IT’S always good to escape to the country for a meal in the North-east – provided you can get to your favoured restaurant.
The Tufted Duck Hotel, which is in the beautiful and secluded village of St Combs, near Fraserburgh, was easy enough to find during the day I told my pal Jenny.
But I found myself baffled on the country roads at night.
However, with a little rural kindness – a lovely lady leaned out of her country house window to point us in the right direction – we soon made it.
And boy was our trip more than worth the effort.
Jenny opted for the prawn ravioli with sunblushed vegetables and basil foam (£6.95) for a starter.
Laid out like tiny flying saucers on her plate, the pasta parcels soon disappeared.
Meanwhile, my rannoch smoked venison (£6.95), which was sliced into neat little slivers, was top notch with flavour just bursting from the tender morsels.
The sirloin steak (£15.95) with blue cheese and horseradish sauce (£2.75) was Jenny’s favoured main course.
I sat with envy as she tucked into the vast cut that was on her plate.
She kindly allowed me a taste and we both agreed that the horseradish was slightly overpowered by the blue cheese. But it was difficult to worry about that too much when it tasted so good.
My fillet of Fraserburgh haddock (£12.95) arrived laid out on a luxurious bed of mashed potatoes.
With its sumptuous white wine sauce, every silky soft bite melted in the mouth – so I had no regrets about my choice.
The quietly efficient service allowed diners to enjoy their conversation with hardly any interruption.
Afterwards, we left a little time to digest our food and were allowed to retire to the beautiful leather sofas in the hotel’s rustic lounge for a nice chat and a wee coffee.
The coastal hotel, which looks out on to the sea, is in line for a £1.5 million expansion, creating dozens of new jobs.
The owners of the establishment have started work on new bedrooms, a reception area and bistro.
It will be more than worth making the trip back – without detours – to investigate that.