Lunch at the Red House Hotel
The Red House Hotel in Coupar Angus is familiar to us as a good value dining venue with a friendly and relaxed vibe and tasty, crowd-pleasing food. So the launch of their latest menu in March was a good opportunity to go along and try out some new dishes!
Our complimentary lunch booking fell on a beautiful bright spring day, which matched perfectly with the freshness of the new menu. Nathan’s starter of bruschetta in particular was full of zingy basil, crisp red onion and a herb pesto that really brought out the sweetness of the tomatoes.
I initially hesitated between the cheddar and spring onion risotto and the poached smoked haddock starters, but in the end went for the chicken liver pate from the specials’ board. This was very smooth, with perfectly toasted brioche, a sweet plum and apple chutney and a crunchy salad. Both starters were the perfect size too, slightly taking the edge off of our hunger but no more.
Despite the newness of the menu, the friendly waiting staff were knowledgable about which options each dish came with, and Nathan had the choice between mushy peas and garden peas with his fish and chips (a crowd-pleasing dish that surely everyone will be pleased to know is still available), and I had the option of chips or potatoes with my selection of Pork Milanese. We both went for chips!
Fish and chips need no explanation, but the batter was properly crispy and it was served with a creamy, sharp tartar sauce. My Pork Milanese consisted of a breaded and fried escalope topped with a tomato sauce—which had a wonderful sweetness and depth of flavour—and some shavings of Parmesan. It was served with salad as well as the chips. I’d never had this particular dish anywhere before and I would definitely order it again.
Both main dishes were extremely generously portioned, so we end up having just the one dessert of lemon meringue pie and raspberry sorbet. This was super refreshing and had the perfect balance of sweet and sour. It almost acted like a palate cleanser, which I enjoyed. If I hadn’t of had a starter I would likely have been tempted by the apple pie or sticky toffee pudding, but as it was this lighter, fruity dish was perfect.
We finished off our meal in the bright conservatory with coffee, before heading outside into the sun. There’s a lovely patch of garden just outside the restaurant with seating around a small fountain, where you can digest your meal in the fresh air for a bit if you want to.
The new menu seemed to me to be a great balance of keeping old favourites while introducing new dishes. There’s still the lasagne, steak pie, scampi, steak and burgers, but you can also indulge in roast beef or leg of lamb, chicken breast stuffed with haggis, assorted salads and more. There’s a good selection of sides as well, if you can manage one! But I think the main memory I’ll take away with me hasn’t changed, it’s exactly the same one I took away last time—that of the wonderfully warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Nathan and Abi received complimentary lunch for the purpose of this review
