Our first child moved to Edinburgh a few years ago to attend university, and now our son has decided to follow in her footsteps and leave the family home and join her in our capital city.
With only Olly the family spaniel left at home, everyone kept teasing us about “empty nest syndrome”, described in the dictionary as a feeling of grief and loneliness when children leave the family home.
I remember when I left the Highlands in the nineties to study and we called home once a week, but with modern technology nowadays, keeping in touch must surely be a whole lot easier!
A celebratory last supper was booked before the big move and we travelled to the Cults Hotel on the west side of Aberdeen. I had passed it often enough as it is just off the main road heading out to Royal Deeside, but I had never visited. There is no car park, but we managed to squeeze into a space on the street outside. I got the impression that a lot of the diners were locals who probably walked down from neighbouring streets.
On the Saturday evening we visited, the place was full of couples and groups of friends all happily chatting and enjoying their meals, giving the place a real buzz. We were shown through to a classy marble-topped table with pale green wicker chairs in the bright modern conservatory.
The restaurant has some neat little touches including fragrant bunches of fresh flowers on the tables, warming candle lanterns and unusual shaped water jugs which was brought without us requesting one; a must-have in my opinion.
The staff presentation was also impressive with smart black uniforms adorned by the young, attentive waiters and waitresses. We ordered a delightful chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and some lagers before making our food choices.
The menu is printed on just one large card consisting of about 10 starters and a mouth-watering selection of burgers, salads, fish, steaks and more.
For starters I chose the king prawns and avocado cocktail which was beautifully presented on a large plate and tasted very fresh and light. My husband went for the Cajun chicken goujons drizzled with a lime and coriander dressing.
The baked chicken served on a crisp bed of salad had a lovely hint of spice, although he couldn’t detect any trace of lime. The students passed on starters, favouring a sweet, and their choice of mains for the vegetarian was macaroni cheese, and fillet mikado for her younger brother.
At £13.50, I felt the macaroni was rather pricey, but she said the Swiss gruyere cheese gave the dish a wonderful creamy taste and her side of sweet potato fries was the perfect accompaniment.
The fillet Mikado –sliced beef in a creamy garlic tomato sauce – went down a treat, the steak cooked rare as requested and the rich velvety sauce perfect for dipping the generous portion of chips. I could not fault my haddock mornay, perfectly cooked poached haddock under a blanket of a creamy, cheesy sauce; wonderful comfort food as winter approaches.
Liver is something you don’t see very often on menus these days and my husband used to enjoy it when he was a child, so when he spied ox liver, he wasted no time in ordering it.
The liver was piled high on the large white plate, then topped with rashers of bacon and fried onions and was declared “absolutely beautiful” as he reminisced about being back at his mum’s kitchen table.
The grown-ups passed on dessert, but I can confirm that the two dishes the students ordered were absolute triumphs. Sticky toffee pudding and a lemon and orange syrup sponge both arrived to a chorus of “oooohhh” as they were beautifully presented in large white bowls with the accompanying ice cream served alongside in delicate chocolate cups. They both agreed they were packed with flavour and deceptively light in texture.
We will certainly return to the Cults Hotel in the future; excellent food and attentive service in a relaxed atmosphere.
And what about that empty nest? There’s no doubt that the house is quiet and we miss them, but the washing and food shopping has significantly decreased. And thankfully we don’t have to wait until that once-a-week phone call like our parents did.