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Discover Perfect Peace, Memorable Sticky Toffee Pudding - And A Resident Ghost In The Inn At LathonesBy Gilly PickupIn the heart of the Scottish ‘Kingdom of Fife’ nestles a jewel of an Inn with a history that predates your great-grandfather Darkness was upon us as we drove along the winding country lanes. Only a few more miles to go now before we reached our destination and I couldn’t help but recall with a shiver the tale of bold highwayman ‘Wee Mad MacGregor’ who plagued travellers on this very route then ate, drank and made merry at the 400 year old Inn we were heading for on his ill-gotten proceeds. Fortunately however, no highwaymen seemed to be on the prowl that night and after an eight and a half hour drive north from London, my husband Mike and I finally arrived at our destination, tyres crunching over the Inn’s gravelled driveway.
The all-white bathroom with large corner bath, good power
shower and vanity unit with adequate supply of toiletries would have benefited
from a dash of colour as well as somewhere to hang the courtesy (white)
bathrobes. But these are minor niggles soon forgotten after we drifted down to
the lounge, sank into squidgily deep leather sofas and cosied down with a glass
of something heart warming. Dishes of green and
black olives and cheesy nibbles were on hand to nibble on while poring over the
evening’s dinner menu….
I selected my starter of cream of vegetable soup with lemon
crème fraiche from the ‘Daily Market Menu’. It arrived with freshly baked rolls
straight from the oven and slabs of fresh butter. Mike opted for the cured
salmon with sweet dill dressing and pronounced it ‘excellent.’ The main course
menu includes such delicacies as local roast partridge with Madeira sauce, pan
fried fillet of seabass with pesto and grilled guinea fowl with pearl onion
broth, though the choice is rather limited for vegetarians. I settled for lip
smacking salmon fish cakes with a Thai flavoured sauce which turned out to be
more elaborate than it sounded, while Mike chose the pan fried loin of pork with
sage and prune stuffing and a grain mustard jus.
At breakfast, jugs of coffee, pots of tea and toast and marmalade were served by smiley local student Emma, a bonny whirlwind of a girl with a fine line in chatter for whom nothing was too much trouble. A table at the back of the dining room was laid out with a small buffet consisting of the usual fruits, juices, yogurts, cereals, fresh rolls and pastries, while the table menus also listed a choice of four substantial breakfasts, the least calorific of which was The ‘Frenchman’s Breakfast’, a cheese and ham platter and chocolate and raisin croissants. The ‘Coachman’s Breakfast’ was a veritable feast of bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, haggis, baked beans, fried bread and eggs. The ‘Traveller’s Breakfast’ was similar, minus the bacon and sausage, while the ‘Pittenweem Breakfast’ offered fresh local haddock or kippers. Inevitably, porridge was on the menu too. Now, I love porridge. To me, this is the dish above all others which somehow encapsulates the very essence of Scotland. Someone, way back in history, described it as ‘the backbone of many a sturdy Scotsman’. Our bard, Robbie Burns, hailed it as ‘the halesome parritch, chief o’ Scotia’s food.’ Mind you, there have always been different opinions as to how it should be cooked… should the oatmeal should be added in batches? should it be added at the beginning or halfway through? It is agreed though that porridge should be thick, wholesome with an interesting texture, not thin and runny. Most important of all, porridge should not be cooked without salt or eaten with sugar. But, oh dear, my first mouthful revealed my porridge was sweet, this is not the Scottish way ….
The Inn at Lathones, By Largoward, St Andrews, Fife,
Scotland, KY9 1JE All photos taken by author Gilly Pickup |
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We were met with a warm Scottish welcome that would gladden
the hearts of the most jaded of visitors and before we knew it were comfortably
installed in our room which had its own entrance and front door accessed via the
dining room. The Inn at Lathones, named Scotland’s Inn of the year 2005 and
Scotland’s only 4-star Inn, has won many awards including Scotland’s best small
golf hotel 2005/6 and is in the finals for the AA Wine List of the year award.
Contemporary meets tradition in the 14 guest rooms here.
Natural wood flooring, satellite television, CD player, Italian furniture and
comfortable black leather chairs sit comfortably alongside stone hearths with
wood burning stoves and skylight windows. Every room
has a trouser press, hairdryer, tea and coffee tray, while a complimentary
bottle of Scottish mineral water, carafe of Scotch whisky and packets of nibbles
and shortbread biscuits were a thoughtful added extra. This comfortable,
relaxing Inn is pet friendly too – you can bring your dog or cat along with you
for a minimal fee.
actually, I should say ‘menus,’ because we were given a
choice of four. The ‘Trilogy’ menu looks to the French method of working a
multitude of flavours and textures together on one plate. French influences
have been evident since the 13th century in the Scottish kitchen as well as in
architecture, philosophy, language and law, due to the ‘Auld Alliance’, the
agreement between Scotland and France to give mutual help against their enemy,
England. First course is the ‘Gaelic Trilogy’; celeriac and white bean soup,
tartar of home cured Gravadlax and mosaic of duck. Then it’s onto the
‘Perthshire Trilogy’ - loin of lamb, fillet of beef and goats cheese and onion
tart. If you can keep going, next up is the ‘Chocolate Trilogy’, a platter of
Belgian chocolate cake, mixed berry mousse and blueberry crème brulee. You’ve
come this far, so you may as well go for the ‘Final Trilogy’ – Columbian rich
roast coffee, homemade truffles and a balloon of Cognac. Truly a slacken your
stays feast.
An added bonus comes with
the comprehensive wine list, personally selected by owner and wine buff, Nick
White. So would we go for dessert? Well, we were on holiday after all and the
classic sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and condensed milk ice
cream seemed to beckon both of us. It wasn’t an easy choice though when warm
ginger and syrup sponge with quince ice cream and glazed blueberry and marscapone crème brulee also jostled for our attention from the menu. However,
the sticky toffee pudding deserved top marks and inevitably, we crashed out
under our 13 tog Hungarian goose down duvet when we got back to our room.
The oldest part of the Inn is intimate function room, The
Stables, a great setting for a special occasion and as The Inn holds a wedding
licence you can get married here too. An added bonus
is that this is where resident friendly phantom the Grey Lady struts her stuff.
There have been several reported sightings, but sadly she didn’t appear for us.
Oh well, maybe another time.
Although the Inn makes you feel you are ever-so-far-away
from the madding crowds, the historic, world-famous golf town of St Andrews is a
mere 5 miles away. There are plenty of other
attractions on hand too with more abbeys and castles than you can shake a haggis
at. Other must-sees are the picturesque fishing villages of the East Neuk of
Fife described by King James 11 as ‘a fringe of gold on a beggar’s mantle’ - he
was quite right too.