Ardeonaig

I first discovered Ardeonaig hotel as a lunch suggestion from my lovely Glasgow landlady. We duly headed there one Spring Sunday with my visiting mother and discovered a truly special gastro-hotel tucked in above Loch Tay off yet another endearingly tiny and bumpy country lane. This lunch was quite dangerous in the end because we were introduced to the hotel’s quirky “half bottle” wine policy. Run by an enthusiastic and patriotic South African, Ardeonaig only stocks South African wines. That said the wine list is long and the staff will quite happily spend time talking you through the various options. However South African wineries don’t make many half bottles. To combat this problem owner Pete Gottgens has instituted a policy where they will quite happily open a full bottle and only charge you for half of it – provided, of course, that you can stop at that point. It is testament to his wine list that I suspect we weren’t the only visitors who found ourselves unable to stop at the halfway mark. We polished off a delightful Chenin Blanc over a lovely fish lunch and then I went and asked for a tour of the hotel. I was already convinced that I would come back here for a few days with my lover – although that position was, at the time, unfilled!

Two years later I did just that in the summer of 2009. Ardeonaig was my secret treat on our Scotland itinerary. It has to be said that, following Monachyle Mhor, I was a little dubious about it living up to my memories, but it ended up meeting and even exceeding my expectations in many ways.

I had booked the Craig room adjacent to the lovely library with its picture windows overlooking the glorious Loch and the brooding Munro (a Scottish mountain with a height over 3,000 ft/914.4m) behind it. We took the opportunity to inspect some of the newly built “rondavels” in the grounds in case we preferred the privacy of these but we found them a little sterile for our taste. As the weather continued to disappoint we were relieved to have chosen a room in the main hotel as we watched the poor rondavel guests donning gumboots and opening golf umbrellas for their brief journey back to their rooms post dinner. Ardeonaig doesn’t share the cutting edge design or funky style of Monachyle Mhor, but the rooms are comfortable, and the library is a truly charming space in which to sit and take tea sitting in large, overstuffed leather armchairs and reading a book, playing one of the many board games, or simply watching the birds soar over the loch. The dining room is also elegant and spacious and there is a lovely lounge to sit in for pre-dinner drinks complete with a roaring fire and a choice of magazines.

Where Ardeonaig truly excels however, is in the food department. This hotel has already won a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin guide and on the basis of the Signature meal we had on our first night here, it very nearly deserves a star. A word to those of you planning to book – there is really nowhere else to eat anywhere nearby so if you are staying at Ardeonaig you will have to factor in the cost of paying for your evening meals as well. The classic three course daily menu option is quite reasonable, there is also an a la carte menu or, for a supplement, the 7 course Signature menu with matched wines designed and cooked by owner Pete Gottgens. This 7 course meal was one of the best we had in our entire time in Scotland (which given that we visited Martin Wishart, Rocpool and Monachyle Mhor is really saying something). If you can’t afford the Signature menu save yourself the grief and book another hotel – otherwise the sight of the tasty dishes being taken to the lucky Signature diners will drive you to a miserable state of severe food envy. We had the seasonal menu the next night and, whilst good, it was nowhere near in the same class.

Gottgens is passionate about local food (he was nominated for a Spirit of Scotland Food Award in October 2009) and sources much of his materials from Loch Tay suppliers. The hotel also owns a flock of black faced sheep and are beginning to raise highland cattle as well. In addition the grounds feature a large vegetable patch and most of the herbs are picked from the gardens just prior to the evening meal. We enjoyed yet more enormous scallops, this time served with a Vanilla Butter Broth and accompanied by a delicious Lammershoek Roulette Blanc 2006 (a Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay and Härsloveln blend). A lightly fried quail egg served over haddock and softened local leeks was also well matched with this. Our succulent beef was matched with a very tasty Quoin Rock Cape Blend 2001 (Syrah, Merlot & Pinotage). Part of the joy of this meal was in discovering a whole new world of wines with which we were completely unfamiliar. Faced with the wine list the next evening we were somewhat at a loss – so a guided menu matched for us by the charming sommelier was a great introduction to the subject of South African producers.

The highlight of the Signature meal for both of us was the dessert plate. It contained two of our absolute favourite desserts – a soft centred chocolate pudding of divine perfection and a miniature crème brulée of perfect delicious simplicity. We went to bed that night very happy indeed.

Which unfortunately leads me to my one complaint about both Ardeonaig and our other favourite gastro-hotel Monachyle Mhor. After serving such superb dinners it is a real shame when the standard of food at breakfast is not up to par. Ardeonaig had a rather dull buffet selection of poached and fresh fruit with some rather bland cereals. There were some tasty looking freshly made muffins but I had to send back my soft-boiled egg when cracking it revealed that it had hardly been cooked at all. The offending egg was duly removed and replaced with a better one but by that point my partner had finished his breakfast. As a breakfast loving gourmet can I please exhort the fabulous foodie hotels of Scotland to up their game in the breakfast stakes. If they can do this then they will be world beating venues indeed!