Rural inn with a fishing theme delights the girls
Inside Muthill’s Barley Bree Restaurant The place I’ve just been to has been 10 years in the making, a Scottish-French gem in the country village of Muthill. If you haven’t been lucky enough to dally a couple of hours over lunch at the Barley Bree, my condolences.
Hubby was off on business and I had a friend who could spare an afternoon and liked visiting places off the beaten track.
She was looking for inspiration for decorating her new re-designed hallway and I thought of the fabulous metal salmon panels on the walls of the Barley Bree created by Muthill artist Sam MacDonald, who lives on the same street as the restaurant.
While I wanted to show her how deliciously lifelike the underwater shoals sculpted in copper and enamel were, I really wanted to give her a treat with a fishy theme.
French chef Fabrice Bouteloup had impressed me before with his unpretentious but highly creative menu.
The rustic bread was homemade and the butter churned just down the road, Thoughtful dynamic French/Scottish dishes bristling with local ingredients
Elegant and unpretencious, soothingly rural
At your pace, everything is possible
Must come back in winter and enjoy the fire
Two-course lunch £16.50, Three courses £20.50. what a lovely touch!
I dived in with the lime and coriander fish cakes with Kombu seaweed and sweet chilli sauce and she settled on the pigeon breast.
Both dishes were wonderful, the fish cakes were magnificently crispy and contained succulent fish flavoured with lime and coriander that were just right to start the meal.
My friend picked pigeon breast - and what came was mouth watering and tender, with our waitress Zuzana assuring us the birds were shot locally.
I’d come for fish, so I ordered Megrim sole fillet with Orzo pasta. So meltingly appetizing and the small grains and salad kept it light and interesting on texture.
I’m told the cumin lamb ball and cutlet with chick peas was equally great.
My friend was delighted with the slow cooked little chop that graced her plate, served with a smokey mellow ratatouille giving a counterpoint to the spice of the lamb balls.
I loved the name of my pudding - ‘dark chocolate nemesis’. Not sure what a kalmansi fruit is, but the smooth zesty sorbet was absolutely wonderful, cutting through the slice of rich cacao heaven.
A French classic was delivered in the form of my pal’s apple tarte tarin. The glazed little apple pastry took an extra 15 minutes to be made to order and the ice cream with it had the black dots of real vanilla. Yum!
Alison and Fabrice have earned their reputation at their haven on Willoughby Street and we vowed to come again, perhaps in winter when the fire is lit and the delights of their comfortable new bar area beckons.
The accents and languages of fellow guests reminded me people are more than happy to seek out this welcoming dining room with a log stove and a view on the village street.
The food had all the detail and smart presentation of a city restaurant but we consumed it in the relaxed elegance of an time-aged inn below bent roads and a colour palate of warm russet and aquatic greens. Lunch was a very pleasing experience, helped by the well above average table service.