Perthshire chef and MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin is all about fresh food and local ingredients. So it’s no wonder she was keen to check out somewhere selling seasonal fair, like Forbes of Kingennie near Dundee.
It’s a gloriously sunny day when Sarah and I meet and head inside to see what the resort’s restaurant has to offer.
They seem surprised that we want to takeaway, but sort us out quickly, even letting us borrow some kitchen cutlery and trusting that we will bring it back.
What is the food like at Forbes of Kingennie?
There’s a deal on their winter main menu which offers three small plates for £20.
We decide to test this out, choosing the tempura king prawn (£8.95), venison patatas bravas (£7.95) and beef bao buns (£7.95) – though £4.85 was taken off the bill to accommodate the deal.
First off, we tucked into the prawns.
Sarah was pleased with the crispy tempura batter, and the big, meaty prawns inside.
We also both appreciated that these weren’t overly oily, considering we didn’t have a pile of napkins on hand.
However, we would have preferred a dip alongside these to elevate the flavour a little and add a different consistency.
Though looking at the menu, there is a dip listed – sweet chilli and pineapple dip in fact – but we didn’t get this in the takeaway deal.
Sarah: 4/5
Joanna: 4/5
Sauce saved the day for the patatas bravas
The patatas bravas looked severely lacklustre to begin with at Forbes of Kingennie.
Though the potatoes looked nice and crispy, we were missing any trace of tomato sauce.
We were relieved however, when we realised the tomato sauce was in a handy takeaway cup we had been given.
The tomato sauce was rich and plentiful, the wee tomato chunks nice and crispy.
The inclusion of venison sausage was rather untraditional, but it worked well if a little odd to begin with.
This was delicious, though we would have liked to see that creamy mayonnaise that is often drizzled over the top of patatas bravas.
The venison sausage was a nice touch, and made the dish a lot more filling than it otherwise might have been.
Sarah: 3/5
Joanna: 3/5
Did slow beef brisket bao buns hit the mark?
While Sarah polished off the patatas bravas, I got stuck into our third dish – the beef brisket bao buns.
The beef was perfectly tender, and the bun itself was soft and fluffy – just how I like it.
My only complaint would be how messy this dish was, with the generous portion of chipotle mayonnaise over the top.
However, this really wouldn’t be an issue if you were eating in at Forbes of Kingennie.
Joanna: 5/5
We really enjoyed our visit to Forbes of Kingennie, with the untraditional but tasty patatas bravas, the crispy tempura prawns and the tender, juicy bao buns.
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