It’s true what they say, birthdays get a little less exciting as you get older.
I am lucky to have a birthday right in the middle of the year, so when I was younger it was a perfect wait between that and Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love my summer birthday, but it’s a little more daunting as I work my way up through the 20s.
Most years my birthday has been busy, last year I graduated, years before I’ve been lucky enough to be travelling, but this year for the first time in a long time I had no plans – and was very happy about it.
I spent the day in Inverness with my boyfriend, Aidan, soaking up the best of the city, which in our opinion is Xoko cinnamon buns and crazy golf.
To add a more traditional element of celebration into the mix, we headed along to Contrast at Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel for dinner.
Contrast at the Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel, Inverness
Neither of us had been to Contrast before, which might be due to the fact that it’s along the river from the city centre and therefore easy to miss.
We hadn’t heard too many reviews from other people either, so other than having a wee glance at the menu online we were going in blind – which is always more exciting.
We didn’t get the warmest welcome when we arrived. You wait to be seated in the hotel’s reception, which we did for quite a while. There was a receptionist at the desk the whole time – a mere few feet from us – but she didn’t make any effort to say hello or even look at us.
Luckily, this is just about the only negative thing I have to say about our evening at Contrast.
From the moment we were seated, the staff were kind and incredibly attentive, full of smiles from beginning to end.
We were sat against a huge mirror which was a tad strange – it felt like we dining with ourselves – but otherwise the decor was tasteful and the tables well spread apart.
The food
Both Aidan and I are cocktail people, especially when there is something to celebrate, so we were thrilled to see an extensive menu.
Aidan stuck with a classic Pina Colada (£8.10) which he said was on the perfect side of creamy and I chose a Great Gatsby which was made with Courvoisier, prosecco, lemon, gomme syrup and strawberry puree (£9.50). It was strong but delicious, a wonderful balance of sweet and tart.
The dinner menu was nothing short of stunning, I don’t remember the last time we took so long deciding what to have because we were that spoilt for choice. There were a lot of Asian influences and flavours like miso and teriyaki that we were really excited about.
Aidan is always a three course kind of guy so after much deliberation he went for the Isle of Uist king scallops with crispy pork sisig, gulf spice with sesame seeds and a lime and dill yoghurt sauce (£15).
It takes a lot for him to say ‘wow’ and he did after the first bite. The scallops were huge and perfectly cooked, the pork sweet and fatty and the flavours punchy.
For my main, I chose the 54 degree sous-vide salmon with lemon grass, laksa sauce, tobiko and green tea noodles (£25).
If I could have taken a swim in that sauce, I would have. This was one of the best fish dishes I have ever had, with the creamy sauce mellowing out the spice. The fish itself was perfectly cooked and seasoned and the noodles were light and soft.
Aidan’s main was an infused duck breast in pastrami with potato and chorizo fritti, pickled shallot, baby carrot, spiced cider jus and lemon grass infused strawberries (£26.50).
He wouldn’t usually go for duck, but the accompaniments on this dish really drew him in. The risk paid off because he enjoyed every mouthful.
The meat was cooked rare, just as he had requested, and all the flavours on the plate complemented rather than battled with one another, married by the rich jus. We had been skeptical about the strawberries, but they turned out to be a welcome addition.
We were both verging on full by this point but couldn’t bypass the dessert menu, so decided to get one to share.
The mango and passionfruit cheesecake float with a white chocolate shell and Chantilly cream (£7.50) was one of the most beautiful plates of food I have ever seen.
It wasn’t style over substance either, the fruity flavour paired well with the sweet white chocolate and the tiny popping mango balls were a lovely touch.
The verdict
I honestly can’t believe I haven’t heard more people talking about Contrast.
Everything we ate was delicious, the range of options on the menu was incredible and the restaurant offered flavours I haven’t seen anywhere else in the city.
It is on the pricier side, but the portion sizes and quality of the dishes made it worth it, we didn’t begrudge paying it one bit.
A must-visit in my opinion.
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 4/5
Surroundings: 4/5
Information
Address: Glenmoriston Town House Hotel, 21 Ness Bank, Inverness IV2 4SF
T: 01463 223777
W: www.glenmoristontownhouse.com
Price: £91.60 for two cocktails, one starter, two main courses and one dessert. A service charge was not added to the bill.