J G Ross, Oldmeldrum

Today I went with The Mothers to J G Ross Bakery in Oldmeldrum for afternoon tea.

I live in Oldmeldrum so I am familiar with this place.  It can often be hit or miss but I am always keen to support the local shops and businesses in Oldmeldrum.  The cafe is a fairly new addition to Oldmeldrum, opening in September last year.  I have been on a few occasions, both for takeaway and sit in options, with varying success.

Unfortunately, this visit was not one of the better ones.

We arrived in the shop at around 2.30pm, perfect time to miss both the dinnertime rush and the after school customers, and were given menus and told to pick a seat by a rather somber member of staff.  Two out of the three booths were already occupied, we sat at the third.  The few other tables in the shop were empty.

Last time we were in, mum had spied the offer of afternoon tea on the menu so was keen to try this.  It costs £12.95 for two.  We waited quite a long time to be served, despite the place not appearing busy, however thee were only two members of staff there which seemed a little short for a bakery with cafe. We asked the young waitress if we could pay slightly more to make it for three people.  She seemed a little confused by this, but took our order nonetheless, asking which sandwiches we wanted.  Mum and I were not overly fussed, but mum-in-law is vegetarian so obviously asked for any available meat-free option.

We were brought cups of tea and coffee.  Unfortunately, there were wee blue bits in the tea!  It looked like teeny tiny bits of a J-Cloth.  Not ones to complain, The Mothers just picked them out.  I had coffee which was nicely made, however, the cup I was given was quite dirty.  Again, following in the footsteps of my companions, I just drank from the not-quite-so-dirty side.

We had a tower of goodies delivered to us.  The bottom tier was a mixture of chicken mayo and cheese sandwiches.  I'll admit, I found these options a little uninteresting and 'safe' but they were nonetheless lovely.  One of my favourite things about J G Ross is their brown bread.  Its lovely, soft, squashy, thickly cut and seedy, so I was pleased that some of the sandwiches were made on brown bread.  Scones were next up.  We had one plain, one fruit and one wholemeal.  They were of good size and lovely.

To my horror, each of the mothers put both butter and jam on theirs!  Ugh!  Who would want cloudy, salty jam?!

The traybakes on the top were plentiful, although, again, a little uninteresting.  They consisted of teeny pieces of rocky road, tiffin and a coconut slice.  It would have been nice to have something a little less chocolate-based, as these were all rather heavy and similar in texture.  I'll admit that I completely forgot to take a photo of the afternoon tea tower in all it's glory, however I did get one right at the end of the few traybakes which were left.

We paid at the till and were asked if we enjoyed our food.  In typical British fashion, 'yes, lovely' came out of our mouths.  The young lady perked up at that point, stating that she was pleased as it has been her and her colleagues first ever afternoon tea order, admitting that she couldn't remember exactly what was supposed to go on it.  We commended her for a job well done.  I have certainly been in a similar position myself and it means a lot to have a customer compliment you for an effort you have made.

No doubt I will be back, if only to keep another empty premises from appearing in the beautiful place I live.

Mambo's, Aviemore

Alan and I get married tomorrow!

We had gone out for a bite to eat with a large group of guests who are staying with us in the lodge we had booked.  We decided it would be unlikely to find a place that would sit 20-odd people for a meal without us having booked, so we split up into smaller groups.

I was stuck with Alan I'm afraid, due to him having a hold of our bank card.  I didn't take my own one with me.  Mambo's would never have been my first choice in places to eat on the night before I got married, but this is where we ended up.

It's an odd wee place.  It has a sort of swish bar, but horrifically stark strip lights and sticky furniture, which really brings the place down.  It reminds me of the kitchen in a relatively nice hostel.  It's in need of a really good clean and some new lighting.  It lacked in atmosphere due to this, a shame given we were dining at peak time on a Friday evening.

The menu is very basic, offering mainly burgers and a few other options.  We were dining with two Swiss relatives, one who is vegetarian, whose options were very limited, although she did seem to enjoy her spicy bean burger.  I opted for a hot dog - I've never really been much of a burger person - although I instantly regretted my decision when I saw everybody else's burgers arrive.  I was super jealous.  My hot dog was sad and inferior in comparison.  Their burgers looked amazing, all covered in cheese and sauce and pickles and bacon!  There was also a basket of chips!  I love chips!

I know there were loads of burgers on the menu, but apart from that, it wasn't overtly obvious that this place were good at burgers.  I feel they're missing a marketing trick.

I may very well go here again, but I'll certainly not rush back due to the lack of atmosphere.  If I do I'll definitely have one of their burgers though.

Yo! Sushi

Today we went to a trusty old favourite of ours...Yo! Sushi.  It quickly became a preferred choice for us many years ago, after I convinced Alan to go with me.

I must say, Alan is not a very adventurous eater, especially when it comes to seafood.  Shellfish is a big no no and he only tends to eat fish from a chip shop or in fish fingers.  It took a fair amount of convincing him before we made it inside the door.

We are now seasoned professionals at Yo Sush, as we have started calling it.  We only ever go on a Sunday, when you can have 10 plates each for £20 per person - this deal is called Sunday Munch.  It used to be that you could have as many plates as you could eat for a few more quid - this was called Sumo Sunday - I can only assume it was amended due to people like us eating 'too much'!  We once has 45 plates between us.  We miss it.

One of the many benefits of the sushi conveyor belt is that you can have a wee taste of this and that, without ever being stuck with something you don't particularly like.  If you don't like it, then you just don't choose it again.  The atmosphere inside has changed a little over the past few years.  One of the few things I don't like is the new seating booths near the door as often during busy times, waiting customers are asked to queue up along the glass window inside of the restaurant, making you feel a little bit 'watched' as you are eating.  Nobody likes to feel rushed as they eat and I think it would be much nicer if waiting diners could queue up elsewhere - even along the window on the outside of the restaurant would be better.


So, the concept of the conveyor belt works like this...

In the middle of the restaurant is the kitchen - there are many workers in there at all times, each seems to have their own station.  

The conveyor belt runs around this kitchen, circling the busy members of staff working within.

As plates are prepared, staff members place them onto the conveyor belt and they are then free to be picked up by the hungry customers.  Plates can also be ordered from one of the servers if what you fancy is not available on the belt - servers can be attracted by pressing a button on your table.  Drinks and miso soup are also ordered inn this way.  Water taps are available on the tables as are chopsticks, soy sauce, wasabi, picked ginger and napkins.

Plates are enjoyed and kept in a pile on your table until the bill is asked for.  Each dish has it's own price and this is determined by the colour of the plate on which it has been served, letting the servers tally up what you owe them.  


If you are unsure which each of the dishes are, there is a handy menu available for reference on the table.  It has a description and pictures of all the dishes and shows them on the same colour of plates as they will appear on the belt.

I always make sure to have as much miso soup as I can handle as this is free with the Sunday Munch deal.  I usually at least start and finish with a bowl.

The new menu, which started a month or two ago, is awesome!  There are still many of the favourites on the menu, such as Chicken Katsu Curry, Duck Gyoza, Salmon and Yuzu Salsa Tataki, and Custand Dorayaki.  There are a bunch of delicious new additions to this, some of my favourites being Albacore Tuna and Truffle Nigiri, Dynamite Roll, Teba No Karaage, Hoisin Duck Steamed Bun, and Apple Gyoza and Salted Miso Caramel.

There has only been one new dish of the ones I have tasted so far that was not my cup of tea...Tako Nigiri...which is sliced poached octopus on a bed of rice.  The flavor was fine - didn't taste of much but the octopus was really rubbery and chewy.  I assume this is normal for octopus, however, I have had no previous octopus experience to compare it to.

M favourite dish was the Apple Gyoza and Salted Miso Caramel.  It was hot and oozy.  We both agreed on the deliciousness of this dish.

I do find Yo! Sushi quite expensive given the fact the dishes are teensy tiny, however, it's great for a treat and we always make sure to make the most of the Sunday Munch deal as much as possible.


We will inevitably be back.
We can't stop ourselves.
We've tried.