Since heading along to its opening celebration back in spring 2023, I have been patiently waiting for the AC Hotel Inverness to officially launch its restaurant.
The wait was finally over when I noticed the name Beira popping up across social media at the end of last year.
Once the festive madness was over, I booked a table for my boyfriend Aidan and I in early January to try it out.
Heading in with high hopes
Something Inverness does well is hotel restaurants – our favourites include Torrish at Ness Walk and Contrast at Glenmoriston Townhouse – that are far from the dull fare you might fear in tourist-reliant cities.
Because of that, we headed to Beira with high hopes.
The restaurant is right off the lobby, but the architecture has been cleverly done to still make it feel like its own thing.
Cosy booths and tables encircle a huge open bar in the centre, bottles displayed in stylish illuminated shelving above.
It was quiet for a Friday night and every other table was clearly a guest of the hotel. This made us wonder whether word about the restaurant hasn’t quite made its way around the locals yet.
We were sat at a table by the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows which look right out onto the River Ness. It was pleasant, if not a tad chilly.
I am attempting dry January so was excited to see some lovely-looking mocktail options.
I ordered a Highland Dew (£7) with promises of pear and elderflower – my favourite flavours.
Unfortunately, I am pretty certain I was served the other mocktail instead as it was red, had no trace of pear or elderflower, and was served in a different glass as shown on the menu.
It tasted good and refreshing though, so I stuck with my wrong drink to save hassle of asking for a new one. Aidan ordered a ginger beer.
How were our starters at Beira Inverness?
Beira offers a tapas or an a la carte menu which I liked having the option of. The tapas menu featured all the Spanish dishes you would expect.
We both opted for the a la carte menu, with Aidan ordering the Tartan tatties (£8) to start. They were essentially croquettes, which wasn’t what he expected, but they were lovely all the same.
They had good chunks of ham through them and were served with a punchy Sriracha aioli which was tasty. The seasoning was lacking a little but the consistency was spot-on.
Insta versus reality
Onto mains, I ordered the crab linguini (£23) which I will admit I had admired on their Instagram just before arriving.
Again, it arrived very different to expected.
It didn’t look anything like the photo online and it was described as being served with a bisque but it didn’t look very saucy. There was no dill in sight as mentioned on the menu too.
Once I tucked in though, the dish was pleasant.
The pasta wasn’t overcooked and there was a generous amount of crab through it.
The flavours were very similar to a classic puttanesca with olives and tomato and it was well seasoned.
Venison cooked well
Aidan chose the venison, served with braised endive, baby turnip, Rioja, pear and bramble jus (£28).
This dish was presented beautifully and we could already tell the meat was cooked perfectly.
Once Aidan got started, he noticed the temperatures really varied on the dish, with the meat piping hot and purees underneath stone cold – this made us think it might have been sat under a hot plate for a while.
Despite this, he was impressed by the flavours and how well they came together, noting the balance of sweet and savoury. All the elements were cooked well too.
We just about had room for dessert and were excited by the choices on offer. The menu is small, but has a good range.
Dessert the star of the show at Beira in Inverness
Aidan’s chocolate delice (£9) was the star of the show. It was velvety smooth and so rich with deep dark chocolate.
The biscuit base had a good crunch to it and the sherry-soaked raisins added a nice kick.
My lemon posset (£8) was lovely, but a lemon posset it was not. There wasn’t even a hint of lemon, which was disappointing as they usually have such a sharp tang.
The texture was spot-on though and I still thoroughly enjoyed the dish. It was more like a set custard than anything else, which I was not unhappy about.
The staff were absolutely pleasant enough throughout our meal, but other than the woman who seated us initially, there was no attempt at chat.
We waited with empty plates on our table for a fair while after every course and we had to hunt for someone to pay the bill at the end.
Having worked in a hotel restaurant as a teenager, I know how busy and stressful it can be, but considering it was quite quiet on the night we were in, I expected a little more.
The verdict
We enjoyed our evening at Beira. The atmosphere was nice, we both liked the menu options and the quality of the produce was strong.
However, the service let it down a little, as well as the contrast in terms of what we expected versus what we got. It wasn’t cheap, which made both things less excusable.
We agreed we would definitely like to go back for cocktails and tapas, because both offerings looked promising, and the restaurant maybe lends itself better to more casual dining such as this.
Information
Address: AC Hotel Inverness, Glebe St, Inverness IV1 1RF
T: 01463 211955
Price: £86 for one starter, two mains, two desserts and two drinks. No service charge was added to the bill.
Disabled access: Yes.
Dog-friendly: Yes.
Scores:
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 3/5
Surroundings: 4/5
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