RESTURANT REVIEW – PENTLAND HOTEL

Try as I might get away from the Pentland Hotel in Thurso. I now live about a three-minute walk from the place. First time I visited Thurso (for a job interview) I stayed at the Pentland. I regular eat there for lunches, dinners but not many breakfasts. I meet friends for coffee and lunches and of course take part in art sales. So, what better place to finish my short run of old restaurant reviews that to share the following review of a meal that my wife and I had over fourteen years ago. We weren’t married then as we are now so maybe the Pentland played a romantic role. Ohhh, I do hope so!

It’s not every day that one can say the starter of a one course meal commenced with a Catholic Mass. Maybe praying to the glorious Pope prawn cocktail or worshiping pate isn’t something to boast about, but as an introduction to a “special occasion” meal, Saturday 2nd May 2009 was a memorial occasion in every sense.

Sitting in the Pentland bar, ( such a common sounding description and so glad the hotel re-branded it as “23”), awaiting our drinks, gave me time to negotiate the best sitting position, without the skin of my legs becoming permanently creased, by virtue of the low table, but not low enough seating. The answer appeared to be one that resembled a side saddle pose, one that would be proud to see in the latest issue of “Horse and Hound”! Thankfully bales of hay were not on the menu, rather a selection which invited time to study and hence the reason the waitress was sent away. Initially this seemed a good idea but as hunger attacked the lower regions of our bodies, waiting staff may have been waiting, but decidedly out of sight.

Plenty of time for people watching gave the opportunity to study fellow diner’s hairstyles and play that old favourite game, see who everyone looks like. A particular person resembled a colleague and the fascination of, “is she, isn’t she” continued throughout the evening. Try as we might we could not quite get a full-frontal view which would confirm either way, she was or wasn’t the person we thought. And we were thinking soooo hard !!

By the time we got to studying body profiles our meals arrived and really such an excellent work of art in presentation. That is except for the bowl of chips which really acted as the artist’s palette, tools of the trade to be eaten and not seen. Just a minute though, chips AND potatoes!!!!!!!!! Can this be really true? It was, and as fellow diners turned their heads to look over their shoulder at us, wondering, will we or wont we, we did. That is eating potatoes AND chips; well to be fair not all of them. My duck was as I like it, dead and hot, cooked well with no fat but could have done with a little more juice or jus as they say at “23”. From the other side of the table, in between mouthfuls of potatoes and chips came the soft murmur of appreciation of a very nice pork with absolutely no hint of swine fever.

All that remained was to continue in artistic mode and study the hanging Lowry nearby. The artist’s figures looked as if most of them could do with a good meal, as they shuffled home after a hard day’s work, head held low in anticipation of another day at the mill ahead. Rather like us, except our “mill” was really a “meal.” Revisiting Lowry’s scenes it struck me how similar his portrayal of the human body is to that of a Church of Scotland Minister. Hence our “almost sweet” for this single course dinner reflected, again, a religious slant. Bent or lean, call it as it is, but definitely no fat!