As regular readers will know, I absolutely love the Buzzworks group of restaurants. I first tried Scotts in Troon and I fell in love instantly. I have written a few reviews on them now, and I haven’t been for a while as I’d pretty much ‘been there, done that’ with the menu. Recently they announced a new menu – excitement isn’t even close to how I felt! I decided that I’d go to Scotts Largs restaurant this time.
Just like the Troon restaurant, this Scotts sits on the Yacht Haven and has gorgeous views of the marina and you get to dine as the sun sets over the sea – lovely. Inside the restaurant is similar yet different to Troon – the decor is the same but a bit more blingy – and in general the bar has more presence. Towards the end of the night the music was on and it was quite loud, and the place was bustling whereas in Troon it’s more peaceful.
Service-wise the staff are exactly as you’d expect from the chain – lovely, helpful and attentive. Our waitress was really friendly and took time to discuss the gluten-free options with my father-in-law and reassure him. This is something I really look for in restaurants.
I always say that I agonise over what to order, and despite poring over the menu in advance, I was spoiled for choice and struggled to pick. As did everyone else. The new menu has so many amazing options.
Starters
Firstly the bread was delivered to the table with some butter and oil for spreading/dipping. Bread usually isn’t noteworthy, but this had (at a guess) sundried tomato and onion through it. That makes it special.
We saved it for starter number one:
Camembert for Two
Gooey box baked camembert with assorted breads. I do love the dipping.
Scotts Fish Plate for Two
This was a delicious smörgåsbord of seafood goodness – it consists of a mini prawn cocktail, mussels marinières, smoked salmon, king prawn tempura, caper berries, balsamic dip and sweet chilli dip. I actually love nothing more than mixing and matching and tasting all the different components! I do have a little gripe: I REALLY miss the Scottish tapas platter. When I saw it missing from the menu my heart did sink – a few other dishes were missing but I’m not bothered, but the Scottish tapas with the mini haggis, neeps & tatties, pâté, garlic bread and the salmon and prawns. The fish plate was beautiful in its own right, but its never going to replace the original!
Assiette of Melon
This was a stunning assortment of cold, sweet, juicy cantaloupe and honeydew melons with a tart mixed berry compote. This was topped with luscious raspberry sorbet and drizzled with dazzling red berry coulis. When it was placed on the table everyone went “oooh!”
Main Courses
This is where my taste buds were given a rattling. I’m a seasoned Scotts customer. I thought I’d tasted the best. Turns out, it could get better.
Goats Cheese Pasta Bake
There has to be some goats cheese involved! Goats cheesy pasta is amazing – I love the luxurious taste and the fact that it looks so ordinary, but has that peculiar tang. Penne pasta wrapped in the sauce which is a combination of the cheeses, white wine and parsley cream. This gooey delight is then topped with a parmesan crumb. It was decadent and so filling. Not that any was left…
Honey & Thyme Roast Duck Breast
You’d expect that the pictures say it all, but they really don’t. This duck was so, so good. Duck isn’t for everyone, usually because it’s quite fatty but the meat itself was absolutely beautiful – moist, rich and tender. Underneath it was a strange character: A confit leg potato cake. Never, ever, have I ever seen or heard of anything like this. It was so odd but meaty and tasty. I liked the duck meat, the crunchy crumb, the soft potato cake with its duck flavour alongside the vegetables and port jus. A very rich meal, but utterly delicious.
Gratin of Smoked Haddock, Crayfish & Tiger Prawns
If you like seafood, you'll love this. This is sheer indulgence and most likely a calorie overload: geez it. The base is the creamiest mashed potato ever. EVER. On top of this are cuts of beautiful smokey haddock, colourful crayfish and chunky tiger prawns mixed into a lemon and dill cream sauce. Scattered around and in the sauce are chunks of potato and herbs. Dusted over the top is the Gruyère cheese crumb, which isn't actually a crumb but as I said, a dust. As I said: indulgence.
Trio of Seafood
This was a new dish on their ‘Fish a la Plancha’ range. The trio was a mixture of cajun spiced salmon, mediterranean king prawns and fillets of seabass served with a trio of dips which were a balsamic dip, chilli and a creamy dip – I can’t out my finger on exactly what it was. The sea bass was served plain: lovely soft, flaky, sweet white fish. The Cajun salmon was incredible! I’ll be trying to recreate it at home – you have the aromatic, rich salmon and then this amazing extra – it was smokey, spicy and moderately nippy. And lastly, the prawns. I wouldn’t describe them as Mediterranean to be honest; I’d name them firecrackers. I felt my tongue tingle and crackle with the spice. They’re absolutely brilliant. Much better than the Mediterranean taste I expected!
Breast of Chicken Stuffed with Mozzarella
This was a generous juicy breast of chicken stuffed with lovely gooey mozzarella, sun blushed tomato and basil. It be wrapped in parma ham but we ordered it without. This delicious parcel was placed atop a gratin potato mountain and served with olive ratatouille in parsley cream with spring onions and Chantenay carrots. This is another gorgeous, cheesy, creamy, indulgent dish.
Dessert
Apparently there’s this saying ‘Listen to your body’ that people are using to encourage themselves to eat sensibly. I tell that we voice to pipe down and enjoy the dessert!
Chocolate Orange Tart
Naughty but nice. A nice pastry tart with a rich dark chocolate and Cointreau orange liqueur filling, topped with crispy caramelised orange chunks. It’s a very rich dessert so the sweet strawberries and cold, creamy vanilla ice cream cut through the richness and lightens it. Beautiful.
Strawberry Meringue Nest
Perfection. A crisp on the outside, a little chewy on the inside meringue topped with velvety whipped cream, fresh strawberries and drizzled with fruit coulis. Simple, classic, perfect.
All together this was an amazing meal for everyone – Scotts has never let me down and has refreshed their menu and given me more new items to try! I really do wish the Scottish Tapas platter would reappear; it genuinely distresses me that its gone forever.
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Scotts Bar & Restaurant,
Largs Yacht Haven
Irvine Road,
Largs,
KA30 8EZ
(01475) 686 674
http://www.scotts-largs.co.uk/
@BuzzworksLife
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