Yesterday we went the the first day of the Cowal Gathering in Dunoon and travelled there in the Waverley Paddle Steamer.
Walking up to the Gathering, we passed through the main high street (Argyll Street) and spotted the Swallow Café which was advertising home-made Italian ice cream. This was a welcome sight because they were not on my list and we were looking for a coffee shop and what better way to introduce ourselves to Dunoon fayre than with an ice cream and a coffee.
We ordered a small scoop of vanilla and a latte each and were served quite a large portion of ice cream. The ice cream was delicious: very sweet and creamy. It had a very similar taste to the ice cream we had tasted in Greenock just a couple of days before. A good coffee always goes well with an ice cream especially when the weather is not quite as warm or sunny as you would hope.
When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s cappuccinos and lattes were unheard of in the Italian cafés in the West of Scotland but most good establishments had an Italian coffee machine with the ability to brew fresh coffee and steam milk and would serve "frothy coffee" which I think most closely resembles a modern-day latte. So whenever the weather demands it, the combination of latte and ice cream is perfect providing a ying and yang experience: the hot and the cold, the bitter and the sweet. Together they are a marriage made in heaven.
The Swallow was quite busy and seemed to have quite a few local customers as well as tourists visiting the Gathering like us and it was lovely to see a traditional café which had been well maintained over the years. This was probably due to the American Naval Base near Dunoon between 1961 and 1992 provided a prosperity to the town which insulated it from several recessions and the downturn of daytripping which affected other seaside communities in the West of Scotland.
When we left the Swallow we went across the road to the Dunoon Burgh Hall where they were showing an exhibition on the American Presence. There was a film maker there recording memories and stories from members of the public about their recollections and I was able to tell of my holiday with the Campaigners when we had a trip onboard an American ship.
We then carried on up to the Gathering where we watched some of the Highland Dancing competition. All in all this was a mega day out and the Swallow provided some well-needed refreshments.
Friday, 30 August 2013
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
The Esplanade Café, Greenock
On Thursday we will be setting sail for the Cowal Gathering on the Waverley Paddle Steamer from Custom House Dock, Greenock and Martin wanted to check out the parking. We had looked on the internet and failed to get any response from the Waverley or Inverclyde Tourist Information so there was nothing else to be done but to head up to Greenock to have a look.
I didn't mind because there is an award-winning ice cream establishment there which we still had not tried.
The Esplanade Café does not have any sit in facilities and is not actually on the Esplanade but don't let this put you off because they have a lovely selection of food to go and the esplanade is just around the corner.
We had just eaten before we left so did not have any room for their delicious sounding paninis on other hot food or drinks. They also had a lovely selection of sweet treats.
Although the weather had been a bit dull, the sun came out just as we arrived and we were able to stroll around the corner with our tubs. I was a bit disappointed that the tubs were made of polystyrene which made it environmentally unfriendly but the ice cream itself was sweet and creamy. It was delicious, although I hate to admit that it was slightly too sweet for me. Now if you know me you will understand that this is not something that I would say very often as I have a VERY sweet tooth.
All in all, I loved the experience and the views from the Esplanade are spectacular. Its a pity as we seemed to be the only ones there to appreciate them.
I didn't mind because there is an award-winning ice cream establishment there which we still had not tried.
The Esplanade Café does not have any sit in facilities and is not actually on the Esplanade but don't let this put you off because they have a lovely selection of food to go and the esplanade is just around the corner.
We had just eaten before we left so did not have any room for their delicious sounding paninis on other hot food or drinks. They also had a lovely selection of sweet treats.
Although the weather had been a bit dull, the sun came out just as we arrived and we were able to stroll around the corner with our tubs. I was a bit disappointed that the tubs were made of polystyrene which made it environmentally unfriendly but the ice cream itself was sweet and creamy. It was delicious, although I hate to admit that it was slightly too sweet for me. Now if you know me you will understand that this is not something that I would say very often as I have a VERY sweet tooth.
All in all, I loved the experience and the views from the Esplanade are spectacular. Its a pity as we seemed to be the only ones there to appreciate them.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Nardini's, Largs Again
On Sunday my sister and her husband were going "doon the watter" on the Waverley which was our wedding gift to them. Their destination was Arran but their trip set off from the Glasgow Science Centre and amongst other ports of call was due to dock at Largs at lunchtime. In addition to this there was to be the Taste Ayrshire Food Festival at Largs. What better excuse is there for a trip down to the coast for an ice cream at Nardini's.
We got to Largs just in time to rush down the promenade to where the Waverley had docked to wave in the hope that my sister and brother-in-law would see us and after a few frantic text messages we got confirmation that we had been spotted. Unfortunately I could not confirm I had seen them!
Anyway once that had been done and we had wandered around the food festival and bought some tablet and clootie dumpling we had built up an appetite for Nardini's.
We were delighted to discover that they were doing a summertime special of smoked haddock and chips with salad and coleslaw. This was absolutely delicious. We had previously had smoked fish in batter when on holiday in Dublin and had never been lucky enough to find it available here. We can thoroughly recommend it.
For dessert we both decided on ice cream. I plumped for a scoop of double cream vanilla and a scoop of raspberry ripple whilst Martin plumped for vanilla and butter pecan. I can confirm that all three flavours were absolutely delicious.
And the weather? Well who cares about the weather when the Ayshire food is so delicious!
We got to Largs just in time to rush down the promenade to where the Waverley had docked to wave in the hope that my sister and brother-in-law would see us and after a few frantic text messages we got confirmation that we had been spotted. Unfortunately I could not confirm I had seen them!
Anyway once that had been done and we had wandered around the food festival and bought some tablet and clootie dumpling we had built up an appetite for Nardini's.
We were delighted to discover that they were doing a summertime special of smoked haddock and chips with salad and coleslaw. This was absolutely delicious. We had previously had smoked fish in batter when on holiday in Dublin and had never been lucky enough to find it available here. We can thoroughly recommend it.
For dessert we both decided on ice cream. I plumped for a scoop of double cream vanilla and a scoop of raspberry ripple whilst Martin plumped for vanilla and butter pecan. I can confirm that all three flavours were absolutely delicious.
And the weather? Well who cares about the weather when the Ayshire food is so delicious!
Monday, 5 August 2013
Varani's Forum Café
We have spent the last few weeks painting our huge hall, stairs and landing and thought we deserved a break.
We've wanted to visit Knockroon for a while. It is near Cumnock and New Cumnock where Martin's mother's family come from and we thought it was worthwhile to see what they are up to.
Knockroon is an estate of houses being built on the estate of Dumfries House which was rescued by the Prince of Wales. It is being built on similar principles to Poundsbury in Dorset but in the Ayrshire venacular style. We were made very welcome at the visitor centre and encouraged to have a look round. I loved the architecture and the idea behind it all. They are only in phase one, they have got planning permission for 700 houses so they have a long way to go and I guess we will be checking up on their progress over the years.
Anyway after that we drove on to New Cumnock for a quick look before turning right back towards Kilmarnock to visit Varani's Forum Café.
Varani's states that they always have at least 25 flavours available and they did not disappoint with flavours ranging from the classic Raspberry Ripple to Banana with lots of natural and unnatural flavours in between but we both plumped for a small tub of plain vanilla ice.
Unfortunately Varani's does takeaway only so we had to eat on the hoof but the ice cream was to die for so we did not mind too much and outside the shop were plenty of other people who looked like they had travelled some distance for the ice cream and were eating it as soon as they could.
The vanilla had a slight toffee colour and a rich but mild toffee flavour. Varani's state that their vanilla ice cream is 96.5% fat free so I am not sure how they have injected the creaminess but it was delicious and definitely reminded me of the ice cream I grew up with.
We will be back!
We've wanted to visit Knockroon for a while. It is near Cumnock and New Cumnock where Martin's mother's family come from and we thought it was worthwhile to see what they are up to.
Knockroon is an estate of houses being built on the estate of Dumfries House which was rescued by the Prince of Wales. It is being built on similar principles to Poundsbury in Dorset but in the Ayrshire venacular style. We were made very welcome at the visitor centre and encouraged to have a look round. I loved the architecture and the idea behind it all. They are only in phase one, they have got planning permission for 700 houses so they have a long way to go and I guess we will be checking up on their progress over the years.
Anyway after that we drove on to New Cumnock for a quick look before turning right back towards Kilmarnock to visit Varani's Forum Café.
Varani's states that they always have at least 25 flavours available and they did not disappoint with flavours ranging from the classic Raspberry Ripple to Banana with lots of natural and unnatural flavours in between but we both plumped for a small tub of plain vanilla ice.
Unfortunately Varani's does takeaway only so we had to eat on the hoof but the ice cream was to die for so we did not mind too much and outside the shop were plenty of other people who looked like they had travelled some distance for the ice cream and were eating it as soon as they could.
The vanilla had a slight toffee colour and a rich but mild toffee flavour. Varani's state that their vanilla ice cream is 96.5% fat free so I am not sure how they have injected the creaminess but it was delicious and definitely reminded me of the ice cream I grew up with.
We will be back!
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