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For those who are not regular readers of my wee blog, maybe you’re confused at why I’ve done a “re-do” at Inver Restaurant, Scotland’s only Michelin green starred restaurant. I visited in December 2022 and had a one night’s stay there, hoping to try their exquisite and award-winning tasting menu. But mother nature had her own plans, and due to extremely icy conditions, I had a spectacular picnic in my bothy instead of the true Inver dining experience. I headed back in Spring 2023, a week after Inver had reopened for the season bursting with excitement to experience this restaurant in all its glory.
A Michelin Green Star differs from a “normal” Michelin Star, as it awards places that combine their gastronomic creativity with commitment to sustainability practices. You’ll see from the tasting menu that sustainability is more than just a fad – Chef Pam Brunton is fully committed to zero waste and the exciting culinary options that offers. But not only that, Chef Pam fully utilizes the local community in crafting her menu or stocking the bothies with delightful amenities. For the only Michelin Green Star in Scotland, Inver’s commitment to sustainability can be seen everywhere.
Table of Contents
1. My second stay at Inver
Experiencing something in the dark and cold winter and then again in spring is such a night-to-day juxtaposition that I wasn’t ready for. Sure, I knew that my stay would be comfortable and cozy, but with sunshine, it was a completely different type of comfy and cozy!
This time, with more daylight hours, the bothy was bright and open with lovely views. I spent lots of time sitting at the window enjoying the slow calm over Loch Fyne, with Nina Simone on the record player.
The bothy is thoughtfully stocked with a homemade beeswax lotion balm and artisan lavender body oil from Ciara Gilmartin, who locally forages the plants for her salves and balms. The body oil is a lush treat after soaking in the bothy’s bathtub. There’s also a little bottle of schnapps, for starting or winding down your evening.
There’s a few hours between check in and dinner, so I grabbed my hiking boots and went for a stroll out to the old castle.
2. Go for a walk around Castle Lachlan
One of the things you’ll notice when you arrive to Inver are the views of old Castle Lachlan. The ruined castle was built in 1314, likely for Clan Maclachlan who ruled the area. The stone exterior is the only substantial remaining part of the castle, but it’s still good for a wander and a poke around.
Especially if the weather is nice, I can highly recommend the Old Castle Lachlan and Chapel Trail on AllTrails+. The trail basically starts at Inver and takes you along the shores of Loch Fyne to the castle and a chapel, with breathtaking views over the loch. The terrain is fine, and is doable with regular shoes, but you never know if there was rain the day or night before making the ground soggy. I’d rather not take the chance, and the quick change into hiking boots is always a smart idea.
Don’t worry – You won’t get lost (you can see Inver almost the whole time). It’s the perfect leg stretch after the drive to Inver, and possibly to work up an appetite for your dinner ahead!
3. Drinks and Amuse Bouche at Inver
Prior to the evening’s meal, you’ll be invited to have cocktails in the extremely cozy lounge. Super cozy in the winter with a roaring fire, and still super cozy on a brisk spring evening.
For the amuse bouche, a tray of 4 items was brought out. Starting from the oyster, and going counter-clockwise,
- Oyster & sea buckthorn oil – what a lush and fatty oyster!
- Squid & pickled spruce – personally wasn’t a huge fan of the texture (squid can be rubbery)
- Crab & barley bannock – a bannock is a Scottish type of flatbread, so this was made with barley, topped with crab. WOW – so savory and umami. Delicious!
- Grey mullet & blood orange – local fish ceviche, held in a citrusy crispy fish skin! Light and crisp and wonderful! Inver’s commitment to zero waste means they’re definitely not tossing the fish skin. Loved that it was fish skin chip used to house the ceviche!
4. Inver Tasting Menu
When I had finished my drinks and interesting amuse bouche, I was invited into the dining room. Not sure why, but I tend to eat earlier than almost everyone else, and therefore had the dining room to myself. Maybe I do that on purpose to have a few more quiet moments, not sure. In March, at least, it was a lovely idea to dine earlier, since I could watch the gorgeous sun set over the loch during the meal. And boy was it a stunning sunset!
I actually popped outside for a moment in between courses to enjoy the views. It is, after all, part of the dining experience.
– Garden plate
To start, don’t let this extremely simple looking plate confuse you, it was packed with flavor and interesting texture! The kale and Jerusalem artichokes come from Kate’s garden down the road.
I love that the waitress referred to her as just “Kate.” Who is Kate? She’s the one who grows these delicious vegetables and lives just down the road. It’s not a nameless random supplier, it’s not a corporation, it’s just Kate.
Think of this as a baby and a mature set of artichokes on the left and kale (and kalette) on the right. This course is meant to be eaten with your hands, dipping the vegetables in the smear up top. The stand outs in this course was the baby artichokes, incredibly light and crispy. The other artichokes, pureed and pressed between two thin pieces of artichoke – with a surprise umami burst of miso mayo!
– Bread & butter broth
No photo of the bread and butter broth, but you’ll forgive me – it makes an appearance in the IG reel at the end of the post.
The bread at Inver is made in-house with Scottish grains, which is milled into flour downstairs. The butter is home-churned butter. Leftover sourdough ends of the bread are soaked into a broth with brown butter and yeast bubbles. And the result is an surprisingly flavorful “bread broth” to cleanse the palette and to open your senses for the courses to come.
I love that the grain is milled downstairs, and that they’re using the bread-ends instead of throwing them away! Love that the zero-waste ethos extends to bread! But not only that, the bread broth was stunningly delicious – savory and umami, you’d never know it was made from leftover bread!
– Scallop & langoustine, broccoli, & blackcurrant leaf
Pickled herring with Loch Fyne scallops and langoustine, with crispy potatoes for texture, and a sea-herb smoked mussel emulsion (with black current leaf oil) poured over.
Loved all the fresh herbs – it was creamy and light and crisp, with the minty parsley reduction. And somewhere inside, some hidden herring roe that I had to ask about. Herring is a sustainable fish, whereas sturgeon* (where caviar comes from) is not sustainable. But you really wouldn’t be able to tell that you’re eating herring roe versus caviar. The burst of flavor from the herring roe was a wonderful surprise!
Note on the sustainability of sturgeon: wild caught sturgeon, ironically, is NOT sustainable, because there are numbers are very low, giving rise to illegal fisheries. Farmed caviar is MUCH better in terms of sustainability. – Marine Conservation Society: Good Fish Guide
– Celeriac, brown crab & apple
Ok, I’m not going to lie – this was my least favorite course. They can’t all be the best, can they? This was a celeriac terrine with brown crab rare bits and white crab, with a white asparagus sauce. There was also apple and pears diced up with the white crab.
Honestly I’m not huge on the taste and flavors of celeriac and white asparagus specifically, so that’s probably it. But everyone’s palette is different, so maybe you’d enjoy it!
– Newmiln Farm pork & celery
The pork main course brought back a little memory from when I was waiting to check in earlier – I saw that pig cheeks were offered on the day’s lunch menu. While I lusted after that with serious FOMO, I remembered about Inver’s “use every part of the animal” ethos, I knew (and seriously hoped) that pork would show up on the evening’s menu, and it did!
The pork was served in 4 different cuts and styles with pickled alexanders and celery. The whole pig came from Newmiln Farms, an organic farm in Perthshire. The exquisite quatro of pork was – the loin, collar (copper), belly, sausage, with a fennel and dill sauce. Absolutely delicious!! My favorite had to be the collar, which was sooooo tender and juicy!
– surprise dessert
First of all, any place that gives you surprise desserts deserves a place in my heart. Let’s be real. I truly loved that there was a surprise dessert and even more so that it was pink! (only my favorite color!)
I remember the surprise dessert was delicious, with interesting textures. Here are the notes I took from that night, which makes little sense to me now, but from what I can surmise, it must have been blood orange flavored ๐
- bee pollen and blood orange,
- candied blood orange peel,
- blood orange sorbet with crunchy bits.
- (a side note that I obviously forgot to ask about) were the crunchy bits the bee pollen?
But unfortunately, I can’t really remember – was it a mousse? Was it a puffy meringue? And really, what were the crunchy bits? Did the bee pollen have a taste or flavor?
Apologies that I can’t recall, so I guess it’ll be a surprise for you as well!
– Pear, walnut & ginger
Poached pears with a walnutty, gingery ice cream to top it off. Normally, ginger wouldn’t be my first dessert palette taste to choose, but take note – it was very gingery! But nice! But more importantly, I loved the walnut flavor, which went so well with the pears and ginger. Walnuts are frequently ignored for cooler nuts and often downgraded as a sprinkling on salads or inside banana breads. But, I’m here to tell you, the walnut flavor is incredible and just the thing you didn’t know you needed!
– Petite Fours
To close out the meal, (sort of) petite fours and a single espresso for yours truly. On the left, a sea lettuce cocoa saba tart and a fluffy delicious madeleine on the right.
For the sea lettuce cocoa saba tart – a few things to note: I’m guessing the tart casing was made from foraged sea lettuce nearby. Saba is a syrupy wine byproduct that tastes of rich raisins and plums. It gave the tart a distinctly tart flavoring, helping to balance the cocoa nibs.
Madeleines are simply one of my favorites things to come out of France. And of course, Inver’s madeleine was a warm and fluffy perfection to end to the distinctly wonderful evening.
5. Picnic Breakfast at Inver Restaurant & Rooms
After a cozy evening in the bothy that included a hot bath with some Nina Simone on the record player, I was excited for the last part of my stay – the Inver picnic breakfast. They provided a breakfast menu in the bothy, and before dinner, I had ticked off all my selections for the morning. And this time, now that it wasn’t winter any longer, I could eat my breakfast with a view, and the sun shining down over the loch.
For you early birds, don’t worry – if you need coffee or tea before breakfast delivery times, there are both (along with a kettle) in the bothy. So, out of everything, what did I end up getting?
- of course, the porridge bread, inver butter & rhubarb jam,
- boiled egg, mayonnaise & herb salt,
- cheese & butter bun (Rainton Tomme – a semi-hard cheese, thyme & sumac) OMG. Buns like this are my weakness. Especially a cheesy and buttery one! Rainton Tomme is a raw milk cheese from the all organic Rainton Farm down in Dumfries & Galloway. Rainton Farm follows an ethical dairy model, and you’ll be pleased to know they focus on “treating the animals, the land, our environment and the people who work here with respect and kindness”. I would expect nothing less from anyone that supplies to Inver honestly!
- Inver potted pork rillettes – not knowing what pork rillettes were, I obviously ordered this. While I would say it’s similar to pate, the texture is chunkier and courser than a smooth pate. Traditionally, pork rillettes are made from either pork belly or pork shoulder. And honestly, I’d be willing to bet that the pork came from the same organic black pig that we were treated to at dinner. The pork rillettes were perfect to spread over the sourdough bread. What a flavor!
- Burnt honey, flax & cardamom granola
- and of course, orange juice and coffee.
The perfect bothy picnic breakfast with a view!
6. Parting Thoughts on Inver Restaurant & Rooms
WOW. Just WOW. What an absolutely stunning of an experience – the meal, the stay, the views – all of it exceeded my wildest expectations! I already had high expectations given my wonderful stay a few months prior. However, finally getting to experience the full Inver tasting menu was beyond anything I could have imagined!
The sustainability ethos can be found almost everywhere on Inver’s menus, and from talking to their wonderful wait staff, you can tell sustainability serves more than just lip service here. They all truly believe in the local community behind the ingredients and the zero waste practices that fuel Inver’s creativity.
Chef Pam and her partner Rob have created an incredible oasis of culinary excitement far from any city or urban area in Scotland.
It’s the perfect getaway that includes a short hike, cocktails, Nina Simone and a bath – and a truly exquisite tasting menu to dazzle your taste buds.
And to me, all that adds up to absolute perfection.
This time, I didn’t get a chance to say hello to Chef Pam and Rob, as they were away for a family gathering. But given that it was a highly anticipated return, I sent them a note about the incredible stay afterwards. I sincerely look forward to the next time I can visit Inver – it is truly wonderful and memorable!
With that, my dear friends and readers, I bid you adieu!
7. Information on booking your stay at Inver
Inver
๐ Cairndow PA27 8BU
Phone: +44 01369 860537
Located: 1h 40min driving from Glasgow, or 2h 45min from Edinburgh
Accessible by public transportation? No.
Dining at Inver is open to non-residents for both lunch and dinner, depending on the day of the week. Monday to Wednesday, Inver exclusively serves dinners to guests staying at Inver. From Thursday to Sunday, Inver opens to both guests and non-residents. Lunches are ala carte, whereas dinner is a 6-course tasting menu.
- Tasting menu: 95 GBP per person
- Drink pairing: + 65 GBP per person
- Luxury shepherdโs hut: 195 GBP
- Luxury bothy: 285 GBP (three have baths)
- Breakfast is included.
A dinner reservation is included in your room booking. However, do note this disclaimer from their website:
Please note we do not operate rooms on a B&B only basis, which means resident guests are required to eat with us on every evening of their stay. For guests staying with us for more than one night, we can offer an alternative menu on their subsequent evenings.
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Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.ย She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!ย She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.
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