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.

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...