My husband was speaking to a Portuguese podiatrist this week. The way you do. And before you’re put off reading the rest of this by the thought of pedal extremities in need of professional attention, they did not talk of feet but of food.
The young gentleman in question was particularly exercised by the fact that so few Scottish people eat much in the way of fish, apart from the traditional fish supper. Well, he had the right man under his scalpel as Neil is nothing if not a fervent fan of practically everything edible that comes out of the sea; he is known amongst his family as the Fish Soup Dragon (with apologies to The Clangers).
It’s an interesting cultural question and judging by a passing query down the pub later the same day, amongst what it must be admitted were an older generation of consumers, there are still problems with bones, shells and anything that doesn’t come deep-fried, battered or breaded.
So when you come across a place like The Anchor Hotel in Johnshaven, right on the north-east coast beyond Montrose, it seems a shame that people are missing out on what is a really excellent experience of wonderful local produce and honest-to-goodness local cooking. I could, you might be gathering, become quite evangelical about this.
We had gone on the recommendation of a friend who lives nearby and booked into the light and airy upstairs restaurant of this harbour-side hotel. The comfortable and welcoming downstairs bar was already filling up – most of the tables in the bar area were reserved on a Thursday evening which tells you something. Looking at the chalk boards of regular dishes and specials certainly whetted the appetite.
Upstairs, a charming and efficient young server brought us complimentary mixed olives and some terrific wholemeal bread (made in the village by someone from the local shop) with dipping oil and balsamic vinegar while we looked at the menu and tried to decide. It was not easy; in a good way.
There was another generous couple of bread chunks with the lobster soup (£6.95) that was an obvious choice for the Fish Soup Dragon and he pronounced it “fabulous” – tangy, rich, with a great stock and lots of lobster meat.
Deciding to cock a snook at the wimps, I threw caution to the winds and ordered fresh crab claws (seven of them) at £7.95 for a starter portion and £14.95 for a main. They came served with the locally made bread, rocket salad with a real red onion kick and steeped in a rich garlic and lemon butter sauce. The sweetly meaty claws came prepared, so in spite of my bravado, I didn’t have to set to with some of those strange utensils you often get when tackling unshelled seafood. And fresh? Brought in that day, by a neighbour who has a boat. Perfect.
The portions are generous so although Neil’s seafood stew, with a tomato-ey, herby Mediterranean broth, had quite a hefty price tag of £25.95, it was swimming with lobster, scallop, white fish, large prawns and local mussels, plus a good side portion of fluffy rice. It was quite simply delicious.
I had seafood risotto (£18.95) – with, unusually, hot smoked salmon as well as mussels, large prawns, white fish and a subtle seafood reduction that gave the dish an unctuous texture and a real taste of shellfish.
With appetites well and truly sated by that stage, we forced ourselves into sharing a home-made rhubarb crumble; the crumble topping was strangely absent but the interior was goo-ily tasty, with plenty of rhubarb and a good dollop of Mackie’s excellent vanilla ice cream (£5.95).
Americano coffees were £2.60 apiece and a bottle of Reserve Sainte-Anne Picpoul de Pinet 2016 (£21.95) was refreshing and a perfect choice to match both the subtle and strongly flavoured fish dishes.
And even if you remain resolutely unconvinced by such fishy finesse there is plenty more to choose from –the night we visited was Curry Night, obviously very popular with regular patrons and, seeing what was brought out to them, very tempting for a return visit. There were also impressive-looking steaks on offer for the carnivores.
When we go back, though (and it’s when not if), we’ll try the bar setting where the atmosphere may be more informal but the food looks equally interesting and well-conceived. The Other Half is still salivating over the thought of the beer-battered lobster with fries…
Seeing past the fish and seafood here is difficult because the basic quality and freshness of the ingredients is evident and the cooking style designed to complement the produce, rather than show off the cleverness of the chefs. Not that the chefs here aren’t clever because they obviously know exactly what to do with the piscine bounty quite literally on their doorstep.
It’s not fine dining but it is very fine eating.
Info
Price: from a fiver up to £35
Food: 8/10
Menu: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Total: 40/50
Info:
The Anchor Hotel
New Road
Johnshaven
Montrose
DD10 0HD
(01561) 362288
