We did not go to the main restaurant, but to the Chop and Ale House. It's a traditional Scottish style of pub, with plenty of parking and easy access from the M9. The choice on the menu is excellent, with mains including burgers, steaks, chicken and fish. The puddings also looked good. Between us we polished off a burger with Stilton sauce, and a beef and lamb sausage, washed down with some Bellhaven Best.
The quality of the beef is key here, and the meat was excellent. Mains ranged from £8 to over £20 for some of the steaks. All in all a good atmosphere, attentive staff, and very good pub food. Excellent coffee to finish off with!
As well as the Ale house and restaurant, there is a third establishment on the premises: Champany Cellars - a gem of a shop with a huge selection of wine (about 20% of the restaurant wine list), which specialises in South African wines. The shop stocks a large selection of 'Cape Winemakers Guild' wines. Having been to South Africa and tasted a few Cape wines, we are huge fans of Kanonkop and bagged a bottle of 1999 Pinotage. It will be interesting to see how it compares to their standard bottling.
With the wine in the boot, we headed to Blackness for a wander round the castle, and then back to Edinburgh to finish digesting.
Overall Rating
A fine day out, a good pub and a fantastic wine shop - could this possibly be the best kept secret in Scottish wine? We may have to arrange a trip to the restaurant - what could be better than good quality steak and a huge wine list?? Oh the memories .... 96 Winery Road.
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