An Darna
Stirling
In other news; after this we’ll end up in a random pub on the corner, enjoying a guitar band who look like they were actually there when the 1960s hits they’re belting out were released. High-five guys.
I mention this only because it’s a clear sign that we left An Darna chilled, relaxed and not quite ready to go home. Let’s rewind though.
The restaurant is slap-bang in the middle of Stirling, down some steep hills, windy wynds, and across those cobbles they seem to have everywhere. It’s busy as we slide into a big booth near the back, take in the decor (you don’t come here for the decor) and pore over the the three-across, five-down menu.
Five courses, three choices for each, pick one dish per course. Cost? Sit down. It’s just £25 per head.
A point I remind Uncle Albert when he grumbles about his sesame flat bread, sitting as it is under glazed chicken, kohlrabi noodles and tamarind mayo. “Stodgy,” he says. Maybe, I reply, but this whole meal is how much? And the chicken we agree is richly flavoured, crowd-pleasing stuff.
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Pasta in this restaurant is silkier than a George Best chat up line
Now, about that menu? It’s paper, printed out, fixed to a holder. To save the staff time I put a tick with my pen beside what we are having (15 different things). Uh-oh. Turns out this is not done in Stirling. Orders are to be taken old school style.
Neither is it normal to ask to keep a copy of one menu at the table (not even the penned one) to keep track of what we are eating.
On reflection? I’m with the restaurant on this. Three dodgy geezers rock up from Glasgow, start taking out pens, making ticks? Where will it end?
Anyhoo. What exactly do we get for our twenty-five bangers? Well, Goffy has the crab to start, in a doughnut of all things, chive emulsion, sweetcorn salsa. “Oh, it’s cold,” he exclaims, at first bite. But excellent.
By Course Three he’s eating Mushroom with Marmite and tarragon, pickled apple, truffled confit egg yolk. I’m having an excellently braised, sweetly caramelised nugget of pig cheek, wild mushrooms too in a prickly Asian broth. Or was that Course Two? Meh. There’s also a pretty and yes, small, plate of black pudding, mousse, pea, feta, cheese, apple and pea pod broth that after all those ingredients still gets the dud of the day award for being weirdly…well…bland.
Come Course Four and we’ve done a switcheroo. I’m on the veggie option. Roasted cauliflower, smoked cheddar croquette, cauliflower and yeast puree, deep breath here; plus confit grape and pickled walnut. Taste? A comforting cheesy, crunchy coated croquette, with a bit of added oomph, followed by a couple of face-puckeringly sharp moments from grape and walnut. I like this.
Nods of this-is-good-too will simultaneously come from above for the Duck leg Shepherd's pie and a double ditto from Goffy on his tidy plate of Seabass with honey, soy and ginger, samphire and some cute, and actually waving, curls of shaved Bonito.
Tonight is apparently a new menu (they suicidally change the whole thing every five weeks) which we learn from the odd moment’s serving confusion over what is exactly in what. Happens.
Service is otherwise slick, those small plates tick-tocking in and out the kitchen at a metronomic pace. Before we know it we’re on desserts and, in case you are keeping count: Course Five.
Yeah. It’s a tasting menu. Currently not in fashion but I still like them because they require minimal brainpower when ordering and deliver maximum entertainment when eating - sometimes unintentionally.
For example? I now have a chocolate and pink peppercorn delice with dried raspberry and raspberry vinegar before me. Honestly? Borderline mad. The chocolate delice is great, but the dried raspberry sprinkles are ooyah sharp and that vinegar? Woah. Is this a pickled dessert, I’ll ask?
Saying that: The Mango Cremaux with Douglas Fir Sorbet just works. The Caramelised Pineapple Sorbet gets applause. And what we talk about in that pub later?
How much fun was that for just £25?
An Darna
3 Friars Street
Stirling
Menu: A glittering array of ingredients march across a tasting menu with choice delivering a huge number of largely Scottish themed small plates which always entertain. 5/5
Service: New menu night, which must be nightmare territory with 30 fresh dishes and very complex dishes, so they get my sympathy. 4/5
Atmosphere: They haven’t got the dreaded restaurant designers in and instead it’s comfy, homely and borderline plain, but still has vibe. 4/5
Price: Five stars is not enough to underscore what great value this is - not only for the effort the kitchen puts in, but also the ingenuity. 5/5
Food: We three ate 15 dishes and there was next to no repetition: the crab doughnut was fun and fresh; that coffee chicken overall was enjoyable; even the cauliflower sparkled. 7/10
Total 25/30
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