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...

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.

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...