, two or three courses available, the new Sunday lunch menu uses the finest seasonal ingredients from high quality local suppliers.
To whet your appetite you can choose from an unlimited selection of hors d’oeuvres from the chef’s table, which features an indulgent array of dishes and creates a relaxed family experience. From the seafood bar, cured artisan meats and cheeses, speciality breads with pickles and chutneys and marinated olives, to the range of roast vegetable and couscous, Caesar, Greek and house salads, guests will be spoilt for choice. I can safely say that I made the most of this. They had a lot of the foods I have been seeking out recently.
If you’ve managed to leave some room for mains, you can choose from a Roast 21 Day Aged Scottish Beef, accompanied by roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, Pan Fried Pave of Cod with new potatoes, leeks and parsley veloute, Roast Chicken Breast with braised cabbage and carrots or a Spring Vegetable Risotto with feta and watercress for those wanting a vegetarian option.
By the time we’d had 2 courses we actually didn’t have any room left for dessert. Note to self, next time we visit don’t go crazy with the starters. If you manage to save a little room for dessert you can choose from a light Vanilla Panna Cotta with strawberry, elderflower and Prosecco soup, a dark chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream, Ice Cranachan Parfait with whisky flapjack and raspberry sorbet and a selection of Scottish cheeses, oatcakes, celery, grapes and chutney.
The restaurant is headed by top chef David Quinn, who has extensive culinary experience producing high-end menus at a range of award winning restaurants. He said: “I am passionate about food and about using the best produce available, which is why Macdonald Marine Hotel & Spa is the perfect fit. Diners can expect nothing but the best from the new Sunday lunch menu and we are looking forward to welcoming foodies from East Lothian and further afield to enjoy this new dining experience.”
Prices for Sunday lunch start from £29.95 for two courses and £34.95 for three courses. Did we mention that they also have a bloody Mary station?? If only I could drink and if only I liked tomato juice.
Our verdict
Lunch was great. After a mixed dining experience the previous night I was glad that it exceeded our expectations. The help yourself starters is a great idea and means you can have a little bit of everything. Everything on the tables was fresh and you could tell they had selected fine quality ingredients. It’s a shame I couldn’t make the most of the shellfish but Mr E thoroughly enjoyed my share as well. One top tip would be to not go crazy and overload your plate. You can always go back for more with the items being replenished frequently. The highlight for me were the scotch eggs. Absolutely delicious.
When our main course arrived we were again pleasantly surprised at the generous portion sizes. We had previously been to a similar set-up and found the offerings for main to be a tad on the skimpy side. Here there was plenty of meat and fluffy roast potatoes. The selection of veg on offer was also good with the option to refill if you still had room. The meat was perhaps a little bit more fatty than we would have liked but that added to the flavour and there wasn’t much wastage.
Unfortunately as I mentioned above we didn’t expect quite such generous portions we had well and truly ran out of room for dessert. That’s probably a good thing as I would have struggled to pick a favourite. It’s well worth popping in if your in North Berwick for some lunch, it’s great value and they do a good Sunday lunch with the added bonus of the beautiful views.
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