Hello Again,
A few weeks ago now Sam, April and I headed down to St. Andrews to celebrate my grandma's 70th Birthday! Normally every occasion like this is spent in my Gran and Grandad's house but that also means there's a lot of dishes, so this time it was arranged in a local restaurant, Forgan's.
Forgan's is a Restaurant on the high street of St. Andrews and it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever ate in. All of a sudden you feel like you've been transported to some sort of wine country in Italy or something (It really was like an Instagrammers dream).
In the main restaurant along the side there are little private bothies, each called and designed differently, we were in the 'Living room'. It was nice as your were still in the main part of the restaurant but you had that little bit of privacy! My mum told me that years ago Forgan's used to be a butcher, the front part was the butcher shop and the main restaurant part used to be where the truck offloaded the cows and where the meat was prepared - quite cool thats it's been changed but it's still kept some of it's history in the design.
As it was a private event we had a chosen menu where we could decide what we wanted from a few options. I didn't have a starter so I thought I would tell you about Sam's. He chose crispy haggis balls and parsnip crisps, served with neeps and potatoes (turnips and potatoes for all the non-sottish folks) and a Ardbeg Malt Whiskey Gravy. His description, 'Beautiful'.
For my main I chose the 8oz Ribeye Steak served with Thick chips, a grilled tomato, a flat cap mushroom and some watercress. Recently when going out I've been preferring steak which is quite rare as I tend to go for chicken but I wasn't disappointed with this ribeye. The cut of meat was great, not a bit went to waste. I chose to have mine well done as that's just how I prefer my steak and it honestly was cooked perfectly. Can I also add that I love the presentation, from the chips being in their own little holder to the design on the plates! For me it's the little things.
This was not also mine but it was so beautiful I couldn't not include it, this is Sam's main, the Beef Bourguignon with fluffy pastry, roasted veg and thick chips. Such a generous portion and again the presentation is a solid 10 out of 10. He very much enjoyed this - it's also a nice twist as it was served in 'pie' form.
Desert! I went for the Isle of Arran Dairy Ice Cream, Cranachan flavour. Cranachan is a traditional desert which is normally made from a mix of whipped cream, whisky, honey and fresh raspberries with toasted oatmeal soaked overnight in some whisky. This was cracking (cracking Cranachan). It was served with fresh berries and it was gone in a matter of minutes.
Now to the Special lady herself, this is Doreen, my Grandma. For the past however many years both her and my grandad have ran a 4 star Bed and Breakfast in St Andrews. They both got up in the early hours of the morning, every morning to see to their guests, their guests who travelled from all over the world. They closed the business earlier on this year and rightfully so, they've been giving and giving for so long it's time for them to enjoy their time (and they damn well have been as their not long back from a 3 week cruise round the Mediterranean - fancy).
My Mum and Auntie organised a cake to be made for her and this is it. It's marvellous, a little tea party as Doreen is now a 'lady who lunches'. It was great to see my Grandma so happy and surrounded by everyone. I had such a great time.
A closer look at this fab cake, with cinnamon swirls, cupcakes and little triangle sandwiches. We went back to their house afterwards for tea and cake and I caught my grandma in the kitchen carefully cutting each little decoration off of the cake - she said it was too good to eat. Once everything was off and saved then and only then could we dig in, bless her.
If you find yourselves in St Andrews be sure to check out Forgan's. The staff are so welcoming and helpful, the food is amazing, the decor is superb and the atmosphere is great.
Forgan's. Grill and European dishes made from sustainable produce, in a skylit, industrial-chic restaurant.
110 Market Street, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9PB
