We were in the mood to celebrate. Our daughter had just finished her university exams and was home for the summer. Exams seem to be even more stressful than ever and having spent months cooped up in the library, Casey looked like she needed some proper home cooking.
We’d heard a good few murmerings about The Dunavon Hotel in Dyce, outside Aberdeen. It’s just had a £100,000 refurbishment and now boasts Brysons, a gastro-style pub. We parked in the hotel’s rear car park where we were greeted with a bright orange sign saying The Food, The Pint, The Pillow – it sounded right up my street!
Inside the modern hotel, Brysons is decorated in funky orange and grey with soft furnishings to match. After ordering a few drinks we perused the menu. All the enticing dishes were printed on one large sheet of card with a choice of about 10 starters, 25 main courses and half a dozen sweets; our mouths simply watered, this was going to be an impossible task.
After much deliberation, and the usual discussion about what everyone else was having (do all families do this?) we had made our decisions.
For starters, Casey chose the grilled chicken skewers with Asian slaw, satay sauce and charred lime, while my husband and I decided to share the pan seared scallops with Stornoway black pudding, crispy bacon and a green apple puree. Black pudding and scallops are a match made in heaven and the light salad was the perfect accompaniment to this tasty starter.
Casey’s chicken skewers looked quite pale but she said they were delicious and the satay sauce had a real peanut punch.
For mains my husband and I chose from the ‘favourites’ section of the menu. He is a massive macaroni cheese fan but Brysons has taken this classic dish one step further by adding black pudding and crispy bacon, calling it black mac ‘n’ cheese.
He was a little concerned that there wouldn’t be enough black pudding but there was more than enough and the fusion with the creamy pasta was a culinary delight.
Casey devoured her Thai red chicken curry with steamed basmati rice which had just the perfect amount of spice for her.
But the show-stopper had to be my honey chilli chicken wontons. I felt envious glances from other diners as well as from my own table as this magnificent tower arrived, layered with tempura chicken, wonton pastry and flash fried fragrant vegetables.
As I picked up my cutlery it seemed such a shame to dismantle this work of art but I yearned to discover if it tasted as good as it looked; and, boy, it sure did.
The crispy wontons gave a delightful crunch to the dish while the velvety honey chilli sauce with the chicken was deliciously sweet and sticky, as it should be. Served on top of the daintily chopped vegetables, I didn’t detect too much spice from the chilli, but that could just be me.
The staff throughout were efficient and friendly and Casey remarked how unusual it was seeing the waiting staff wearing white gloves. We presumed this was a protector for handling the hot plates but we agreed it looked very professional and added a nice touch.
After a short break we requested a look at the dessert menu – just a look of course, knowing full well that we wouldn’t be able to resist a sweet treat. I am a huge salted caramel fan, hubby loves a chocolate brownie and Casey had spied the banoffee waffles earlier, so we decided to share two of the enticing dishes that encompassed all three – so that’s two desserts, three spoons!
First up was the warm chocolate brownie with salted caramel popcorn, dark chocolate sauce and white chocolate ice cream. Casey said that a brownie should have the texture of a cake and a cookie (is this what they learn at university nowadays?) and this one was spot on. The moist gooey centre drizzled in the chocolate sauce and cool ice cream was truly scrumptious and we rapidly cleared the plate. The banoffee waffles with caramelised bananas, toffee sauce, crème chantilly and honeycomb pieces was devoured just as quick as the brownie. We noticed that the banana hadn’t been caramelised but as we picked at the remaining honeycomb pieces stuck to our teeth, we couldn’t help but pride ourselves on choosing two sublime desserts to finish off our meal.
And now we know what the sign in the car park meant. All we wanted to do now was rest our full tummies on a soft pillow and have a nap.
What a fabulous place Brysons is, not only top notch food but excellent value for money; we cannot wait to go back.