Cock and Bull Restaurant
21 March 2014
I would imagine a lot of people dread having their parents come to visit. It means a lot of frantic cleaning and tidying before their arrival and probably having to decline fun weekend invitations from friends.
So it might surprise you that on Friday I was looking forward to 5pm knowing that mine were on their way up to Aberdeen for the weekend. It was my mums’ birthday on Sunday so I was delighted when she decided she’d like to celebrate it up here.
We have family ties to Cruden Bay so on the Saturday afternoon the 3 of us hopped in the car with plans to have an afternoon of walking around the quaint village and hopefully enjoy a wander along the beautiful beach. Unfortunately the weather had different plans. It was blawin a gale so we didn’t venture out of the car. Instead we drove up to the harbour and parked up for a while. I was mesmerized by the sea foam that was flying through the air and gathering at the shore line. Eventually we realised the weather was just not going to clear for us so made our way round the coast in the car. The Aberdeenshire countryside really is breath-taking. We had a good nosey around Ellon and then stopped for a breath of fresh air in Collieston before heading back to Aberdeen to get ready for our evening and collect my boyfriend Alistair (he had been out on a training run for the London marathon).
I don’t know about yours, but when my family are on holiday we generally plan our day round food. So it’s no surprise the main event of the weekend was going to a favourite restaurant of ours – The Cock and Bull. Alistair and I have been many times before and we had taken my folks there on a previous visit, so my mum had asked to go there again for her birthday dinner. 
As always our evening was thoroughly enjoyable. The Cock and Bull claim that they are “everything a country inn should be” and they’re not far wrong. With a menu to suit every taste, as well as specials on offer, we had lots to choose from. I absolutely love pate so I decided to go for the chicken liver pate for my starter, and as a big fan of the traditional Scottish larder, my dad went for the haggis, neeps & tatties. My mum was finding it difficult to decide what to have for her starter. She also loves pate but decided that she would go for the grilled & tempura of purple sprouting broccoli because this sounded really different and not something she’d normally have – she was quite pleasantly surprised. Alistair chose his starter off the specials menu and had the squid which was in a tempura batter and came with chilli mayo and a wedge of lemon.
The main courses were all just as delightful. My mum ordered the corn fed breast of chicken which came with braised savoy cabbage, bacon and creamy mash. It was quite a big portion so she didn’t manage to finish it all, although did say it was lovely. I decided to be a bit daring – “The Cock & Bull Dog” sounded interesting. This gourmet hotdog, pulled pork BBQ sauce and crackling was just a little too big for me. It was my version of a Man v Food challenge, and unfortunately for me, food won! The side portion of shoe string fries I also ordered were definitely not needed. Neither the chicken nor the hot dog went to waste though. As Alistair had been out on a 19 mile training run that afternoon, he was more than happy to help us finish off our meals. Before he tucked in to ours, Alistair had the slow cooked Jacob’s ladder with caramelised onion puree, roast carrots and buckwheat, as well as a side of Steamed broccoli. He wasn’t too pleased to see that my dad has cleaned his plate though! He had ordered the 28 day aged Ribeye steak. It came with hand-cut chips, grilled tomato, field mushroom and onion rings, and he chose the cracked pepper and brandy sauce to accompany it.
By the time we finished our mains we were well and truly stuffed. However, as it was my mums’ birthday we had snuck a birthday cake in for her. When the staff brought it out they had written Happy Birthday on the plate and dotted some very tasty fudge round the plate. They also had a whopping great sparkler on the plate too – my mum loved it! We really didn’t need anything else to eat but ordered tea and coffee and tucked in to the cake anyway. The milk for the coffees came in a very cool bull shaped milk jug. I was very tempted to pinch it but as I fully intend to go back again, decided it was probably best not to!
On Sunday the four of us made our way out to Banchory for the afternoon. The drive out the Deeside Road was lovely and I wished I’d had my sunglasses with me. My folks had been up staying in nearby Ballater one weekend and had stumbled across the Raemoir Garden Centre so suggested we spent some time there. After another very filling meal we had a rummage round the shop for well over an hour before my parents had to head back home.