Undiscovered Scotland

 

Rather unusually for a small hotel, there are two restaurants at The Parklands Hotel, each with its own distinct style. The quality of the food on offer in both is excellent, with the result that in a city with a large number of places to eat, The Parklands Hotel's two restaurants (plus a third, 63 Tay Street, owned by the hotel and located elsewhere in Perth) provide a strong draw in themselves. It is especially pleasing to be able to report that the quality of the breakfasts on offer at The Parklands is up to the very high standard of the dinners. You can read our hotel review for The Parklands Hotel here.

The hotel's 63@Parklands restaurant offers a fine dining experience with all the trappings, and is an especially attractive option for those who want to enjoy a meal that is an event in itself. 63@Parklands is open for dinner from Thursday to Monday each week and offers the sort of standard of service that you would expect from the best of specialist restaurants. Meanwhile the quality of the food on offer from the frequently changing menu has earned 63@Parklands the coveted award of 2 Rosettes from the AA for a number of years. At the time of our visit the fixed price menu offered a choice of two starters followed by soup, then a choice of three mains followed cheese, with a choice of two desserts to conclude.

Those looking for a more informal dining experience at The Parklands can opt to eat in No.1 The Bank Bistro. The relationship between the two restaurants is not as straightforward as you might expect. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if a hotel has a "best restaurant" then the alternative must be "second best". What sets 63@Parklands and No.1 The Bank Bistro apart is not the quality of the food on offer, but whether you decide you want to go for the full fine dining experience or for something less formal. Do you want an event to savour in its own right, or do you want equally excellent food served a little more quickly and without fine dining extras like an amuse bouche? The other difference between the restaurants is that 63@Parklands opens five days each week for dinner only, while No.1 The Bank Bistro opens seven days each week for both lunch and dinner.

We dined in No.1 The Bank Bistro and were extremely pleased with the food and the very high standard of service. At the time of our visit there were eight starters on offer on the bistro's dinner menu, plus ten mains and six desserts.

For our starters we chose the "Stirling gin poached pear with oatmeal granola, Rannoch smoked venison and chicory" and the "Dunkeld hot smoked salmon, chopped Gloagburn egg with Arran mustard and rocket." Both were outstanding. We went for contrasting options for our mains, choosing the Scotch beef fillet steak and the "Parklands beef burger with bacon, Mull cheddar and mustard onions and handcut chips." It would be unfair to compare one with the other, suffice it to say that the steak was magnificent and the burger was one of the best we have enjoyed. The dessert of "maple and pecan baked cheesecake with rum and raisin ice cream" was thoroughly enjoyable, and a simple choice of the "selection of homemade ice creams, shortbread and caramel sauce" showed the high quality of the kitchen's work.

Breakfast at The Parklands Hotel is a particular pleasure. It is clear that every bit as much care and attention is lavished on the preparation of breakfast as is lavished on dinner. This is not something you find as often as you might hope when staying at establishments highly rated for their dining, so is worthy of comment and praise when it happens. Dinner is a way of rounding off your day: but breakfast sets you up for the next one, and your breakfast at The Parklands will certainly set you up for whatever you have planned.

The buffet starter course for breakfast is nicely presented and the range of main course options is wide, extending from kippers or salmon to porridge or bacon and waffles. There is, of course, also a choice of all the usual components of a full cooked breakfast. Whatever you choose your food arrives exactly as specified and freshly cooked to order. Meanwhile you can choose from the range of teas and coffees available. You can read our hotel review for The Parklands Hotel here.