Award: 2 Michelin Stars since 2006, 4 AA Rosettes since 2007
Visit: 18 November 2024, dinner for two.
Price: ***
Website: https://www.andrewfairlie.co.uk/
Review:
Restaurant Andrew Fairlie is located within the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Please see my previous review here:
The restaurant was opened by Andrew Fairlie in 2001. A year after opening, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star. A second star was added in 2006. The style of the cuisine is French influenced by the best seasonal Scottish ingredients.
Sadly, Andrew lost his long battle with his brain tumor in January 2019 and the restaurant, that still proudly bears his name, is run by Head Chef Stephen McLaughlin who has retained the 2 Michelin Star rating.
The restaurant leases a 2-acres walled Victorian-style kitchen garden, some 10 miles away from the hotel, and also benefits from the herb garden situated to the rear of the hotel.
There is an a la carte menu option (with a vegetarian a la carte option) costing £135 for three courses or £165 for four courses, or a 7 course Degustation menu (£185 per head), again with a vegetarian Degustation option. There is an impressive wine list as you would expect, or you could order the optional matched wines (these cost £95 per head, or there is a premium wine flight at £150 per head, or an “iconic” wine flight at £425 per head).
We chose the four course a la carte option. We started with five very nice canapes. The first was a parmesan sable topped with an almond and truffle cream cheese, and poached pear. Next was a warm Comté gougère, with a Jerusalem artichoke fondue, topped with an artichoke crisp. Then we were served a crispy cracker with artichokes, topped with a potato mousse, paprika and potato puffs. Next, an egg shell contained a scallop cracker on the bottom, topped with scallop tartare flavoured with lemon and chilli, a scallop row emulsion, finished with dried scallop roe and cress. Finally, a croustade filled with a celeriac and apple espuma, with a lightly spiced celeriac and apple pearl, and marigold. These were all very good, especially the gougère which was light, warm and very tasty.
The wild mushroom and truffle raviolo starter was a raviolo stuffed with locally foraged mushroom duxelles, with autumn truffle grated on top, and cep velouté poured over. The pasta was nice and thin and the sauce had great flavour. Our other starter of caramelised veal sweetbread was sensational. The sweetbread was pan fried and topped with crispy chives, an almond pistou, black garlic, wilted greens, and a very good sauce Bordelaise made with dry red wine, bone marrow, butter, shallots and sauce demi-glace. The rich sweetbread was perfectly cooked with a crispy outside and soft, succulent centre. This was the best sweetbread I have had in a long time.
The intermediate course of red legged partridge breast was topped with a crumb of the leg meat, bacon and offal, with quince marinated in Grenadine, baby white onion, and a Madeira and truffle jus. The perfectly cooked partridge had a rich, gamey flavour that was enhanced by the quince, Madira and truffle. Another excellent dish. Our other intermediate course was the roast langoustine, served with a fennel puree, baby artichokes, basil oil, and a langoustine bisque. The langoustines had lovely natural sweetness and great flavour.
The main course of pan roasted fillet of turbot, was served with confit potatoes filled with a fish mousse and topped with Imperial caviar, buttered greens, and a vanilla velouté. The turbot was precisely cooked with good texture and flavour. For me, the floral taste of the vanilla velouté reminded me too much of a sweet custard, and this detracted from the taste of the beautiful fish!! However, this is only a personal preference, and the course was perfectly cooked.
Our other main course was the tarragon and parsley herb crusted loin of Beltex lamb, served with cabbage, rosti potato, slow cooked lamb belly topped with a yuzu gel and ewe’s curd, and a lamb jus deglazed with white wine. Again, this was perfectly cooked, and the lamb had great flavour.
The pre-dessert had a mulled apple compot on the bottom, a fruit and nut granola, and a verbena ice cream. Verbena was Andrew Fairlie’s favourite herb. It’s fragrance is reminiscent of a refreshing combination of lemon, mint, and hints of tangerine. This was very refreshing.
The dessert of bramble crumble souffle was topped with an oat crumb, with fresh brambles that had been marinated in crème de mûre (a blackberry liqueur) poured into the souffle, with crème fraiche ice cream served on the side. An excellent souffle. Our other dessert was the pear and hazelnut parfait. This had a hazelnut crumb tuile on the bottom, then a hazelnut parfait coated with chocolate cocoa butter, confit pear, and a decorative hazelnut crumb tree placed on top. It was served with a pear sorbet on the side, and a lime caramel was poured over by our waitress. This was also very tasty.
Finally there were three petit fours. The first was a cinnamon spiced pumpkin macaron with a passion fruit gel centre. Next was a Canelé de Bordeaux with apple and rum gel. Finally, an Andrew Fairlie chocolate ganache truffle.
The food at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie is still outstanding. The service was very friendly, and our waitress was very knowledgeable about the food and the history of the restaurant.
This was another excellent meal, and we will be returning next year.
The Menus:
The Food:
The People:
Andrew Fairlie (21 November 1963 – 22 January 2019) at age 15, began his training in Perth under chef Keith Podmore. When he was 20, he won the inaugural Roux Scholarship in 1984 and this enabled him to complete a stage with Michel Guérard at Les Pres d’Eugenie. After the 21st anniversary he was invited to join the judging panel of the scholarship and became Head of Scholars.
Following spells working on the Royal Scotsman cruise and the Disneyland Hotel in Paris, Andrew joined One Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow, in his first head chef role in 1994, and earned his first Michelin star in 1996.
He then set up his first restaurant, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at the Gleneagles Hotel, in 2001. Both his head chef Stevie McLaughlin and general manager Dale Dewsbury came with Fairlie when he transitioned from One Devonshire Gardens to Restaurant Andrew Fairlie. Eight months after opening, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star. A second star was added in 2006.
During the G8 Summit 2005 he cooked for the Queen and 44 of the world’s leaders. In 2006, he was AA Chef’s Chef of the Year. He was named a Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef du Monde in 2011, one of just seven in the UK. In 2012 Restaurant Andrew Fairlie topped the Sunday Times Food List of the top 100 UK restaurants. In 2017, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie became the first Scottish establishment to be included in Les Grandes Tables du Monde.
In 2002, Hotels magazine voted Restaurant Andrew Fairlie as one of the world’s top ten hotel restaurants, and, in the same year, he became the inaugural Scottish Chef of the Year.
Andrew lost his battle against cancer and sadly died aged 55. He is credited with leading the transformation of Scotland’s culinary scene and inspiring a generation of chefs to follow in his footsteps.
Head Chef – Stephen McLaughlin started as Commis Chef at One Devonshire Gardens in 1993, rising through the ranks to junior Sous Chef. He left with Andrew to set up Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in 2001. Maintaining the extremely high standards of cuisine at Andrew Fairlie, he has retained the 2 Michelin stars.