24 Hours In Aberdeen

OK, you've got 24 hours in the Granite City, ready? .... Go

First port of call on the way is and always will be The Horn Milk Bar for one of their monster, outstanding, super filled bacon rolls, never had one? Go now, it truly is the "best bacon roll in the world". And in case you don't know, there are only two things that go on a bacon roll, brown sauce and more brown sauce. 

A couple of hours later you've traversed the traffic, dodged the speed cameras and arrived in the old grey toon, it's been at least a couple of hours so you're hungry again, right? For dinner inspo look no further than Yatai Izakaya  for deeeeeelish fresh Japanese sushi, tempura, steamed buns and dumplings. Japanese food novice? Fear not... Yatai also offers omakase style dining meaning you tell your waiter your budget, preferences and dietary requirements and they select the dishes for you, couldn't get much simpler!

So it's like 10pm now and you need cocktails... fear not, I got you gal. Pay for your sushi, grab your coat, walk two paces right of Yatai and you find yourself on the doorstep of Orchid. It's dark, it's sexy, it's mysterious, it's the bar of any millenials dream. And by that I mean there isn't a cocktail you won't want to instagram #drinkypoos. Do yourself a favour and order as many "Pink Orchids" as your bank balance will allow because who doesn't love themselves a li'l pink frothy action.

It's the morning after the night before and you're feeling JUST FABBY after drinking the town dry, or if you're anything like me, its actually already the afternoon, oopsie. Get yo' ass up, and drag yourself down to Melt, Aberdeen's home of grilled cheese,and by George do they do it well! I'm a woman of simple pleasures, so give a gal an enormous oozing grilled cheese sandwich and a lovely little pot of steaming tomato soup and you pretty much won't find a happier soul around. Delicious comfort food to the max!

Is it time for a nap yet?

Loch Tay (with the best oozy baked camembert)

 Here's a li'l question for all my fellow city lovin' slickers. Ever been glamping? I hadn't ... Nor had I any desire to do so, until one day, browsing my way through the explore section of instagram I came across a post so God Damn dreamy it hurt! Picture rolling hills, tumbling streams, glorious picture perfect Scottish countryside at it's best, (queue braveheart style bagpipes interlude). So of course, throwing caution to the wind, I swiftly booked a glamping Geodome for two nights at the gorgeous, welcoming Loch Tay Highland Lodges.

 Now it was March, which of course in the Motherland means still the unholy depths of winter. So after a scenic ass drive we arrived to snow capped mountains, an icy Loch Tay and a Geodome so cold you could write "Laura woz here 2k17" in the frost covering the floor. But, don't you worry your pretty little heads about the temperature, because as soon as you get that log burner roaring expect to be toasty warm and smugly admiring your pyrotechnic skills in no time! (grunt, man make fire, grunt).

The site is gorgeous, set on a hillside that gently slopes down towards the banks of Loch Tay, it's dotted with pretty little log cabins, glamping domes, and woodland lodges, but not at any point does it feel centre parcs style crowded or over developed. There's walking, sailing opportunities and a multitude of other activities to enjoy, the area even has a waterside bistro that unfortunately during the winter months is closed, so instead, we decided to cook for ourselves, campfire styleeee. 

Campfire cooking, as you can imagine, is not something I'm greatly experienced in, but for me, a couple of charred burgers and a flaccid sausage straight off the BBQ just wasn't going to cut it, so instead we opted for an array of all da things that make me go weak at the knees, a gorj bottle of South African red, a selection of oatcakes and crackers, some delicious Rannoch Smoked Duck Pate, my favourite caramelised red onion chutney and a couple of naughty little little cheese huns. I love cheese, in any shape or form, hard, soft, french, austrian, Babybell or Brie De Meaux. I love them all and I just couldn't resist the temptation of a perfectly baked Le Rustique camembert so we tossed one on the fire and enjoyed it, armed with crusty bread, in all its oozy, melted splendour. 

Perfect Honey & Rosemary Baked Camembert

Ingredients:

• A round of Camembert cheese
• Runny honey
• Fresh rosemary sprigs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Remove your cheese from it's casing, place in the centre of a large piece of foil, make four shallow, small slits in the top of the cheese, gently insert some sprigs of fresh rosemary and drizzle with around a tablespoon of runny honey. Finally finish up with a good helping of freshly ground salt and pepper, gather all the edges of foil up around the cheese and pinch together to form a package. If like us you're baking the cheese over an open fire then simply place the package directly into the embers for around 15 minutes until bubbling and melted. Alternatively you can place your package into a preheated oven (200 degrees c) and bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy with crusty bread, carrot batons, celery sticks or any dipping implements of your choice!

Now, as you can imagine, we were feeling pretty damn good about life, roaring fire, twinkling stars, both of us full to the brim with french cheese and wine, so as far as I'm concerned I'd call that a hella' great camping trip, it only sweetened the deal that the very next morning we ventured out and managed to find the absolute best and most delicious eggs benedict I've ever tasted! (ohhh I smell another blog post coming on) but for the moment all I can say is, fear not, my glamping virgins, it really isn't all that bad, in fact at Loch Tay Highland Lodges it's actually bloody brilliant.