Restaurants with rooms

by Tom Cannavan, 09/09

Blackaddie House Hotel

The Scottish borders, a lush, rolling part of the UK's countryside, is often bypassed. Motorists, intent on getting north and south on the M74, speed through the area and tourists head straight for the Scottish Highlands or English Lake District, leaving this 'bit in the middle' relatively undisturbed.

And so the clichés are all lined-up and ready to go: a hidden gem; a well kept secret. And yet it's true: not only is this the perfect place to get away from it all, but some excellent restaurant and hotel options await those in the know.

In the past I've described some of my favourite hideaways in the Borders country: places like the Michelin-starred Knockinaam Lodge at Portpatrick, the elegant Kirroughtree country house hotel at Newton Stewart and the homely, welcoming Trigony House hotel at Thornhill. But now there's a new player on the scene, and Blackaddie (above) is offering a dining experience that is now setting the pace for the whole region.

Blackaddie

Blackaddie is a fine old Scottish house, set in two acres of colourful, beautifully maintained gardens, that sits right on the banks of the Nith, one of Scotland's best salmon rivers. Blackaddie, with its nine bedrooms and three riverside cottages, is situated at the edge of the village of Sanquhar. For a long time it was the village pub, catering for the locals with pub grub and a busy bar. Quite what they made of it all in September 2007 when Ian and Jane McAndrew took over, is a matter for speculation.

Ian McAndrew (left) has a gastronomic CV that would make other chefs weep. The youngest UK chef ever to have held a Michelin star, he began life working in the kitchens of top hotels including the The Dorchester and Carlton Tower before opening his first restaurant in Canterbury, where he was awarded a star by Michelin in his first year of operation.

Together, Ian and his wife Jane (a formidable front of house having had stints at London's The Howard and The Capital amongst others) went on to run four different restaurants in the south of England before Ian hung up his apron, and the couple moved to the tranquillity of Norfolk. Here, Ian concentrated on restaurant consultancy and writing. His three cookbooks sold well, particularly 'A Feast of Fish', which is now into its second edition.

After a really superb meal (more on that later), I caught up with Ian, fresh from the kitchen, in the bar of the hotel where I asked him what tempted him to get back behind the stoves - and why Blackaddie?

Ian explained that this part of Scotland was one he had always loved, for its unspoilt tranquillity, the beauty of the landscape and its relatively benign climate. He and Jane held a long-term ambition to one day run a fine dining restaurant with rooms, and so a long search began to find the right place. "I didn't want something that was already perfect," he told me. "I saw some operations that were just beautiful, where the rooms, the public spaces and the kitchen wouldn't have needed a thing done to them. But that's not what we were after."

What he was after is, essentially, what he has got in Blackaddie. It is a place full of potential, that was trading as a busy pub, but which was doing little to make the best of its lovely riverside setting and the abundant, quality local produce that is on its doorstep. Ian and Jane wanted a place where they could make their mark, and I suspect, a place where they could add substantial value to the business by improving and upgrading it. Food-wise, Blackaddie is already fully on song, but the hotel is a work in progress.

Ian confesses the past couple of years have not all gone smoothly: "We've basically had to start from scratch," he tells me "Not only in refurbishing and improving the property, but in building a whole new clientele." It seems that many of the locals - used to popping in to Blackaddie for a pint and pie - have moved on to pastures new. But slowly and surely business is improving. His reputation as a chef means a loyal band of followers make their way to this little corner of Scotland, and having been awarded a gold medal for excellence at the Scottish Hotel Awards and becoming the highest rated hotel restaurant in southwest Scotland by Visit Scotland, a new band of fans is growing too.

dinner at Blackaddie

Blackaddie offers both a fine dining menu served in a smart, separate dining room, and quality bistro/bar food in another part of the hotel. We ate from the fine dining menu, taking drinks before dinner in the bar, accompanied by mouth-watering canapés that set the tone for what was to come. Superb black pudding bon bons had a crisp, crunchy breadcrumb shell and a sort of soft, black pudding mousse filling, whilst homemade vegetable crisps were irresistible. One unfathomable let-down was that I ordered two glasses of Champagne, to be informed that it was not available by the glass or half bottle - an odd omission.

Sitting down for dinner, I chose a bottle of Gravitas unoaked chardonnay from New Zealand at a reasonable £32 from a list that is good, but will be improved further to do justice to the food. To whet the appetite, a little consomé of delicately herbed tomato was pungently flavoursome. My first main course proper (right) was a triumph: Cauliflower panacotta with a salad of beetroot, blackberries and goats cheese with cauliflower tempura. It was a stunning dish visually, the block of creamy panacotta, lined by a tumble of fruits and crumbled cheese at bottom, and crisp little beignets of cauliflower dusted with beetroot powder at the top.

My main course was no less successful, a fillet of halibut with smoked haddock ravioli on a kedgeree risotto. The subtle curry of the kedgeree sat beneath the creamy, sweet fish and plump, perfectly cooked ravioli, all set off with an intense pea velouté giving depth as well as an array of textures. To finish, 'A plate of Scottish raspberries' turned out to be three very precise treatments: a fresh raspberry crème brûlée, a pave of raspberry and raspberry jelly, and fresh raspberries with burnt cream.

Dinner will come in at around £40 excluding drinks, which makes it very good value for this quality of cooking. Ian told me that his ambition was to regain a Michelin star and have the three-star hotel uprated to four within the next couple of years. I have no doubt Blackaddie will have its makeover, and be gently repositioned as a luxurious and upmarket small hotel. Some refurbishment of public rooms and bedrooms has already taken place. The hotel is clean and very comfortable, though its modest prices (from £40 per person) reflect that it is not luxurious. As well as totally upgrading the accommodation, the McAndrew's will turn nine bedrooms into six, thus providing larger rooms with state of the art bathrooms.

But all of that will take time. For now Blackaddie offers a bargain for those happy with a friendly welcome, spotless and perfectly pleasant rooms, and one of the best dining experiences in Scotland. Hidden gem? Well-kept secret? You bet, and I can't wait to return.

Blackaddie House Hotel
Sanquhar
Dumfriesshire
DG4 6JJ
Tel +44 (0)1659 50270
Fax +44 (0)1659 50900