Meldrum House Hotel, Oldmeldrum

I am very local to Oldmeldrum, having lived here for eight years.  I previously lived only three miles outside of Meldrum, in Hattoncrook, where I was brought up.

So I have a confession to make...

Although I often have a wee wander up there with the dog, I had never set foot inside Meldrum House until last summer, when a friend chose to get married there.  It's just not the sort of place I would thought to have gone, given that it's rather fancy and I'm not very fancy at all!  It is beautiful inside though, and when I heard that they had recently extended their lovely 'Cave Bar', I saw it as an excuse to pop in for a drink.


It was a Saturday night, we had just come home from walking the dog through some very long and very wet grass up at the quarry, and we decided we needed a little treat.  We got changed in to more suitable attire (ie. not soaking jeans and wellies) and Alan drove us the very short distance between our house in the centre of Oldmeldrum to Meldrum House, with the intention of walking home and collecting the car in the morning.  The distance is just over a mile, with much of that being the entrance driveway to Meldrum House.

When we arrived, we were pleased to spot the addition of an external door, allowing us to gain access to the bar without having to go in through the main doors, via reception.  I was pleasantly surprised when we entered, it was bright and cosy with many tables, including two booths built into turrets.  The original cave bar, although beautiful and quirky was very small (to the point where you could feel like everyone in the room could hear your hushed conversation) and lacking in natural light.  The original room where the bar was is now a corridor with many small tables, allowing access to the reception area from the room where the new bar is.  It is decorated traditionally with classic portraits of goodness-knows-who and a fantastic antler chandelier.  I particularly like anything tartan so I was pleased to see some tartan wallpaper and a tartan carpet in the turrets, which complimented the bare 'cave' walls beautifully.

Upon questioning the barman, we were told that this room was previously a bedroom, often used as a dressing room for brides when weddings were taking place.  With the addition of the new extension, this bedroom would not be so well utilised as the large function room is at the other side of the building, and is likely well catered for.



We ordered a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our one month anniversary.  Alan also clocked the cocktail list and succumbed to a Mojito.  I resisted, which is surprising given that they are my favourite.  One of the turret booths was already taken by a party of four who seemed to be having a great time, we sat in the other one.   Our Prosecco was brought to us in an ice bucket and poured by a very attentive young chap who never let our glasses drain.  Alan's Mojito was delicious (I only had a sip!).

The bar was kept steady by guests from the wedding going on at the other side of the building - we enjoyed seeing everyone toddle in dressed in their finery.  The turret was a lovely place to sit and people watch.  My only complaint is that the table should be slightly higher.  I think many women, myself included, like so sit with their legs crossed but the table was too low down to allow for this.  Alan mentioned it too, but then he does have great long legs and massive knees!

By the time we had finished our drinks it was way past bedtime and we had a lovely stroll home, speaking about how we should come back again for more drinks.


Perhaps Mr Kammer might treat me to a meal some time?

Hint hint...

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.