Set in the impressive venue of the Ghillie Dhu, the Rabbie Burns Supper Club is an ostensible celebration of Burns poetry and Scots culture. What this celebration actually means in practice of course is just a bit of a piss up, with good food and music and not much Burns.
Indeed the only discernible reference to Burns and his poetry was an endearingly amateurish rendition of the Address to a Haggis, complete with a pulling out of the ‘gushing entrails bright’ and a brief bagpipe recital. Despite not knowing the poem and having frequent recourse to his notepad the speaker managed to completely win over the crowd and establish an air of bonhomie.
Upon arrival one is offered either a free glass of prosecco or a dram of whisky and though I cannot speak for the prosecco the whisky was lovely. The meal was on the whole excellent. The starter of haggis, neeps and tatties presented with an haute cuisine twist could only ever be eaten in a hurry, so gloriously delicious it was.
My main however was not quite so great. Although the potatoes were creamy and the vegetables had a lovely bite, the bacon wrapped around my chicken was incredibly dry, distracting much from the chicken itself. The puddings were also a mixed bag. Although my crumble was delectable my date’s O’or Tipsy Laird looked rather unappetisingly like a solid slab of lard that had been slapped onto the plate. The flavour was also so overpoweringly sickly that my date, who is by no means reserved in her love of puddings, was unable to finish it despite her best efforts.
The ceilidh music after the meal was of a high standard. Everyone was up and dancing with gay abandon. It began as a surprisingly composed affair but quickly jumped into the high frivolity of the best ceilidhs.
A very enjoyable, if a bit gimmicky, excuse for a piss-up.
