Harden's survey result
Summary
“Andrew is no longer with us… but the tasting menu is still perfect!!”. Head chef Stephen McLaughlin and general manager Dale Desbury have given their now-departed boss the best send-off they could by maintaining the “truly amazing food of the highest order and faultless service at this beautiful restaurant, whose incredibly good ‘Degustation’ menu is an excellent exhibition of skill and creativity” (eight courses for £155). The Michelin man agrees and in October 2019, maintained this famous (if windowless) chamber as Scotland’s only two star. (For afternoon tea, “there’s a lovely new venue in the Glendevon Room – where the G8 summit meeting was held many years ago – beautiful views across to the Ochil Hills. Expensive but delicious!”)
Summary
“You are enveloped in a cocoon of luxurious decadence on arrival at this intimate room, which exudes the glamour of a previous era” – a “darkly lit, quiet space which is very romantic” (but to some tastes a tad “gloomy”). On most accounts, “the tasting menu is an ultimate culinary experience that shouldn’t be missed, with each course more sublime than the last; and with superb wine pairings (which allows the sommelier to present a mini course in viniculture)”. Service is generally found to be “engaged and enthused” and “very friendly”. Unsurprisingly some reporters challenge the extent to which it’s good value, or judge the performance to be good rather than great, but for most visitors “despite the incredible expense, for a truly memorable evening I can’t think of a better place to splash out”. STOP PRESS. Sad news in early November 2018 – Andrew Fairlie is to step down as he is suffering from terminal cancer. He will hand over to head chef Stevie McLaughlin, general manager Dale Dewsbury and his business partner Gregor Mathieson on February 1.
Summary
“Stratospheric prices are justified” at Andrew Fairlie’s “cocoon-like” dining room, whose position deep within this famous Scottish bastion creates “an intimate bubble” which “adds to the lovely experience”. “If you would like to have a once-in-a-lifetime gastronomic blow-out this is an excellent place to do so”. The cuisine is “Scotland’s best” – “a truly remarkable adventure in fine dining” from tasting menus with “outstanding” wine pairings that provide a series of “incomparable and memorable dishes”. One former fan who has accused it of “resting on its laurels” in recent surveys, found it “back to its best” this year. Top Menu Tip – “the lobster infused with whisky – if I was on death row, this would be my final meal!”
Summary
Andrew Fairlie’s “romantic” dining room in this famous Scottish bastion won particularly strong ratings this year, with top billing going to his “pretty much perfect” cuisine. “Sumptuous dishes” feature on a “perfectly balanced tasting menu which flows splendidly, and lets the amazing ingredients sing”, and come with “an accompanying wine flight that’s impeccably matched and presented with great aplomb by the sommelier”. It’s a windowless space, but fans “like that it’s closed off” – it’s “like stepping through a door into another world….”
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinner | £140.00 |  |
|
 |
| Cost | Availability | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu1 | 155.00 | Always Available | 8 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £20.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £5.50 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
Auchterarder, PH3 1NF
Opening hours
| Monday | 6:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Tuesday | 6:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Wednesday | 6:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Thursday | 6:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Friday | 6:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Saturday | 6:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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