Suite taste of Tillicoultry

Details Harviestoun Country Hotel  Website  Dollar Rd  Tillicoultry  Stirlingshire  FK13 6PQ      01259 752522 Can you imagine going to New York and not seeing the Statue of Liberty? Or travelling to Egypt and simply blanking the Pyramids? Of course not. So you can understand just how I felt after visiting Tillicoultry for the first time last week and totally ignoring - yes, you've guessed it - the furniture megastore Sterling. Altogether now, folks ... Ste-er-ling, the big one! Quite frankly, I don't think Dougie Donnelly (who did for Sterling what Colonel Sanders did for finger-lickin' chicken) will ever speak to me again. To be fair, though, I think I might just have stumbled upon an even bigger star attraction in the area. I'm talking about the picture postcard Harviestoun Country Hotel, a lovingly restored farmhouse nestling at the foot of the splendid Ochil Hills. Don't breathe a word to Dougie, but I reckon I'd sooner sit here stuffing my face for a couple of hours than trudge around a big warehouse full of 10,000 different shades of three-piece suites. The Harviestoun boasts a rather attractive beer garden and a rather colourful cobbled courtyard. It's just a pity Scotland doesn't boast any summer sunshine, eh? Inside the bar/restaurant (snug but spacious) it's homely and I guarantee that all you Little House On The Prairie fans will love it. While sipping a rather agreeable glass of Chilean Merlot - the bottle bizarrely priced at £13.28 - we sank into the extremely comfortable leather sofas (wonder if they got a discount from the neighbours down the street?) and plonked ourselves in front of a roaring coal fire. Okay, it was one of those artificial flame gas efforts, but it still did the trick on this July evening in Scotland - it helped dry our wellies. There's a wide choice of home-cooked dishes on the menu - everything from BLT club sandwiches to frogs legs sauteed in fresh garlic - and senior citizens/kids portions are also available with most dishes. I started with the salmon fishcakes. At first glance, both patties looked a wee bit on the flimsy side, but that's only because they hadn't been bulked out with potato and were instead packed with tasty fish. The crunchy, crumbly coating - arguably a touch burnt, although that's exactly the way I like it - was perfect for soaking up the creamy dill sauce and, incidentally, my plate was white-hot. So, definitely no complaints from yours truly on that score. While Kenny lapped up the leek and potato soup ("the vegetables have plenty of bite, it's not just a bowl of soggy mush") my female friend, DD - yes same nickname as the old Brookside character with the sizeable assets, but I'm saying nothing - devoured the goats' cheese. Sensibly ignoring my remark about how collecting this product must bring a tear to the poor goat's eye, DD gave the roasted Mediterranean vegetables the thumbs up and pointed out that the zingy tomato and herb salsa was the perfect accompaniment with the cheese. She also waxed lyrical about her main course of scallops, monkfish and tiger prawns.

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