First meal at home after traveling: local lamb chops and sugar snap peas (not local).
I went to Scotland as part of a group organized by Nancy Erickson. I had been on Nancy's first Italy tour, 20 years ago, and now on her first(?) Scotland Tour. The focus was a mix of fashion and history, with tours of historic sites, knitting and weaving mills, and outlets. Nancy is a warm and wonderful guide, my friend Liana is warm and funny and a great roommate, and I had a good time. It was my first trip to Scotland, my first trip out of the country since George died, and my first trip out of the country since I learning of my own dietary restrictions.
Perhaps it is because I am thinking about food, being home and once again engaged in shopping and cooking and all that, perhaps it is just because food was a minor concern, but it seems like a good enough place to start. Above, Liana and I are sharing complimentary gin and tonics in the lobby of the G&V Royal Mile Hotel our first afternoon in Edinburgh.
First, the Hotels:
We stayed at the G&V Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The location was convenient, both to the Royal mile, but it was also a short walk from Grassmarket, an area with many small shops and nice options for dining on those evenings we were on our own. The hotel is fairly contemporary. I liked our room and although the bed was a little hard for me, the pillows were divinely soft and fluffy. Espresso, tea, water and milk were provided at no charge in the room, and were generously replaced daily, and on request. Our first room was large and roomy with space to sit and chat, and the second (after going up to Inverness and returning) was smaller but still charming. In our first room the A/C worked beautifully and we could adjust the temperature to suit us. In the second room, it was always hot. Once, in the middle of the night, Liana turned the temperature down to 16°C and a cool breeze briefly circulated, only for the room to quickly return to stifling heat. The next night, the room was in the upper 70s (F) but the thermostat was still set to 16 and I turned it lower, to no avail. But this was a small problem and I otherwise loved the hotel, which had a lovely hot and cold breakfast options and always made me smile with its charming, Timorous Beasties, décor in the restaurant.
In Inverness we stayed at the Best Western Inverness Palace, which was a charming old hotel and conveniently located, within walking distance of restaurants and shopping. Our room was lovely, with a view over the river, (seen below) and windows that opened wide, which was good as there was no A/C and the room would otherwise have been stuffy. The staff were very helpful and kind, but there was no coffee before 8, and then you had to buy it at the Starbucks station in the bar. Or I preferred to buy it as the coffee in the dining room was awful, and the rest of the food was adequate but uninspiring. The scotch selection in the bar was excellent however, and the prices were very good, at least as compared to what we found in Edinburgh. Oh yes, I learned that I do, indeed, like Scotch Whiskey.
Eating and Drinking:
Our trip wasn't really about food, which sounds odd considering that I am almost always interested in food, although at the same time I am aware that I can be difficult, and do not expect people to go to great lengths to accommodate me. I knew I would eat, and for that I would be happy. The group meals were mostly good and an effort was made to seek out interesting local venues, which is not easy when you are organizing a group of 13 women.
For the most part every place we went in Scotland was very accommodating to gluten-free options, even small pubs, more so than in the United States, gluten-free bread was always available, and most places would bring me my own little bowls of olive oil for dippng. Even more interesting to me, was how many places had dedicated fryers for chips, so that chips were also often gluten-free, something that rarely happens on this side of the pond. I ate more chips in Scotland than I have in the past five years, and I lost weight. Go tell.
The best meal of the trip was one Liana and I had at a small place called The Grain Store, a short walk from our hotel on Victoria Street. We dubbed the meal "the birds of Scotland" because Liana had partridge and wood pigeon and I had the grouse, shown above, which came with nettle berries and Tuscan Kale. There was nothing on the menu that was strictly both gluten-free and dairy-free, but the chef was very willing to work with me, and the food was excellent. When I am in Edinburgh again, I will return.
My second and third favorite restaurants are tied in my memory. We ate at Scran and Scallie our first night. It was a group meal and I was tired. I remember that I had the best gluten-free bread that I ate in Scotland at that meal, and that the rest of my meal was excellent as well, but I don't remember anything else. I would go back. The other place was a little spot Liana and I went to twice, called Howie's. It was casual and excellent. The first night I had mussels, the second time a steak, and it was an excellent steak, far better than the one I had at a much fancier restaurant which was one of our group meals. Our second night at Howie's, Liana and I had just returned from Inverness, where we started tasting whiskys. We had a couple of whisky flights and shared, the photo is Liana's.
As for all the other meals, they were good. I ate well. Most people are accommodating. I wish I could have had haggis and black pudding, but the oats are a problem. I don't know if the problem is with cross contamination, which is often a problem here with oats unless they are labeled gluten-free, or if labeling in Great Britain is stricter than in the US. I know that oats have a protein that, although not gluten, does imitate gluten to some extent and many people have trouble with oats. I used to not, but haven't had oats in years, and may in fact have a problem now. I'm not one to focus my energies on what I can't do, or have; there are plenty of other options in the world.
In fact, Scotland has made me think about food again here, some of that due to regulations about food quality which are far stricter than those in the US and partly just due to the experience of trying new things of learning new perspectives on old ideas. Travel is great for that. I ate a lot of carrot soup. It seemed to be the standard dairy-free option in many spots: carrot-ginger, carrot-coriander, curried carrot. The best carrot soup I had was at the little café at the Highland Folk Museum. Truthfully, I never thought about carrot soup before, now I think it is something worth exploring. And desserts. I encountered some fascinating desserts. Although my companions got all kinds of wonderful rich and gooey things, I think I got the best options of all.