When you think of Elgin, you wouldn’t really put it and fine-dining in the same sentence.
Not because the town doesn’t have a variety of great food and drink venues, which seems to just be growing, it is mainly because no one is really offering such a service there.
That was until local chef, Andy Fyfe, brought his new venue, Orrin Restaurant and Bar to the town last November.
My best friend and I were staying in Findhorn for a few days so I thought a trip to Elgin for what looks like exquisite food on Instagram, seemed like a good idea.
Orrin
I had been reading reviews on social media and booked well in advance as I knew that tables can be a little more challenging to get at prime times during the weekend.
We’d arranged to go for 7pm one Friday night recently and drove from Findhorn which was around 20 minutes.
Unfortunately for my friend we’d taken her car, so she pulled the short straw. We parked at a nearby car park and walked around to the restaurant on South Street.
Its floor to ceiling glass front gives you an eyeful of the venue before you’ve even stepped inside. I noted a long bar with seating across the way from it and various separate dining areas.
On arrival we were immediately greeted by a smiling staff member. She checked our reservation and our server then kindly showed us to our table. Offering to take our jackets, he hung them up not too far from our table.
The venue itself is dimly lit in the evenings, creating this moody, sexy atmosphere. This is a place people want to be seen and while it isn’t flashy by any means, it is elegant and very trendy.
The food
It was difficult to decide what to have as I would have easily ordered most of the options, which says a lot about the choice. However I took our server’s recommendation of oxtail cannelloni, creel caught langoustine, watercress soup and carrot ketchup (£14).
My friend, too, spied multiple dishes she would have enjoyed but opted for the wood pigeon with puy lentils, celeriac and parsley emulsion (£12).
Others that appealed were the Orkney scallop with golden raisins, Coppa ham, almonds and XO sauce, and the steak tartare with a quail’s egg, capers, shallot, parsley and crisp rye bread.
To toast our night I ordered the Vogue cocktail (£9) which had Caorunn gin, lime, fresh cranberry juice, Angostura bitters and egg white, while my bestie had a soda water and lime (£1.50).
Ahead of our starters we were treated to some olives and nuts, which were shortly followed by warm bread. I opted for the rosemary focaccia while she chose the brioche. We halved both so we could each try them.
The focaccia was fluffy and bouncy while the brioche was deliciously sweet.
Our starters arrived shortly after and both looked incredibly inviting.
The pigeon dish was fruity and the meat was rich and full of flavour.
My friend said it was the perfect size and commended on how the cabbage was delicious and almost like a chutney. She added how she hadn’t really tasted the lentils or the spinach, but both added texture and that the dish overall was perfectly gamey.
On my plate sat three juicy langoustines which went exceptionally with the oxtail cannelloni. The bright green watercress soup was poured onto the dish in front of me for extra table-side theatrics.
The shellfish was most certainly the highlight here, but every component right down to the microgreens, chopped cherry tomatoes and the carrot puree worked in harmony.
Both starters were thankfully quite light as we were eager to make it to dessert.
While we awaited the arrival of our mains we admired the setting, with our booth partly covered in a Ted Baker-esque print.
The restaurant was fully booked and there were even some customers enjoying drinks in the bar area, too. My cocktail was going down nicely and was easy to sip.
Mains were just as good with my friend’s North Sea cod (£26) proving to be a hit. It was the pea and pancetta risotto and the moist fish’s crispy skin that impressed the most. She doesn’t like beetroot so left the roasted beets but she praised the shellfish bisque.
The duck breast (£28) was very tender but it was the confit leg I could have eaten again and again. The presse potato was crisp yet soft as I cut through it and the dates, walnuts, savoy cabbage and aubergine caviar added a crunch and colour into the mix. There was plenty of jus gras to go around.
For dessert I opted for the 70% Valrhona chocolate fondant with fior di latte ice cream (£11) while it was the lemon tart with raspberry sorbet and toasted pistachios (£9) that interested my friend.
While I very much enjoyed tucking into the milky ice cream, the chocolate sponge didn’t impress me as much as I had hoped. The consistency seemed a little off and it seemed the melted chooclate inside had made the sponge rather gloopy
At 70% I expected the chocolate to overpower, but it didn’t and it lacked a richness I was on the hunt for. The honeycomb tasted more burnt the further I got to its centre and was very hard to break into with my fork slamming through the plate at times.
My friend tried it and agreed.
On the other side of the table, however, she was in her element. Everything she loves – lemon, raspberry and pistachio – all wrapped up on one elegant tart that was topped with fresh berries and crushed nuts.
The sorbet was sharp and the pastry cooked perfectly. The perfect balance of sweet and citrus. She said it was her favourte dish of the night, and may well have been the best dessert she has had.
The verdict
If you are looking to splurge a little and want to experience fine dining in Moray then Orrin in Elgin is the perfect place.
The a la carte menu has enough options on it to appeal to all, although some of the dishes come at a higher price so it is definitely somewhere I’d be going for a treat if you fancy three courses.
There is also a six-course tasting menu option for £65 per person with an optional wine flight for £25 for those who want to splash the cash, or for those watching their pennies, why not try the two-course lunch that will cost you just £21.95.
Information
Address: 2-6 South Street, Elgin, IV30 1LE
T: 01343 357564
Price: £110.50 for three courses for two, a cocktail and a soda water and lime
Scores:
- Food: 4/5
- Service: 4/5
- Surroundings: 4/5