Dornoch hotel on foodies’ radar – Press & Journal

Dornoch hotel on foodies’ radar – Press & Journal

Dornoch hotel on foodies’ radar

Published: 02/01/2010

THERE are several impressive buildings which dominate the centre of the Highland town of Dornoch – the cathedral where Madonna famously tied the knot, albeit for a short time, with film-maker Guy Ritchie; Dornoch Jail, which is now a superb gift and clothing shop, and the family-run Dornoch Castle Hotel.

The hotel began life as a palace for the bishop who built the original cathedral, but in its day has been a jail, courthouse, school and private home.

Of late, it has been on the foodies’ radar, since Frenchman Mikael Helies, who has a passion for creatively using fresh local produce, was appointed head chef.

After enjoying a wintry stroll through the pretty cathedral town, we popped into the hotel to try the special two-course lunch on offer for £10.95.

On entering the building, visitors are directed through a door to the right which opens into an area that was formerly the bishop’s kitchen but is now a combined reception area, bar, lounge and restaurant.

It’s a lovely atmospheric, quaint room with nice open stonework, Caithness stone floors and an enormous feature fireplace, where gorgeous-smelling wood logs were burning brightly.

In front of the fireplace, there are two large, comfortable leather sofas surrounded by half-a-dozen tables, a reception desk and bar – the bar and reception area was unmanned.

Enjoying the warmth and smell of wood smoke, we waited for slightly longer than expected before being acknowledged by a waitress.

She then ushered us from the warm and cosy atmosphere of the room into the hotel’s garden restaurant which, on a sunny day, is a lovely place to dine, but on this wintry day, felt rather chilly.

We asked if we could perhaps book a table in the cosy lounge instead, even if that meant coming back half-an-hour later, and she helpfully went off to make inquiries.

Much to our delight, she returned five minutes later to say a table had become free and, before you could say bring on the food, we were back in the cosy hub.

The restaurant has two lunch menus, a regular one and a pared-down specials one offering a choice of two starters and two mains at a fixed price. We opted for the specials.

I chose a pithivier of goat’s cheese served with a rocket salad while my chum opted for the hotpot of pork fillet, root vegetables and new potatoes.

Her hotpot starter was teeny, rather like an amuse bouche, really, as it didn’t quite fill a ramekin dish.

It may have been small, but it packed an enormous punch, full of deliciously warming flavours and melt-in-the-mouth slivers of pork.

She demolished it in about a minute, and said she could happily eat the same again, this time with perhaps bread or a roll so she could extend the time it had taken her to eat it.

My pithivier, a French pastry, was also on the small side, but it had lovely buttery, flaky pastry filled with tangy goat’s cheese, which combined well with the peppery dressed rocket salad.

It was the sort of starter you wanted to eat slowly so you could savour every mouthful – even if that meant my chum had to sit with an empty plate for longer than she wanted.

For mains, the grilled fillet of trout served with citrus crushed new potatoes and a herb oil dressing tickled my fancy, while my chum chose the pan-seared chicken breast stuffed with basil and Parmesan on skirlie.

My meal comprised two slim fillets of lovely pink trout, beautifully cooked, on top of a small portion of bashed new potatoes, which had a slightly vinegary taste, and a portion of perfectly cooked broccoli.

The trout had a lovely fresh flavour, but overall, the dish was served a little cooler than I’d expected – but that may have been down to the service, which was perfectly polite, but a tad slow.

My guest’s meal, however, was piping hot, and this time she received a very generous portion.

The chicken breast was succulent and sweet, while the basil and Parmesan stuffing – those two flavours are always wonderful together – saw the dish voted an overwhelming hit.

As we had already spent longer here than expected – not that it wasn’t a lovely place to while away the afternoon – we resisted the temptation to order a dessert and coffee from the regular lunch menu.

As we waited for our bill, we quietly discussed what the chef, Mikael, might make of things, as the service had been below the standard we had expected from an upmarket establishment.

It seemed rather a shame to have a chef of his stature whipping up interesting and varied dishes in the kitchen only to have them grow cool because we had to, for example, wait for cutlery.

Future plans for Dornoch Castle Hotel include a major £1.6million redevelopment, which will include a new bistro, coffee shop and bar, as well as 12 new bedrooms and a spa.

I’m confident we’ll be back to try out the bistro when it opens and assume that any wrinkles in the waiting problems will have been ironed out by then so they can do justice to Mikael’s interesting menus.

Dornoch Castle Hotel, Castle Street, Dornoch. Call 01862 810 216 or visit www.dornochcastlehotel.com