Tag: whisky

Weaver’s Cottage

Published on 28 June 2025

My Saturday in Glasgow was definitely a combination of new places during the day, and some old favourites in the evening…

As nice as a full Scottish breakfast may be, when presented with the option, I like to try something more exotic every once in a while. As it happened, nearby Thai restaurant Chaophraya only very recently started serving breakfast! I ordered the Khai Krata fried eggs with Thai sausages, and was happily surprised. At first I thought the sauces were just ketchup and brown sauce, but oh boy, was I wrong: the red sauce was some kind of chili sauce, the brown one a spicy soy sauce.

My next National Trust for Scotland destination was a bit out of town, so I had to take another Scotrail train to Milliken Park. From there it was a little bit of a walk to the Weaver’s Cottage. While they were originally linen weavers, they changed with market demands, and started weaving tartans as well, and many other things!

Back in Glasgow, I first had a stamp, a beer, and a smash burger in BrewDog Merchant City.

I then had some coffee at Off the Rails, and beer at Shilling Brewing Company. Their guest selection had definitely improved since the last time I was there!

It was about time I had some Indian food for dinner again, so hoping for a table, I went to the busy Chaakoo Bombay Café. In less than fifteen minutes they could seat me, so I could order and enjoy my Masahari, keema matar, mango chutney, and garlic naan.

The highlight of the evening was without a doubt my visit to the Koelschip Yard. Refreshed from the outside, but still the very welcoming neighbourhood vibe on the inside. Once you’re dragged into a conversation with the regulars, you’re in it for the night. And the beer list is still banging, of course!
Side note: In this bar where I drank Epochal beers for the first time, they haven’t got a clue what’s going on with them either!

On my way back to the hotel, I made a last stop at The Pot Still for a wee dram. Truly a night well spent!

More Inverness

More Inverness

Published on 19 June 2025

After a good night’s sleep, I was ready to properly discover Inverness. Well, after some breakfast and coffee of course!

The plan was to have some kind of breakfast taco from one of the vendors around the food plaza in the Victorian Market. Unfortunately they apparently stopped doing breakfast a couple of weeks ago, so I had to find an alternative. Luckily Milk Bar, where I intended to go for coffee anyway, served some food as well, so I ended up enjoying a ham, cheddar, and caramelised red onion marmalade toastie. And then my coffee and millionaire’s shortbread after all.

Time for some history, starting with Abertarff House, the oldest house in Inverness, and an important example of 16th-century domestic architecture.

Next was the Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, which was mainly about the history of Inverness and the Highlands. All signage was in both English and Gaelic, as I’ve seen in more places in Inverness, and now I know why: Gaelic is on the rise! In 1891, one third of the people of Inverness spoke Gaelic. After falling to 5% by 1991, the figure today is back over 8%, higher than any other Scottish city!

For lunch I headed to Roots Café, a place I had been before when it had another name and owner, and I had a huge hangover… When I noticed the special was a black pudding and crispy potato hash, I simply had to have it! Not enough people realise that a ‘hash’ first and foremost is something you eat…

Even though I’ve now been a kilt wearer for over eleven years, I’ve never seen one mode! The Scottish Kiltmaker Visitor Centre—basically a little exhibition and a big window in the workshop of the Highland House of Fraser—fixed that for me.

Just fifteen minutes before closing time—did I mention that the food plaza in the Victorian Market closes early?—I got myself a pork sausage roll at Bad Girl Bakery. I had to, just for the name alone! The sausage roll was good, though.

The plan was to visit Inverness Castle as well, but apparently it still hasn’t reopened yet… Just a look from the outside will have to do this time, although it was impossible to get a view without scaffolding or fences!

On my way past the castle, I then had a quick stop at Number 27, for a couple of halves.

The next stop was The Castle Tavern. Apparently I was a bit early for dinner—although my stomach on Belgian time disagreed—so I had to kill some time drinking beer… It was worth the wait though: both the haggis croquettes and the chipotle chicken sandwich were very nice!

The furthest I would venture today was Uile-Bheist, a distillery and brewery. As they only started in 2022, they don’t have their own whisky yet, and they don’t make any other distillates. So while they did have their bar well-stocked with other whiskies, I stuck to their beers.

On my to-do list for ages, was Hootananny. Originally because they have a weekly ceilidh, but Thursday is not the night for that. They do however have live music every night, and tonight it was Tuath (Gaelic for ‘North’) that delighted us with their tunes. Neil on the fiddle, and Blair on the keyboard and the sass… Luckily I always carry protection in my sporran, because they were loud!

After the first set I moved on to the Black Isle Bar, since I noticed they had some new beers on. I mean, if you launch a Belgian Golden Strong Ale on my last night, I can’t skip that! After eleven they already started cleaning and closing tills, so that was the signal for me to head back to the hotel.

Back in Inverness

Back in Inverness

Published on 18 June 2025

After a full Scottish breakfast—but is it still Scottish when it doesn’t include haggis?—we arrived about ten minutes early in Inverness. My Scottish adventure was about to start!

My first port of call then was the Caledonian Sleeper lounge, just across from the station. It was definitely smaller than the one in London, but it fulfilled its purpose, and I had a moment of relaxation with a cuppa and a cookie.

Rectangular plate with beans, sausage, a hashbrown with some other items hidden underneath it, a mini frittata, and a slice of toast

I then dropped off my bags at Travelodge Inverness City Centre, and headed to PERK Coffee + Doughnuts for coffee and—you guessed it—a doughnut.

Coffee shop facade, people queuing out the door

Since the last time I was in Inverness I was quite hungover, I decided to once again take Stagecoach 27 to revisit Culloden Battlefield.

From there I took the same bus back in the direction of the Black Isle Brewery. From the nearest bus stop it was still a 25 minute walk, but who cares when your walking in the Highlands? The brewery didn’t actually have a taproom—just some cans in a fridge. They did however spontaneously offered to give me a tour of the brewery, which of course made me very happy!

A sign pointing out the way to Black Isle Brewing Co., hilly meadows and woods in the background

The way back was actually even less convenient, so I ordered a taxi straight to the Black Isle Bar. There I still managed to find a couple of beers not available in the brewery, so double win!

After checking in to my hotel, and briefly closing my eyes, I popped by at the Victorian Market, where everything seems to close quite early… Moonshine was still open though, so I had a can there.

Since it was still a bit early to go for dinner, I also made a stop at Highlander. While most of their beers are pretty standard, they do seem to have a special place in their heart—and fridges—for a local brewery: Dog Falls.

From there it was onto Mangrove, for some proper Indian food! I had the ttandoori mix, chilli korma chicken, and some garlic nan.

Then I ventured into the lion’s den: MacGregor’s, historically archenemies of the MacLarens… They didn’t seem to recognise my tartan though, and served me beers with a smile on their face. Bullet dodged!

The last stop of the night was The Malt Room. They initially recommended me a flight, but as appealing as that sounded, it would have been too much… I settled for one dram of Raasay, and then went to bed, to catch up on some sleep…

Simmer Dim Trip

Simmer Dim Trip

Published on 17 June 2025

Finally! Another ‘big trip’! Not unexpectedly it’s to Scotland again, but with a very specific goal: experience the shortest night of the year—Simmer Dim—on Shetland. As usual, the first day is all about getting to Scotland: 1287 km in under 21 hours, including over 7 hours in London…

Faithfully filling out all those questionnaires from Eurostar meant I had gathered enough points to upgrade to Eurostar Plus. There’s no lounge access included in that class, but in Brussels that’s usually not really needed anyway. For me the most important advantage of class upgrades are the solo seats. On trains to London however, Plus actually includes a light meal and drinks as well! On the menu today: roast beef bowl with horseradish and lovage potato salad, green beans and courgettes, apricot Bakewell. I also got to try the Two Tribes beer Nomad, brewed exclusively for Eurostar.

A wheelie bag, with a kilt roll and a backpack strapped to it, on the tiled platform of a Brussels metro station.

After arrival—just seven minutes late—I first headed to Hoppers for the second part of my lunch. Not that I didn’t enjoy the food on the train, but it was just a light meal, and definitely not enough for what was about to come… Also, Hoppers had been on my to-do list ever since I saw the founder as a guest chef on the Sorted YouTube channel. So I had an egg hopper, the Lankan chicken kari, tomato chutney, pol sambol, and seeni sambol, all of that with a Toddy Ale by SALT.

Big snifter glass with beer on a wooden table, a brass plate behind it.

Differently sized bowls with food on a table.

I wouldn’t stray too far from the train stations today, but still, taking my big wheelie bag—with a kilt roll and a smaller backpack strapped to it—would be quite annoying. So it was time to store my bag at what turned out to be the cutest Nannybag location I ever used. The lady running the shop calling me ‘dear’ all the time reinforced this sentiment even further…

Wheelie bag, with on top of it a yellow luggage tag with the number 08

After that I had some time to relax a bit and have the first decent coffee in days, at Store St Espresso.

Inside view, a customer at the wooden counter

From there it was just a five minute walk to The Queen’s Head. I’ve been to this bar a couple of times—probably already my very first time in London—but the beer menu never disappoints! To soak up a bit of the beer before my last stop, I finished off with a Mr. Barrick’s pork pie.

Classic pub facade, wooden tables in front

Beer on the bar, bar stools and people sitting at tables in the background

Dimple mug with dark beer on the bar, pump clip in the background

Then it was time to retrieve my bag while the shop was still open—even though the nice lady gave me clear instructions on what to do if it was closed—and head to my traditional pre-sleeper stop: the Euston Tap! It was sweltering inside, so after my first half, I ordered a pint to take outside.

19th century gatehouse, stones engraved with destinations of trains leaving from Euston station, drinking after work people in front of it

Glass of beer on a table, with taps mounted to a copper plated wall behind it

A glass of beer balancing on a fence railing, the Euston Tap and its terrace in the background

Derelict 19th century gatehouse, stones engraved with destinations of trains leaving from Euston station

I didn’t stay too long, since I hadn’t tested the new Caledonian Sleeper lounge yet. It’s definitely nice they have a space of their own now: you already get your room key card—pre-activated, so no messing about with double-tapping—and an announcement when it’s time to board. And of course all the shortbread and Irn-Bru—and coffee and tea—you can stomach! The lounge was quite busy, but I still found a seat.

When I was finally on board, I quickly dropped my bag in my room, filled out the breakfast card, and headed to the Club Car, for my traditional whisky and Scottish cheese plate. After my second dram, I decided it was time to go to bed, and spend most of the 914 km to Inverness sleeping. After all, breakfast will be served at 7:15…

Tumbler with whisky, the mini bottle next to it

So for now, time to take off my trousers and stash them away for the next two weeks, and get some sleep!

Bonus! A little video of my Caledonian Sleeper experience!

FyneFest Trip – Day 2

Published on 30 May 2023

Over to Arran

This morning I got up unusually early, at 5.30! Just as well my internal clock was still on Belgian time, but nevertheless way too early! The reason for this was that CalMac Ferries decided to cancel the 11.00 ferry I booked, so I had to go on the 8.00 ferry instead. This meant I had to catch the 6.15 train to Ardrossan Harbour… To add insult to injury, there was no coffee or breakfast available, neither in the ferry terminal, nor on the ferry itself!

Needless to say, in Brodick, on the Isle of Arran, my first stop was the Little Rock café, for a full Scottish breakfast, and a coffee.

After that I was almost human again, and ready to walk a bit of the Arran Coastal Way to head over to Brodick Castle. Unfortunately it was in scaffolding, so the outside was completely invisible, but luckily the interiors and the beautiful gardens made up for it.

I stopped by at Arran Brewery, but since this brewery doesn’t have a taproom, I had one of their beers at neighbour The Wineport.

On my way to the Arran Heritage Museum I did some picknick shopping at Arran’s Cheese Shop.

The last stop on the island was the Ormidale Hotel, which seemed like a good place to have a whisky from Isle of Arran Distillers, which was a bit too far to visit in person today. I’ll have to save that for when they’re organising tours again, but for now, the Arran 18 Year was a nice consolation.

A ferry and a train brought me back to Glasgow, for some Greek/Turkish/Levantine food at a new, highly recommended place, ‘Babs.

As my only real beer stop in Glasgow tonight, I went to the Innis & Gunn Brewery Taproom. I’m not really a fan of their own beers, but the guest list was stonkin’!

Since that dram of Arran brought me in the mood for whisky, I ended the night at The Pot Still, with their malt of the month, Smokehead.