Mansion House Hotel, Elgin
We had been invited to Elgin to see the legendary St Giles’ Theatre group’s performance of West Side Story. But where to go for a pre theatre meal? Should we opt for somewhere in keeping with the theme of the musical? Maybe an edgy back street café with a juke box in the corner where gangs of sullen youths glower at each other over their cokes and milk shakes?
Oh, come on folks, this is Moray not New York City. There may be jets flying overhead from the nearby RAF base and you might find some sharks swimming in the Firth, but we were never going to find Upper West Side street gangs in this tranquil corner of Scotland. So instead we headed for the Mansion House Hotel.
No place could be more different than the mean streets of the metropolis. We were ushered into a tranquil and elegant lounge where a grand piano was just waiting for someone to tickle the ivories. Silver-topped claret jugs adorned the mantelpiece. I could hear the comforting clack of billiard balls from the snooker room down the corridor and the whole tone was one of genteel civility. This was definitely a place for cream teas and fish knives rather than root beer and switch blades.
As we were going to the theatre we were incredibly early and were told the chefs were still checking the availability of everything. We were able to look through both the bistro and a la carte menus as we enjoyed a drink, with the proviso there might be a change or two.
It was good to see that they had some of Moray’s up and coming craft breweries ale on offer. I had a lovely glass of Windswept’s Wolf stout which was rich, creamy and fabulously malty. A bit more promotion of the wide range of local beers might not go amiss as it would have been easy to have overlooked this wee gem and settled for something less distinctive from a multinational instead.
Looking at the menu I fancied the rack of lamb, chorizo chicken with sun dried tomato, carrot and orange puree and pickled vegetables but questioned whether it could be a starter, as it sounded very substantial. But the waitress reassured me it was only two tiny lamb cutlets and thin slices of ballotine with a small salad. My partner chose the red pepper and basil pannacotta.
Before being shown through to the dining room, we had been served an elegant selection of hors d’oeuvres. They more than whetted our appetite and we were thoroughly looking forward to our meal.
Deliciously fresh bread was waiting at the beautifully laid table in the grand surroundings of the main restaurant. We had opted for the restaurant menu although there was also a bistro, and were very efficiently served by staff who were well informed about the dishes.
Despite the earlier reassurance, my starter would have counted as a main course in many other restaurants. The lamb was wonderfully pink and juicy and the ballotine perfectly moist and well flavoured but I did feel if I ate it all I would struggle to finish everything else.
My partner’s pannacotta looked and tasted wonderful. Subtle, clean and crisply flavoured with just a hint of chilli, it came with the most delicately flavoured cucumber sorbet. He was delighted.
For mains I had chosen game pie off the special menu. It had a light pastry top covering a rich stew with all of the earthy flavours I love from game dishes. It was served with new potatoes in a mini chip basket and mixed veg in a ramekin. All were beautiful and well-cooked but the presentation did seem a bit fussy for a simple dish. But that did not prevent me enjoying every mouthful.
The loin of venison and braised feather blade served with crispy mushrooms and pan juices was fabulous. Perfectly cooked and stunningly presented, my partner raved about it.
We enjoyed a bottle of Rioja from a well-stocked and very reasonably priced wine list which was a perfect accompaniment to our rich game main courses.
Cheesecake is a staple on many menus nowadays and can be disappointing but the mango and passion fruit variety served to my partner got a full seal of approval. My chocolate tart with Malibu sorbet maybe never hit the same heights of satisfaction but was a perfectly tasty and satisfying close to a lovely meal.
We had to skip coffee as we were heading to the Town Hall, but the Mansion House had certainly served us with the perfect curtain raiser for what turned out to be a fantastic night out. We will return for an encore.