Drams and dramas-a trip to whisky central

I’ve had some lovely wee moments this week- From dinner, wine and Irish coffee’s at the Butterfly and Pig, cocktails at the Pony and champagne beers at the Central Bar with a girlfriend, to an unexpected lunchtime burgers and wine treat at AdLib with Mr CL, to an afternoon shopping for bikes and whisky (yip, you heard right) with family in preparation for our trip north next week, followed by curry at Stravaigin, coffee and cakes at Sonny and Vito’s and cocktails at The Left Bank.  I need to take this opportunity to mention Tam’s Drams again.  It’s awesome.  Whisky heaven.  We went with the intention of picking up a nice bottle for ourselves and we were also given the task of selecting a bottle for a friend.  Double the fun.  We spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon tasting whisky with Tam’s expect guidance and tried everything from Bruichladdich Black Art to Wemyss Malts Autumn Leaves before settling on a Douglas Laing &co Old Malt Cask 20 year old Glenburgie for us and a Glasgow Whisky Festival’s bottling of a 14 year old Highland Park for my friend.  Both were delicious and I can’t wait to crack them open when we get up to Applecross next week……weather permitting that is.

I was about to start moaning about us entering our third winter this year, however, when you see what else is going on around the world right now, a bit of snow is a minor issue.  I realise how I am lucky I am to live somewhere we don’t have to worry much about natural disasters or oppressive regimes, and I am suddenly very grateful cold weather is the worst we have to contend with.  As such, I am all the more appreciative of the time I have been able to spend with good friends and family this week and I am thinking of all those who are not in such a fortunate position.

The Lorne way round

So, after a long dark winter eating and drinking my way round Partick, I finally hit the road just in time for spring to burst onto the scene.  Precision timing.  With tunes on the stereo, sunglasses dusted down and perched upon my nose, an empty belly and camera round my neck, I was really to adventure off to discover uncharted Argyll territory.  First, a fundamental fuel stop at the Loch Fyne Oyster bar for lunch-  Beautiful shiny seafood linguine in a ginger cream sauce- exactly what my mouth was shaped for.

After a leisurely drive through roller coaster hillsides and moors, we emerged to join the Sounds of Jura where we pottered by dopy yachts bobbing about on the sparkly sheltered waters by the marina before arriving at our hotel, The Galley of Lorne.  A lovely wee sailor friendly pub/inn on the waters edge.  Fortunately, they were friendly to non sailors too and we were pleased to find somebody with a bit of imagination had recently refurbished the rooms to a standard you don’t often find in wee remote abodes.  After a quick wander to get our bearings we assumed our positions in the bar and commenced our journey through the food and drink menu.  Ok, it wasn’t the most amazing meal I have ever had, but somebody was clearly trying hard and put a bit of thought into the menu.  The winner of the evening was the sticky date pudding in toffee sauce- Often this can go so wrong, but they nailed it.  We spent the rest of the evening slowly working our way through the whisky selection while watching the locals get steadily drunker, louder and dancier…..All very amusing then, but not so when we got up the next morning for breakfast to find all the other hotel guests roaming the corridors, bewildered at finding the whole place locked up and in darkness without a member of staff in sight.  They seemed to have forgotten the breakfast part of ‘bed and breakfast’.  I’ve never experienced this before, nor had anyone else so nobody really knew what the drill was.  We tried calling the contact number on the front door- no answer.  After more corridor pacing and rattling of locked doors we were starting to resemble breakfast zombies, so we took a wee walk in the morning sun to de-zombiefy and take a few pictures.

When we returned breakfast was in full swing, so we filled up on lots of fried stuff before venturing off for a walk in the sunshine at a wee spot called Aird, we then took a driving taking in Kilmartin, Crinal canal and Loch Fyne where we stopped frequently for wanderings and photo taking opportunities.

Here are some things I saw:

Instead of returning home to sleepyville, we treated ourselves to a wee night at the Lorne Hotel in Glasgow.  Lunch was at La Vallee Blanche, one of my favourite restaurants in Glasgow, where we caught up with family over steak frite followed by cocktails at Booly Mardy’s.  I know I know, it’s a tough life.  As if that wasn’t hard enough, dinner was at Bukharah where I had the most delicious dosa with spicy chicken, curry and peshwari naan followed by more cocktails at the Bilerry bar.  This is where I finally learned you can have too much of a good thing when it comes to food.  My guts have never hurt so much, but like a real trooper, I fought through it and enjoyed a wee session at the Ben Nevis bar where gid tunes and a wee Balvenie aided the digestion process.

Next morning, after barely touching breakfast, we took a long walk through Kelvingrove Park stopping at Sonny and Vito’s deli for coffee where it was so lovely we sat outside in the spring sunshine.  I know!  Outside!  How exciting.  We finally pottered back through the park before having lunch and afternoon drinks at The Goat.  The final pit stop was a true find, Tam’s Drams, a specialist whisky shop on Argyle Street.  Tam was a lovely man with great chat and a wealth of knowledge on the rare selection of whiskies stocked.  A brilliant shop- I can’t wait to go back and stock up before my next trip up north, which is only two weeks away!  Hurrah!

Velvet Elvis to The Park Bar- a West End Odyssey.

“Keep Partick‘s Weird”  The mural on the wall of Velvet Elvis, an ex butcher shop turned groovy drinking den on Dumbarton Road in Partick, declares and does a pretty good job.  I love this place. It’s comfy and friendly and has tasty food and does a mean mojito.  We started off Saturday’s afternoon outing here with an ice cold glass of chenin blanc and a bowl of skinny fries with alioli.  I would like to point out, I don’t normally eat chips with every drink, but I do admit my last few posts would contradict this statement.  Sticking with this healthy eating plan, our next stop was Little Italy on Byers Road for pizza then coffee.  They do gooood pizza.  We then turned back on our route and headed to The Lismore to catch up with some old pals over a Malt of the Month…or two.  Highland Park was the current tipple on offer and it went down rather nicely.  The Lismore is a crackin pub, full of local characters with great banter.  Combined with some live music provided by musicians in town for Celtic Connections, it was a great afternoon.  It was also our downfall, as we had intended catching an early train home but instead found ourselves having too much fun to end it here.  The natural progression was a quick taxi ride to the institution that is the Park Bar, where Heilan’ lads and lassies gather in vast numbers for some ceilidh chaos.  The last train home came and went and we were still propping up the bar and talking mince.  I pity the poor taxi driver who scooped us up for the journey home at approximately 12.30, six hours after we originally intended to head home.  Still, what’s the point in working hard all week if you can’t throw caution to the wind and go with the proverbial flow?  I love nights like this- Unplanned joy.  It’s random nights in places like this I think helps keep Partick, and the rest of the West End, a wee bit weird but totally wonderful.