Eateries - Taypark House, Dundee

So I thought it'd be fun to start a blog series with my favourite local places to eat & drink, you know, just in case anyone is ever in my neck of the woods!!  (She says trying to justify going out for breakfast once a week!!)  

Somehow, myself & my two good friends seem to be heading out for breakfast on a Monday morning now - not every single week, although it seems to be heading that way!  There are so many fabulous places near to us to choose from so I thought I'd start sharing them.  The place we visited this morning is totally new to all of us & was on a recommendation of my friend's sister-in-law & it is truly fabulous.  In fact, I think I'll go all out & say it's my new favourite eatery!

Welcome to Taypark House, Dundee.

Taypark House on the Perth Road is a former Scots Baronial home dating back to circa 1863 & is Category B Listed, isn't it just stunning?  There are several different rooms to eat & drink in, each with slightly different decor but equally as stunning.  The rooms are full of quirky decorative items & furniture & I have completely fallen in love with the place!  

I'm sorry about the 'toilet' photo but even those were fabulous!!  I appreciate that everywhere is fairly new & therefore spotlessly clean at the moment but I love the thoughtful touches of leaving a basket full of nappies & wipes & providing a comfortable tartan armchair in the bay window for breastfeeding mums.  Somebody has clearly done their research before doing this place up!

They have 4 suites on the first floor & 2 further rooms on the second floor boasting 180 degree views of the River Tay, which on a glorious day like today, would be stunning!  I noticed that they also do a supper club which I might have to investigate further for a certain upcoming birthday & you can hire rooms for private functions too.

We enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, crispy bacon & maple syrup, which was divine & a total bargain at only £3.50!!  They serve Matthew Algie coffee, which I'm a huge fan of & we will most certainly be back soon.  We have to try out the lunch menu next!!

I found their menu on their Facebook page.

So, if you're ever in the vicinity of Dundee, I highly recommend a visit here, you'll not be disappointed!

Brunch at St Andrews

It's been a couple of months since we last took a trip over the river to St Andrews so we decided we'd go last Sunday & have brunch at our favourite place to eat, Mitchell's.  I'd actually had the foresight this time to pre-book a table as this place gets mightily busy, a true indication of its popularity with both tourists & locals.

 

 

 

 

 

From the outside, this deli~café has the sort of rustic charm that just draws you towards it, it's so inviting.  And as you open the door, you are faced with the most fabulous deli counter stocking all manner of local & seasonal ingredients & the smells wafting around make you instantly start to salivate!

 

The staff are always really welcoming & helpful & it's very child-friendly too, something very important to me.  I can think of nothing worse than going out for a bite to eat with my 4 year old son in tow & made to feel like the staff are counting down the minutes until you leave so they can fill the table with adults only!!  Luckily, this very rarely happens now.......but it has happened.  There's none of that malarkey here though!

 

 

 

 

This is the first time we'd been in for brunch as we normally enjoy lunch here but we both ordered the full Scottish breakfast which was delicious.  The haggis, I can say with all certainty, was the tastiest I've ever tried, just scrummy & Mr F reckons you'd be hard pushed to find a better brekkie served anywhere.  They happily adapted a dish too so my son could have scrambled eggs on toast, which he scoffed down in record time! The coffee, which is lovely & strong (although not so strong it strips the roof of your mouth!) is served in great mugs, none of these super-sized coffee cups that require 2 hands to lift them.  And of course, the bonus part......a wee chunk of tablet on the side.

 

 

 

 

As fab as the breakfasts were, if you ever get the chance to go in for lunch, I urge you to try the rare roast beef & horseradish sandwich served with vegetable crisps, pictured above.  Every time we eat here I say I'll try something different but I always end up with this sandwich as it's just so good.  End of!!

 

I'd like to make it clear that I have no ties whatsoever with Mitchell's, I just think it truly is a great place to eat, drink & be merry & urge you to give the place a whirl should you ever be in St Andrews!!  I'm now eagerly awaiting the opening of Forgan's next door.......

 

 

 

 



Lazy Sunday afternoon

I'm having the most lovely lazy day today instead of our usual Sunday shenanigans of bombing round B&Q or Homebase & then decorating!  I was actually left to lie in this morning & didn't even wake up until 9.45am so I just thought I'd carry the lazy theme on with a little breakfast in bed catching up on my blogs via Bloglovin' (how fab is this website?!)

 

I've decided that I seriously need to get back on the diet bandwagon that I have so dramatically fallen off of in recent months so today will be my last day of gorging on piggylicious food!  I'm doing a bloody delish slow-cooked smokey bbq pulled pork served in soft, floury rolls with 'slaw & potato wedges followed by yesterday's leftover coconut cake with frozen yoghurt.  This is such an easy dish to make & as you leave it in the slow-cooker all day, you can just go about your day as normal.  Try it, I promise you'll love it!  This recipe has been adapted slightly from www.skinnytaste.com

 

Slow-cooked BBQ pulled pork

serves 4-6

 

1.5kg boneless shoulder of pork, trimmed of all fat & rind, if any

1 large onion, sliced into half moons

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp Hickory liquid smoke

1 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp sea salt

 2 small jars of bbq sauce

 

 

Directions

 

Scatter half of the onion on the bottom of your slow-cooker pot & place the pork on top.

Scatter the rest of the onion & other ingredients over the top but only use ONE jar of sauce.

Cover & leave on medium for 6-7 hours.

Remove the pork & set aside.  Shred it with 2 forks & put back in the slow-cooker with the remaining jar of bbq sauce. 

Cook on low for another hour.

Serve on rolls with coleslaw & potato wedges or skinny fries.

Nom nom!!

 

 

Although my cousin brought me my liquid smoke from the US when they were last here, it's also available from Amazon & really is worth buying.  It can be used on so many things, steak & salmon are favourites for us.  The coconut cake is also fantastic, so moist & very moreish.  I add a few drops of pure coconut extract just to pump up the flavour a bit & love the one from Uncle Roy's.

 

Coconut Cake

oven 180c   grease & line a 20cm square pan

 

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

25g cornflour

225g soft butter or Stork tub

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

50g dessicated coconut soaked in 150ml boiling water & left to cool

few drops coconut extract

*

100g soft butter

200g icing sugar, sieved

few drops of coconut extract

3 tsp Malibu (optional)

toasted coconut (optional)

 

Cream the butter & sugar well then add the coconut extract. 

Beat the eggs in one at a time with a tbsp of flour, cornflour & baking powder with each one.

Fold in the rest of the flour, cornflour & baking powder.

Add the soaked coconut (don't drain if water has not all absorbed)

Pour into the tin & bake for around 35 minutes (ovens will vary so test)

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Toast a handful of coconut in a dry pan if you want to use as decoration & extra crunch.

Cream togther the butter & icing sugar & add the coconut extract & Malibu.

Spread over the cool cake & sprinkle toasted coconut on top.

 

 

Anyway, it's going to be an early wine o'clock for me today, the last for a while!  And the sun is shining & I have to ask myself why I'm sitting in my wee office...it'll probably be torrential rain again tomorrow.....or snow.......

Bon dimanche a tout le monde!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Excuse the laundry!!!*