Dinner at the Elphinstone Restaurant, Biggar

The Ephinstone Hotel and Restaurant is a popular family run former coaching inn located  right in the centre of Biggar in Lanarkshire.  Biggar is a thriving small town located under an hour's drive from Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Elphinstone has been run by Robert and Janette Allan for over 25 years along with their son, Michael. Speaking to Robert, it is clear that he is passionate about the business and very customer focused.

The Elph has a thriving bar which has recently been refurbished to a high standard with a new terrace leading from the function suite at the rear of the hotel.  The hotel has a traditional inn frontage on the high street, although it has been added to over the years, and the dining rooms are a series of small rooms leading one from each other. A new wing of bedrooms was added a few years ago and the hotel has been fully booked during the Commonwealth Games.  They also expect heavy demand for the Edinburgh Festival.

The service in the restaurant was excellent, the waiting staff checked frequently, without intruding, to see if customers needed anything and removed finished plates promptly.  It struck me just how wide a range of customers there were.  Our fellow diners included older couples, families with young children, families with teenagers, young couples and those like ourselves - somewhere in between!  I asked Robert about this and he agreed that The Elphinstone is not aiming for a niche market,  part of their success is having something for everyone.

The menu at The Elphinstone reflects this eclectic customer base and includes traditional pub restaurant classics such as  Prawn Cocktail, Steak and Ale Pie, Lasagne, and Grilled Bacon Steak with double egg.  There is an extensive range of world dishes such as Chicken Pakora, Red Hot Jalapenos,  Beef Chow Mein, Chicken or Vegetable Curry and the fish dishes include Smoked Haddock and Puy Lentil Tart, Grilled Fillet of Salmon in Parma Ham and Grilled Fillet of Sea Bass.  Steaks are also available with various toppings and sauces.

I've probably been watching too much of the Restaurant Man on TV, but it did occur to me that it would have been helpful to have the menu divided into these different categories to help find your way around it.
Anyway, let's get on to what we ate. To start I ordered the Cullen Skink, a traditional Scottish Smoked Haddock, Potato, Leek and Cream Chowder.  It was full of pieces of fish, creamy and well seasoned, although I would have preferred it to be a little bit thickened.

Brian chose the Chilli and Mango King Prawns:  King Prawns coated in Chilli and Mango Jam in a Crispy Breadcrumb.  He really enjoyed them and I had a little taste, they had a nice level of spice and biting through the crispy coating to the sweet mango and chlli jam coated prawn was a good combination of textures and flavours.


For the main course Brian chose the Dunsyre Blue Chicken: grilled breast of chicken smothered in a leek, mushroom and blue cheese sauce.  Being a big fan of blue cheese, he really enjoyed this dish, the chicken was well cooked and the the sauce well seasoned.


I went for one of the Dishes of the Day, a Venison Stroganoff: pan-fried venison steak with a paprika, mushroom and brandy cream sauce.  The venison was beautifully cooked, still pink in the middle and very tender, although I did feel that the flavour was a little overwhelmed by the rich and delicious sauce.

You will have noticed that the vegetable accompaniments to both our meals were the same.   The sugar snap peas and the carrots were cooked well, not over done, and the new potatoes were also very good. However, I think I would have preferred the option of rice with the stroganoff and the mashed turnip really didn't work with either of the dishes.  A more formal presentation of the dishes and perhaps serving the vegetables separately would also have added to the overall appeal.   However, as I have already said, the food  tasted very good and  was cooked perfectly.


Biggar is famous for Taylor's ice cream and the dessert menu at The Elphinstone makes a feature of the range of ice cream and ice cream desserts as well as offering family favourites.

We were pretty full, but thought we should try the ice cream. I had two scoops, one of White Chocolate Chip and the other of Ginger, both were really good.  I loved the ginger which had pieces of preserved ginger through it, delicious.  Brian managed three scoops, Chocolate, Ginger and Coconut and he had no complaints, the chocolate and the ginger getting rave reviews.

Many thanks to the Allan family for their hospitality at 'The Elph'.  I would definitely return and if you are in the area,  passing through Biggar or looking to stay over for a Scottish market town experience, then I would certainly recommend you make a stop at the Elphinstone Hotel and Restaurant.

I was not paid to write this review although we were not required to pay for the meal. . There was no request to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. Apologies for the quality of the photographs.

Labels: Biggar, Chicken, Cullen Skink, Dunsyre, prawns, restaurant review, stroganoff, Taylor's of Biggar, The Elph, TheElphinstone, venison

posted by Janice @ 13:55 5 Comments

Venison Sausages with Red Cabbage and Apples

Last month I posted a recipe for Venison cooked in Cider made with a haunch of  fallow deer venison from Millbank Parkland Venison.   I'd like to show you another recipe, this time using the rich and tasty venison sausages also from Millbank Parkland Venison.

Venison Sausages with Red Cabbage and Apples

5 Venison sausages
1/2 red cabbage, sliced
2 red onions, sliced
4 sticks celery, sliced (optional)
2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
100ml red wine vinegar
1 tbsp muscovado sugar
Salt and Freshly ground pepper

1. Brown the sausages in a pan.
2. Layer the cabbage, onions, celery and apple slices.  Season.


3. Add another layer of the vegetables and top with the sausages.

 4. Sprinkle over the sugar and pour over the vinegar and put the lid on the dish or cover with foil.



Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours at 160C



If you would like to try some of the Millbank Parkland Venison products, you can still enter the giveway HERE

Win this Taster Pack

Labels: apples, Millbank Farm Parkland Venison, red cabbage, sausages, venison, venison sausages

posted by Janice @ 12:04 3 Comments

Venison cooked in Cider and a Giveaway

Venison is one of those meats that many people shy away from.  Perhaps because they are not sure how to cook it, and then there is the 'Bambi' factor.  Neither of these reasons would put me off and I have cooked venison in the past but I find that it is just not readily available at the butcher or the supermarket. It's nice to know that I'm in tune with top chefs Valentine Warner and Ainsley Harriott who were championing Venison and Mustard on the Great British Food Revival and I couldn't  believe how closely Valentine Warner's views  about venison were to mine!

So I was excited to see that as part of  Flavour Fortnight in August this year, a Vension Farm Walk and tasting was offered by Millbank Parkland Venison just outside Lockerbie.


Millbank Farm is run by Emma Boyes with her husband Gareth, and after a walk around the farm to see the deer, Emma  prepared some recipes which we were able to taste.  The sausages and burgers were delicious and all the dishes were full of flavour.  I was intrigued to see what I could make with this local produce, so last month I contacted Emma to see if she would like me to make some dishes with venison from her farm.



Venison is regarded as the premier meat for the health conscious. With the lowest fat, lowest cholesterol and the highest protein content of any meat combined with high iron content and omega 3 it is ideal for those on a healthy or low cholesterol diet.
Venison: 6g/100g fat (beef/chicken/lamb/pork 12-20g/100g)
Venison: 198 kcal/100g (beef/chicken/lamb/pork 214-286kcal/100g)

Millbank Parkland Venison is exclusively sourced from 14 to 22 month old animals in prime condition, the meat is hung for the optimum period of 1 week, resulting in venison which is consistent, tender and of very high quality.
Not all venison is the same. Venison varies within species, age, gender, whether farmed venison or wild venison as well as the condition and health status of the deer. There are 6 deer species in the UK. Scottish venison includes fallow, red, roe and sika deer. We believe fallow and roe venison are of the highest quality due to the texture and flavour of the meat. At Millbank, through the choice of deer combined with how they manage and select the deer, they aim to consistently provide the very best culinary experience.

Millbank Farm Parkland Venison is Fallow Deer venison and wild Roe deer which are less gamey than  Red Deer venison and much more tender, it is low in fat and Millbank Farm venison is ethical, welfare friendly, stress free, low food miles, low carbon footprint, processed in their natural environment. This information and more is available on the Millbank Farm Parkland Venison website.

Haunch of Millbank Farm Parkland Venison in a Cider and Mustard Sauce

I wanted to come up with a recipe full of the flavours of autumn, which complemented rather than overpowered the venison, apples and squash seemed to be the answer!

Serves 4-6

1 small haunch of venison (approx 500g)
1tbsp olive oil
10g butter
6 sage leaves, chopped
150ml vintage cider
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
100g creme fraiche
1 tsp cornflour
salt and freshly ground black pepper



You could easily increase the quantities to serve a larger group, this haunch will provide two half inch thick slices of venison per person for 6 people, or three slices for four people.



1.  Heat the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat.
2. Brown the haunch of venison in the pan, then remove to an oven proof dish.

3. Add the butter and sage leaves to the pan juices  and cook for 1 minute, then add the cider and mustard. Let it bubble up for 2-3 minutes, then add to the venison in the ovenproof dish.

4. Cover with foil and bake in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes.
5. Once cooked, lift the venison onto another plate cover with foil and allow to rest.
6. Pour the  mustardy juices into a small saucepan and heat until simmering.
7. Mix the teaspoon of cornflour with the creme fraiche and add to the juices.
8. Cook until slightly thickened.
9. Carve the haunch of venison in thick slices and serve on butternut squash and apple puree with the sauce poured over generously.

Butternut Squash and Apple Puree

1 medium butternut squash
2 Cox's Apple Pippins
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt


1. Heat the oven to 200C
2. Peel, deseed and chop the butternut squash into cubes. Cut the apples in half and take out the core with a teaspoon.
3. Put the 3tbsp of olive oil into a roasting tin and add the butternut squash and the apples to the tin and roast in the oven until the squash is tender, about 30 - 40 minutes.

4. When the squash and apples are soft, remove the apple pulp from its skin and puree both with a stick blender or liquidiser, season to taste.  The consistency should be similar to mashed potato.


The Millbank Farm Parkland Venison should be served slightly pink to be enjoyed at its best.  The flavour of the meat is excellent and goes really well with the sharp heat of the mustard and creme fraiche sauce and the sweetness of the butternut squash puree and cider.

If you would like to try some Millbank Farm Parkland Venison you can buy it from the
online farm shop  or take part in the giveaway below for a chance to win a taster pack for two people containing 2 rump steaks, 2 vension burgers and a ring of venison sausage.  Details of what you need to do are in the Rafflecopter widget with opportunities for bonus entries.   Please remember to read the terms and conditions.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: apples, butternut squash, cider, creme fraiche, Flavour Fortnight, giveaway, Great British Food Revival, Millbank Farm Parkland Venison, mustard, venison, win

posted by Janice @ 20:20 126 Comments