ARGYLL'S Inver Cottage has long been one of my favourite restaurants, so when I heard its two chefs had opened up their own restaurant across the water in Gourock, an exploratory visit wasn't an option, it was a necessity.
Mary Robb and Evelyn Do
cherty's new venue is fairly unprepossessing. It's above the Victoria Bar, on the main drag of this little harbour town, and reached down a side street and up a narrow set of stairs. Bold wallpapers, neutral paintwork and simple furniture give a contemporary feel to this two-roomed restaurant (previously called Papillon), although the space is a little too cramped – particularly so at the top of the stairs, where staff carrying plates out of the kitchen share the same tight corridor (the only entrance or exit) with new arrivals.
But if the venue is new, the menu is familiar. These chefs spent almost three years at Inver Cottage, specialising in relatively simple Scottish cooking that made a point of using only the very best and
freshest ingredients. Those elements are in evidence at Fusion in a menu that contains versions of many of the favourites from their former premises.
Bea started off with the oriental duck salad with snow peas, ginger and bacon, while I opted for the smoked Loch Fyne platter. It was a bog-standard if enjoyable plateful that consisted largely of smoked
salmon and smoked mussels, but Bea's duck was superblymelt-in-the-mouth tender, and well worth the considerable wait.
We had been warned by friends that service would be on the sluggish side, and this turned out to be the case. Working on country time is fine when you're out for a family Sunday lunch, have a stack of
newspapers to keep you occupied and are happy to while away the day as the kids play around outside; but when you're out for dinner and paying the babysitter by the hour – as many of our fellow diners (including a raucous group of 30-somethings) would have been – it's a different matter.
Slow is bearable, but poor service is not. It was a Friday night and the place was full to overflowing, so we had three different waitresses during our extraordinarily long meal. Two of them, twins, were cheery and helpful, but the third was a rude, monosyllabic nightmare who seemed to think politeness was an optional extra. We weren't the only ones to bridle at her apparent disinterest. If that won't wash in Paris any more, it's ridiculously out of place in a new restaurant boasting prices that are right at the top end of what a small town like Gourock can sustain.
It was a pity, because after a decent start the food picked up significantly. My main course, incredibly succulent saddle of venison with calf's liver, bacon, mash and a rich, caramelised red-onion jus, was a dish of real quality. Bea was able to sum up her monkfish in oatmeal with seared scallops dressed with ginger, coriander and chilli dressing in just one word: perfect.
Our puddings were pretty decent too. Bea's crème brûlée with toasted marshmallows was topped with a teak-tough shield of crystallised sugar that gave way to a super-smooth cream underneath. My lemon, lime and ginger crunch was a nicely tart and creamy concoction on top of a gingery base that thankfully had far less crunch than I'd feared.
In many respects, it was an excellent meal, helped by the fact that the wine list is well constructed and the place relaxed, informal and genuinely convivial. This increasingly affluent area ought to be able to sustain a restaurant of the quality that Fusion is clearly aiming for. Yet so often places are defined as much by their failings as their successes, and if Fusion is going to fulfil its potential and continue to charge Glasgow prices, it needs to make its service snappier and happier. Fast.
HIDDEN TREASURETHERE is a world of ready meals beyond the Pop Tart or Pot Noodle, especially if you drop into the Scottish Deli in Pitlochry, where there are hearty soups, casseroles and puddings to tempt you away from your bad habits. Vacuum-packed in dual portions, they're just the thing to slam in the microwave.
Run by Alec Cruikshank and family, who have just opened a second shop and café near Aberfeldy, the Scottish Deli will deliver organic veg boxes if you live in Highland Perthshire. But if you can drop into the shop itself, you'll be able to pick up some fresh Perthshire venison, pork and lamb, as well as salivate over a delectable cheese counter.
The Scottish Deli, 8 West Moulin Road, Pitlochry (www.scottish-deli.co.uk, 01796 473322); Dull, Aberfeldy (01887 822821)
The full article contains 825 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
