Sinclair’s Larder in Edzell

I can’t say that I had ever visited the village of Edzell before. I am well aware of it, it is a prominent drop off location for many oil requirements, one that I have had many dealings with by phone and email in the past. But work aside, I can’t say that I knew too much about the area.

Edzell is a small village in Angus, somewhere that I have driven through plenty of times but never stopped in. I think there are many places like this. Places that we consider to be nothing more than commuter towns, or hold nothing of value to anyone that lives outside of the confines of the village boundaries. I’m usually wrong.

A friend and I decided to head down to Angus Clearance Services and Sales in nearby Brechin. This was a new find for me; I love to buy mid-century and interesting pieces of furniture. Having an eclectic mix of old and new in the home, and finding new locations to scour are exciting to me.

Not sure what to do afterwards and not being familiar with the area, we defaulted to our usual comfort. Food. I can’t say that there was an overwhelming choice of availability in Brechin so we searched a little further afield and found a couple of options in Edzell.

And I am so glad that we did. I had almost committed myself to the notion of a nice soup and sandwich lunch, really not expecting anything more from a small village but I had one of the nicest lunches that I have enjoyed in a really long time.

Where to find Sinclairs Larder?

We visited Sinclair’s Larder, which can be found nice and easy on the High Street in Edzell. We got parked just across the road and it was simply the first spot to catch our eyes. A nicely branded but quite unassuming exterior, we had heard and seen nothing of it prior to visiting but it looked nice, and often, that’s enough.

Truth be told, I was quite taken aback when we walked in and were asked if we had made a reservation, we had not. Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to me as we visited around midday and midweek. It was no issue as there were plenty of free tables but these quickly filled up with people that had indeed known better and made a prior reservation. And we saw others turned away. I think it was sheer luck that we got a table, good timing and nothing else. But I feel it should be noted for anyone planning to visit!

But despite getting a table, we certainly didn’t get one of the coveted window seats or one of the booths. It was a little chilly where we were sat, positioned just in front of the door on a breezy day but then again, I was just happy to be seated at all.

The Edzell restaurants interior was nice, welcoming but stylish. A true mix between the comforts of a village eatery but with many of the decor features that you might see in some of the cool city establishments.

I was surprised once we received the menu as it was far, far more than the simple soup and sandwich deals that I had been anticipating. It sounded quite fancy really and I certainly don’t mean any offence by that, after all, why shouldn’t it be. The menu is a lovely mix between the homely comforts that you expect to find but with some of those more refined flavours. Simple foods, made well. My favourite kind.

Food at Sinclairs Larder

Taking a look through the menu and the daily specials board above the counter, there were many dishes that stood out to us. The Hot Smoked Salmon and King Prawn Caesar Salad being one, Haggis and Black Pudding Bon Bons with apple chutney being another. Or the more classic Mac ‘n’ Cheese among many others.

I should say that they also offer some delicious sounding vegetarian options, unsure about vegan but I was definitely eyeing up some lovely sounding vegetarian meals.

As always, I am indicisive as ever, always the one holding things up in that regard but one dish that always, always catches my heart is sausage and mash. It’s not even a dish that I received much growing up, but I have real feelings of nostalgia towards it and always find myself drawn to it when I see it on a menu.

However, this one was a little bit different to what I am used to ordering. Pork sausages with a creamy mash, onion gravy, black pudding and ..spinach? I am not used to receiving black pudding or spinach with my bangers and mash but I’ll tell you what, it went together nicely. And it was a big portion. The only downside was that I felt the sausages had been boiled, there was no texture on the skin, no crisp, no crunch. Personal preference and I’m sure it was the easier option but a little lacklustre in that regard. The black pudding was lovely with it though.

My friend chose to have the burger with a couple of extras. It was served on a wooden board, and normally I find this kind of thing to be more of an inconvenience than necessary, but I can look past it for a burger. He was very impressed by the quality and the taste of the food. The chips also looked, and I’m told were lovely. Chip shop chips. You can rarely go wrong. But the thing that really caught his eye was the coleslaw, which had been sprinkled with paprika. Again, nothing particularly fancy but it’s not how it’s usually served and again, very lovely.

We were absolutely stuffed after eating but the cakes and desserts sounded and looked great. Mainly traybakes but with a couple of dessert options. We did stay for some tea and coffee but I think this was already pushing the boundaries of what we could stomach.

In terms of price, I found it to be very reasonable at around £10 each for our meals. The portions were more than substantial and the quality was great.

I have definitely left wondering who I can introduce to it next. I’m not sure when it will be, but I’ll be sure to make a reservation before I do!

If you’re thinking of visiting Sinclairs Larder, then be sure to pop along to nearby Fettercairn to see the commemorative arch for the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.