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Kellockbank, near Insch, Aberdeenshire

I have now been to Kellockbank of a couple of occasions and have always enjoyed the shop, the garden centre and the coffee shop.  This place has lots on offer.

The food part of our trip, as always, was my favourite.  The menu is varied and has lots of delicious sounding combinations on offer.  There is always a menu of the day as well as the standard all-the-time menu.

The coffee shop is self service, with drinks and cakes being taken from the counter and if you order any 'real' food, it is taken to you at your table.  I like this setup as I imagine it must mean that there is a fair amount of fresh food being prepared in the kitchen, leading to less waste.

There were three different soups on offer, a couple of quiches, a few main courses and two puddings on the specials board on the day of our visit.  I opted for a soup to start, and intended to follow it up with strawberries and ice-cream, however the soup was finished!  I then opted for a steak panini - I am an avid meat eater.  If I had spotted it first, I probably wouldn't have even considered the soup!  Unfortunately, again, no steak, so no steak panini!

I felt the pressure to order quickly as the queue mounted behind me.  I ended up settling for macaroni cheese with chips and peas.  I instantly regretted my decision but felt it was too late to change it.

Alan, as usual, opted for a three course monster meal!  He had soup, fish and chips and then sticky toffee pudding.  All of which were of massive quantity.  It's not cheap there, however, they certainly don't scrimp on the portion sizes.  For all of the above, two drinks and a coffee we were roughly £37.


As it was a nice day, we asked if we might sit outside if there were tables.  The double doors were opened into the garden centre area and I had assumed that there may have been some tables to eat at outside.  The young lady at the counter said that there was only one table and pointed in the direction of it.  I found the table, however, it was for sale!  (£395 if you're interested!) I double checked with her and she assured me that it was fine to sit there.  It seemed a shame for there not be be a couple of outdoor tables, given that there seemed to be enough space for some.

My macaroni came along with Alan's soup and both were nice, not fantastic, nothing to rave about, but just good old boring nice.  My macaroni came with tinned peas - something which I really don't like to pay for.  If I had known they were going to be tinned I would have foregone them.  I can't explain my dislike for tinned veg.  The macaroni itself came in a wee dish of its own on the plate with the chips.  It was piping hot and had good flavour, but the pasta seemed to be a bit overcooked, falling to bits as I tried to get it on my fork.  The chips were nice.  I ate carefully so as not to spill on the table - I didn't want to be responsible for Kellockbank losing a sale due to cheese related damages.  Alan's fish was ginormous and looked perfectly crispy.  He must  have liked it as he finished before me, despite having the soup too.

I can't remember seeing his sticky toffee pudding, although it did arrive.  I had surely been too busy soaking up the sun (read: worrying about sunburn).

I will still come back here despite it not being quite as successful as the last few visits.  I made a poor choice in food when there were clearly so many other things I would have preferred.  Never mind...

Patisserie Valerie, Union Square, Aberdeen

I know, I know, I've only just started this blog and I'm already posting duplicate locations.

*hides face in shame*

I really just wanted to use up that second voucher!

This time I went with Alan.  He was desperate to go after hearing about my previous experience.

We arrived late and, again, we were seated inside, next to the table I previously sat at with Mother Hubbard.  We had a different waitress this time who, although pleasant, was not quite so chatty as the last lady.  The tea (breakfast for Alan and peppermint for me) arrived along with our tower of goodies.  All the sandwiches, scones and cakes were the same as last time so I was wise as to what was going to be my highlight of the tea.

Unfortunately, the sandwiches were again slightly dry as if they had been sitting out for a short while, but this did not put us off - especially Alan who never turns down food.  I let Alan have three of the four scones and he enjoyed them with all of the jams.  This time, instead of marmalade, there was honey, much to his delight.

The mini victoria sponge was delicious - I did not try this last time as I was so full - and they were so light I could have eaten several.  Again, the carrot cake was delicious and one of my favourite parts of the tea.

We noticed the 'Summer Menu' on the table which offered three courses for around £13 (or two for £10).  We left thinking that we might come back to try this offer as many of the courses sounded a bit different and very enticing.

Again, another lovely afternoon tea at Patisserie Valerie.

Patisserie Valerie, Union Square, Aberdeen

Today I went with my mother to Patisserie Valerie in Union Square for a prosecco afternoon tea.  I found that a voucher given to me by my friend was due to expire tomorrow (Wednesday) so, as I hate to waste anything, I thought we had best use it up.  I also had another voucher for afternoon tea, this time without the prosecco, given to me by my mother in law.

We took the bus into Aberdeen and were greeted at Patisserie Valerie by a lovely lady who sat us inside the shop - I had only ever sat outside in the booths so it was a nice change to be sat inside.  I explained that I had a voucher and she explained that tea and coffee were also included.  She nipped off to get our glasses of prosecco.  As we heard the pop of the cork, mum and I pondered how restaurants keep the rest of a bottle fizzy when only a glass or two is poured.  Our waitress explained upon my asking that there is a special bottle stop which they use to preserve the fizz.

A tower of treats arrived along with our tea (mum) and coffee (me).  On the first tier were wee finger sandwiches (cucumber, chicken and pesto, salmon, ham and mustard, egg mayo).  The sandwiches were nice, if a little dry as if they may have been sitting out for half an hour or so.  My mum found the ham and mustard to be very mustardy - it appeared to have bright yellow English mustard oozing out of the sandwich - so very strong indeed.  The cucumber sandwich had the opposite problem - hardly any taste at all.  It could have really been done with something else added to it.  There was also a small vegetable quiche each which was, to my surprise, slightly warm.  It was lovely.

There were scones, of both the plain and fruit variety, on the second tier.  They came with butter and four different preserves - blackcurrant, raspberry, strawberry and marmalade - and a ramekin of whipped cream.  They were of good size and tasted great.

On the top tier was a selection of mini tasty treats - a victoria sponge, some sort of berry jelly/mousse thing, a chocolate mousse cake, carrot cake and two chocolate eclairs.  These were all delicious, bar the berry one which was slightly gelatinous for my taste.

The waitress who served us (unfortunately I did not catch her name) was absolutely lovely and I was saddened to see that a table of two men in their late 30s behind us were a little rude to her as she tried to make polite chat with them.  She handled this gracefully and I was pleased to see that it did not put her off making conversation with other diners.

We were both fit to burst by the end of our tea, and set up for a days shopping.  I would absolutely recommend this to others.

The Mountain Cafe, Aviemore

This place is the best!

You always have to queue to get in but it's completely and utterly worth it for the delicious food.

This time I was in Aviemore for a hair and makeup trial ahead of our upcoming wedding.  I was driven by my mother in law, Jo, and we were accompanied my own mum, Linda.

We were famished by the time we were finished and with our full faces of make up we sought out a place to eat.  I had been to the cafe previously so I was interested in going back.  As we arrived at around lunchtime we soon realised that there was a massive queue - almost out the door.  With it being May Day, I wonder if they were busier than usual.  We were so hungry we felt we couldn't wait and continued our search for food.

We ended up going up the funicular railway to the Ptarmigan Restaurant (our wedding reception venue as it happens!) and I have written about the experience here.

After coming back down to ground level, we were in need of tasty cake and thought that perhaps the lunchtime rush would be over at The Mountain Cafe.  We were right.  We only queued for around 10 minutes before being offered a table in the corner.

I should mention that this cafe is above a shop (outdoorsy stuff) and is accessible via the shop itself.  The queue starts at the top of the stairs, where there is a door to enter the cafe and continues down the stairs where the walls are adorned with local business cards and posters advertising services and local events - so lots to read as you are waiting patiently for your table.  The benefit of this is that as you are not queuing in the cafe itself, diners do not feel 'watched' by hungry customers awaiting them to finish in order for them to make use of the table, leaving you feeling as if you could perhaps have another cup of tea and yet another cake.

We were served quickly by one of the busy waitresses and were shown a plethora of cakes near the till from which we could choose from.  The selection is amazing, with all different combinations in flavour and many gluten, dairy and wheat free options available.  There are scones, muffins, cakes, cookies, biscuits, tarts, pies, brownies and cheesecakes in various styles and flavours.  I selected a vegan chocolate brownie and an anzac biscuit (which I enjoyed so much I have successfully attempted at home!) because I couldn't choose just one.  Mum had a passion fruit custard cream and Jo had a great big slab of cake - I forget which flavour.  The portions are all massive!

They also offer delicious breakfast and lunch menus which states the 'bread of the day' and a lovely footnote encouraging the sale of yesterdays bread of the day to be toasted.  I particularly like this thought as I often wonder how much food is wasted in restaurants and it's really refreshing to see an attempt at using up food which may otherwise be discarded.

We all enjoyed our food thoroughly and will most certainly be back.

Ptarmigan Restaurant, Cairngorm Mountain, Aviemore

So I'm in Aviemore for a hair and makeup trial with my mother and mother in law ahead of our wedding.  We were famished by the time we were made to look decent - it took a long time and much expertise, you know!

We arrived at our decision to have dinner here after attempting to secure a table at The Mountain Cafe, however, the queue was too long and our rumbly tummies were angry at us so we decided to go back there later in the day for some cake.  You can read about that experience here.

As it happens, Alan and I get married in a few weeks and the Ptarmigan Restaurant is our chosen location for our wedding reception so it's always nice to go up and have a wee wander around in anticipation of the event.  Jo and I have been up several times before but this was mum's first time.  The funicular is always fun for me and Alan and I both have season tickets to travel up and down as often as we like for a year.  We were greeted at the desk in the 'base station' by a nice young chap who I joked with about getting two concession tickets for the mothers.  He kindly obliged in giving concession tickets saying that he dare not ask any lady her age.  I got a few 'looks' from the mothers, but they were saving money so couldn't be too annoyed, right?

We waited patiently for the train in the freezing cold - it seems that the base station could have been designed a little more efficiently so that there is less of a draught coming in from both the enterance door and the door to access the train.  Also, the ceiling is really high, corrugated metal and no insulation so I'm sure that doesn't help with the lack of warmth.  I'm aware that this was mainly designed for skiers but it has been marketed as a tourist attraction for some time and it seems that the base station has not been updated to account for this.

The train itself is warm enough but was really wet on the floor - snow had clearly been melting on skiers boots and causing quite large puddles which sloshed around your feet as the train moved.  I saw a poor lady (who was clearly unaware how cold it would be at the top) in sandals who was jumping around trying to avoid getting wet feet.  Mum seemed to enjoy the experience.  This was  my first time going up when the funicular was travelling at what is called 'winter speed', which is twice as fast as the 'summer speed' in order for skiers to get up the mountain as quickly as possible.

The Ptarmigan Restaurant is not so much of a restaurant as it is a cafe, or even a canteen.  It is self service and is kitted out in shoogly tables pushed together and plastic maroon chairs.  The staff are always just a little grumpy and disheveled looking and the food is quite school dinnery.  I feel that it should not be marketed as a restaurant as it falls short of the expectations of what a restaurant should be.  A cafe or canteen is much more fitting to what it offers.  Again. I think this comes from the skiing side of things, where hungry skiers are just looking for a quick meal before returning to the slopes, but many tourists travel up the mountain for the views and experience and I think many may be slightly disappointed after the promise of a restaurant at the top of the mountain.  The restaurant near the base station has been recently done up, so hopefully the Ptarmigan will be the next in line for refurbishment.

We all had macaroni and chips, which was fine.  The cheese on top was quite heavy handed on mine and it had clearly been under the heat lamp for a while, but it filled a space.  We met with Bruce, Alan's cousin on his mum's side who has been working on the mountain recently.  It was good to see him.

Before going back down the mountain we wandered outside briefly to enjoy the view.  It was rather misty so the view was a little obscured, however, it was good to show mum what could potentially be the backdrop for our wedding reception given a clear day.

*fingers crossed*

Here is a photo of us.  I have such a beautiful face...