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...
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