Undiscovered Scotland

 

Knockderry House can be described as a superb hotel in a superb setting offering superb food in comfortable surroundings. Dining takes place either in the dining room, or the ante room, or both. The dining room occupies the area to the right of the entrance hall. Burgundy decor goes well with the wood panelling and detailing, and there are some spectacular stained glass windows on view. The ante room is back through the reception area. This can be divided from the corridor by a curtain and provides an unexpectedly intimate venue for a candlelit dinner. You can read our hotel review for Knockderry House Hotel here.

The hotel serves lunch and dinner daily. In addition to the main menu in the dining room and ante room, those looking for a snack can select from the the Light Bites menu which is avalable lunchtimes and evenings in the bar.

Knockderry House Hotel prides itself on its use of fresh Scottish produce and its seasonally changing à la carte menus are dominated by the produce of the sea lochs and rich pastures of Scotland. As a result, the venison served by the hotel is stalked in the local hills and mountains; organic milk fed beef comes from Portnellan Farm on Loch Lomond; scallops are from Oban; black pudding comes from Stornoway; and breakfast eggs are laid in the next village.

Individual menu items are likely to reveal more examples of Scottish produce, such as halibut from Wick, asparagus from Eassie Farm in Angus, and steaks from the Hebrides.

When your food is served, you realise that the care taken in sourcing the very best ingredients is fully matched by the care taken in preparing them for your plate. When we visited we went for starters of scallops and black pudding, and "Eassie farm new season asparagus, smoked Ayrshire ham hock, garlic croutons and poached hen egg". Both were excellent, and if you find Angus asparagus on the menu when you visit, we'd particularly recommend it. The range of main courses was unusually wide, and we went for "baked corn fed chicken with wild garlic, chorizo and spinach risotto" and "maple glazed pork shoulder with sweet potato and spring greens". The inclusion of wild garlic was another superb seasonal touch: catch it while you can! The high quality of the food is done full justice by the high quality of the service.

Breakfast is served in the dining room. The self service first course includes fresh croissants and porridge is provided with any combination of salt, milk, cream and honey. The main courses available include a vegetarian option with vegetarian black pudding; smoked salmon with scrambled egg; smoked haddock; Loch Fyne kipper; and, of course, the full Scottish. And this is a particularly fine example of a full Scottish breakfast, including superb bacon and black pudding and an egg cooked exactly as you want it to be. You can read our hotel review for Knockderry House Hotel here.