Me: Where do you fancy going for dinner tonight? Friend: I don’t know what kind of food are you in the mood for? Me: I’m in the mood for Scottish food!
Firstly this would never happen because I am the least decisive person when it comes to what I want to eat, but secondly…Scottish food? You heard right, and Mac & Wild will make you wonder why you’d never craved Scottish food before! Mac & Wild takes you on a gastronomic tour of the Scottish Highlands without leaning too heavily on cultural clichés (although haggis was featured heavily in the starters section). The restaurant specialises in wild game and seafood from Scotland with a massive selection of whiskeys of course (a list of 120 in fact).
So lets start with the décor, if you’ve read my blog before you’ll know that I love thoughtful interior décor and good ambiance. The interior of the restaurant is how I imagine a Scottish hunting cabin might be decorated, lots of wood and exposed brick, with bull horns and animal hides hanging from the ceiling and on the walls in a fun and unimposing way, and the entire restaurant is quite dimly lit. The tables are made from uneven slabs of wood and the entire atmosphere if fun and rustic.
Atmosphere and interior assessed then, let’s get down to business! The entire menu is tongue in cheek and fun, and starting with the ‘Wee Plates’ I opted for the ‘Haggis Pops’. Having never had Haggis before and having heard numerous horror stories I was a little dubious but I thought when in Rome/The Highlands…The Haggis Pops were haggis coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried (things are looking up), and served with Red Jon sauce. The golden fried haggis pops were wonderfully crispy on the outside with soft, pulled bits of meat on the inside. They had quite a rich gamey flavour so perhaps not to some people’s taste but I was thoroughly persuaded. And the sauce…oh the sauce! Sticky deliciously rich heaven that I could have eaten with a spoon or bathed in, made with whiskey, Dijon mustard and redcurrant jelly (yes I googled it, see here). I proceeded to dip everything I ordered into this sauce afterwards!
Next up on my voyage of Scottish culinary discovery was the ‘Veni-moo burger’. I ummed and ahhed a bit about the main as I quite fancied a steak but I had it under very good authority that the Veni-moo was not to be missed, so for fear of food envy I acquiesced. So, first up, double patty (hell yeah), one beef and one venison, with melty cheese, béarnaise and caramelised onions, served in a seeded bun, with the option of adding candied bacon (which obviously I did, I’m no fool). I was unsurprised to learn that The Veni-moo won London’s and the UK’s best burger in 2016, and while I have not YET eaten enough burgers to confirm this, it was pretty damn good! Do not eat this on a date as it is so deliciously juicy it runs all down your arms…but then again maybe you should give your date an insight into what being with a committed foodie will be like. Oh and just to finish, the Veni-moo is also best eaten dipped in the remaining Red Jon sauce.
As a side because clearly this was not enough food already, I opted for the Wilderness fries. These came with sticky Black Isle lager & whisky sauce, crispy shallots, spring onions and candied bacon, the king of fries one might say. These were delicious and the perfect accompaniment, however they proved to be too much and caused me to sadly let the team down. When faced with the desert menu I was forced to decline and retire from the game, despite the lure of sticky toffee pudding with whisky caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. Sticky toffee pudding is potentially my favourite desert, and having seen photos of the great pud on Instagram this was gutting, but it gives me the perfect excuse to return so watch this space for a Mac & Wild blog post 2.0.
Long story short, I’d have to say that Mac & Wild serve some ‘well tidy scran’ as they might say in Scotland!
