Restaurant review: Put The Grant Arms Hotel in Monymusk on your must-visit list for Sunday roast

By Julia Bryce

October 6 2022, 5:00 pm

Sunday roast served at The Grant Arms Hotel. While it is pictured with Brussels sprouts, it doesn't usually come with them. Picture by Wullie Marr/DC Thomson.

Timing is everything sometimes, and when you get it wrong, it can go incredibly wrong.

It had been a while since I got a few of my school friends together so I arranged to meet them for Sunday lunch. I’m not the biggest roast fan, but they love it so figured it wouldn’t kill me one Sunday to indulge them.

The Sunday I picked though at the start of September, seemed to be the worst one as Monymusk in Aberdeenshire was riddled with cars everywhere. There was no parking available at The Grant Arms Hotel – where we’d arranged to meet – no parking on neighbouring streets, and, what made it worse was that no one seemed to be leaving.

Outside The Grant Arms Hotel in Monymusk, Aberdeenshire. Picture by Wullie Marr/DC Thomson.

I was incredibly confused why such a quaint village was swarmed with vehicles. I knew the Sunday lunch at the venue had been getting rave reviews from my foodie friends, but was it really that good?

When I eventually managed to bag myself a space down the opposite end of the village I noted lots of mountain bikers and was informed when entering the building that indeed there was a big mountain biking event taking place locally.

The Grant Arms Hotel

Stepping through the door I found the dining room on the right. It was full when we arrived and my friend and I were seated promptly and given the menu to review. On Sunday you’ll only find the Sunday lunch options – beef or chicken with all the trimmings with a pudding for £29.95 per person.

The two of us asked for water for the table and after being told there was no Diet Coke, ordered a lemon Sanpellegrino instead.

It is a relaxed dining room with tartan carpets and the odd painting on the wall. It is simple, and cosy, and there were some rather grand wine glasses already placed on the tables.

The third of our party arrived and she too had struggled to park and “abandoned” her car.

The food

We all fancied the half roast chicken and the 25-day aged Scottish sirloin so decided we’d share and ordered two for chicken and one for beef. Having seen large chopping boards topped with meat and veg flying around the room, we needed to sample both.

It wasn’t too long a wait before one of these boards then graced our table. Just ahead of it was the wholemeal stuffing, the biggest casserole dish filled with cauliflower and broccoli cheese gratin I’ve ever seen, and a big bowl of beetroot.

Following the meat and the other items on the board which included roasted carrots and parsnips, large Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets and a bowl stuffed with roasted new potatoes, was the red wine jus and several ramekins of French, Dijon and English mustard. I hadn’t seen this much food on one table in a long time.

Immediately we got stuck in, all grabbing at different dishes and passing them around as if were Christmas Day.

The chicken tore away from the bone and was incredibly juicy. The meat was moist and cooked very well, with the crisp skin peeling away. The beef was cooked medium to rare, as any good joint of beef should be, and had little to no fat which was appreciated. It was tender and I think was all of our favourites because of the flavours from it and the juices.

While I am usually a lover of tatties, I felt these ones had been cooked a little too long with their wrinkly skins on show. I love a crisp roast potato and these were less so. It was the gratin that I adored the most. The cheesy dish had formed a slight crust on top having been in the oven and that slight crunch with the softer veg was delightful.

The Yorkies were big and cooked well and were miles better than the ones I make at home. They were crisp yet soft and with a bit of beef and red wine jus provided the perfect mouthful.

Like the tatties I felt the stuffing had seen better days as it was very dry, however the pork sausages wrapped in bacon made up for this as they were delicious. The roast root veg, which had been cooked in thyme, garlic and balsamic vinegar, was also excellent.

Our plates were piled high but it still didn’t feel like we were making much of a dent. I’d suggested, because we had dessert to come, that we should possibly consider getting some of the food to go. The whole party agreed so when we could eat no more, we called over the waiting staff to ask if our request could be granted. “Loads of people take it home, that’s no problem,” she replied.

Returning with three individual boxes, she took our dessert order and returned to the kitchen.

Two of us opted for the dark chocolate delice while the third fancied the summer berries Eton mess.

Again, it didn’t take long for them to appear and both looked rather inviting. The raspberry sorbet with the rich chocolate paired well, but I think I preferred the sorbet as it was refreshing yet not too tart. Fresh berries topped the delice but the pastry didn’t crumble as I’d hoped and was a lot softer and chewy.

The Eton mess was served with a large piece of meringue on top with a strawberry sauce. The whipped cream and meringue was sweet and the coulis balanced it all out beautifully. It was light, fluffy and everything you’d want after a heavier main.

We polished as much as we could off and bid adieu to the team who had looked after us so well.

I paid the bill and got chatting with Frederic Vasquez who is the owner on departure who had been in the kitchen majority of the day. He kindly gave us a few bakes from the coffee shop that was closing to enjoy when we got home, all of which were very enjoyable.

The verdict

This was the meal that kept on giving.

While initially I thought £29.95 was a bit expensive for two courses, when I realised how much food their was and that the leftovers did lunch for the three of us the following day, I couldn’t argue with the price.

The venue doesn’t have a license to sell alcohol but you can bring your own wine along if you’re happy to pay the £5 corkage per bottle.

I may not be the biggest lover of a Sunday roast but this experience has certainly made me question this.

My final advice? Don’t go to Monymusk for lunch when half of Scotland’s mountain bikers have set up camp. But if you do, persevere until you find a space because the food is totally worth it.