Northpoint, St Andrews

Northpoint Café - "Where Kate met Wills....(for coffee!)"....

...definitely has to be one of the best, and most reasonable, places to have breakfast in St Andrews - although I guess Prince William probably didn't care about the low prices! I wonder if I have sat at a table they sat at....

Northpoint is a really nice little café situated on (who would have guessed it..) North Street; it's usually crammed with students and families but has really friendly service and quite a large and varied menu. Sadly there is no website (there doesn't even seem to be a very active FB page, or a twitter!) but I took pictures of the menu of course!

I had a really tough time deciding what to get - exactly what I had last time (which I knew I liked so wasn't risky!) or the breakfast burrito to try something new?! In the end I repeated my last visit - half a stack of pancakes with maple syrup, and a cheesy bean bagel!

So. Much. Cheese! Also cheese and beans must be a combo made in heaven so how could you ever go wrong? Especially with the added bagel carbs.

Not much I can really say apart from perfectly fluffy pancakes and a generous amount of maple syrup - yum.

Christopher always orders the same, and apparently one of the waitresses knows his order off by heart now! He is living the "the usual?" dream and I am so jealous!! He has the American brunch - scrambled egg, bacon, 4 mini pancakes and maple syrup, and then a side of toast.

He is quite fussy with scrambled eggs but said these are the best ones he has ever had! And maple syrup on bacon and pancakes is another match made in heaven really.

After all this, we were still hungry....so Christopher ordered some carrot cake

and I had (don't judge me)...the breakfast burrito!! (I hadn't had breakfast if that makes it better?!)

It was filled with bacon, grated cheddar, scrambled eggs, roasted peppers, baby spinach and their own spicy sauce - which was VERY spicy, but luckily not quite enough to mask other flavours. It was a really good burrito, but I did prefer the one I had at The Breakfast Club as I thought it was more flavoursome and had more filling - although having said that, at double the price I suppose it ought to be better!

At only £19 for all of this food, it was a meal which was tasty, filling (even more so for normal people who would probably have only had the first lot of food!) and didn't break the bank - definitely worth a visit!

To tempt you to visit St Andrews more as well...here is St Salvator's quad, where Christopher went to the 600th anniversary ball, and where he has some lectures (it beats the York campus buildings so badly!)

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Forgan's, St Andrews

The Monday night of my visit found us at Forgan's, where Christopher works, and where I had been excited about visiting ever since he read a menu preview to me over the phone (before they even had a working website!).

Straight off it's really cool because it used to be a "cleek factory" (a golf club factory) so it's quite a characterful place with an interesting story. They have a doorway on Market Street (next to Mitchell's Deli which is owned by the same people...review coming soon) which leads up a passageway with artfully arranged crates of vegetables, bird houses, plants etc, which I thought gave it quite a cool farmhouse type look!

The interior - taken early on a Wednesday night, hence the quietness!

Something which also makes Forgan's stand out for me is the existence of "bothies". These are private areas for groups up to 12, and each is different! They have one called "The Reading Room" which has a well stocked bookshelf - Christopher said that book clubs hold their meetings there which I thought was such a nice idea. Our one was called "The Snug" - it was really cosy and even had its own fire! Also I don't know why I was so obsessed with this but I thought the pegs for hanging our coats on was a thoughtful addition to it too!

Full bothy!

As well as the food, Forgan's have a fab selection of drinks which you can view here. You can even get "flights" of things like wine, gin, beer or champagne, where you get three different varieties to sample. I was tempted to try the champagne flight but thought it might be better to wait til my parents were paying...! I decided to have a "Cockt-ale" which are cocktails but with the unconventional addition of ale. Mine was called Bitter Fruit and included Aivy strawberry pear mint vodka, St Germain elderflower liqueur, sugar, cranberry, fresh lemon juice and Schiehallion.

I was a bit worried that the ale would be the overwhelming taste, but I'm glad I tried it because it was really delicious. You could taste the ale but it wasn't overpowering at all and the fruit still came across nicely - perhaps it could even be a way of weaning myself onto liking beer?! Keep adding more and more each time...

Our food arrived really quickly after we had ordered considering we were such a large party, so I was really impressed with the service. For starter I went for a special, which was a salad with chicken, bacon, sundried tomatoes, smoked cheddar and a honey mustard dressing.

It was so so good! The combination of flavours was amazing and I really liked the gooey slightly runny texture of the cheese. The honey mustard dressing was just the right sweetness, the salad was crispy, and the bacon was salty and perfectly cooked to add a bit of crunch. 

Other starters included the crispy haggis balls, neeps, tatties and malt whisky gravy (Christopher's choice - I nearly went for it but then decided I would have the special as I wouldn't get an opportunity to next time)

Quite a hard dish to present extremely attractively so I think they did a pretty good job of it! Traditional Scottish food perhaps doesn't offer the interesting colour constrasts of, for example, Italian!!

Sweet potato and aubergine soup with freshly baked bread 

I loved the plates; also, I should probably stop being obsessed by food in baby jam jars as I've seen it a few times, but it never gets any less sweet!

Hannah and Kat's goat's cheese in filo pastry with homemade beetroot chutney

So nicely presented, and a huge portion for a starter - why can't I just like goat's cheese?!

For main, I went for their famous (or so it seems after my whole family have told me about it) duck shepherd's pie with roasted veg and gravy

Gravy in a tiny saucepan!!

 The pie was topped with lovely creamy mash, and the duck underneath was shredded, so almost like you would have to put in pancakes at a Chinese! It was really tasty, and it was good to have the gravy to pour on top to add some moisture - otherwise I might have committed my classic sin of adding ketchup!

Some pictures of other mains

Potato gnocchi with mushroom and garlic cream, sundried tomatoes and rocket

Boeuf bourguignon with a puff pastry lid, mash and veg

Muir's beautifully cooked rare steak! 

I was so full after the main but wanted a traditionally Scottish pudding as I had bypassed the haggis, so I went for cranachan

Served in a pretty teacup - lovely presentation again!

 Cranachan is a mixture of whisky, cream, raspberries, honey and oats. This one was really creamy with sharp bursts of raspberry, and luckily for me, not too strong a taste of whisky (although Christopher tried it and said he could taste it really strongly, so I must have managed to avoid most of it!). I really liked the extra texture the oats added - otherwise it might have been just a bit too mousse like. I would definitely order it again and I was pleased to have tried something traditionally Scottish! Next up, deep fried mars bar....!

Another popular pudding was the sticky toffee which looked rich and delicious!

If you want to see their full food selection, you can view their menu here.

I recently went back to St Andrews with Christopher and my parents and visited Forgan's again - once for the Saturday night ceilidh, and once for another meal. The ceilidh was absolutely brilliant - so much fun! There were quite a lot of Scottish people there who clearly knew what they were doing, but it wasn't scary to join in as the dances were fairly easy to pick up and they explained all the moves beforehand (although my parents still managed to mess up big time much to our amusement!). The live band were great and it was just a really brilliant night - very atmospheric and even the drunk man celebrating his 50th birthday dressed as Elvis added to the ambience!!!

The meal was really good and probably one of the best of the week. For starter Christopher, my mum and I all had lobster bisque and my dad had chicken liver pâté

The lobster bisque was really rich and warming, with lovely soft homemade bread and butter in a jam jar! The pâté was smooth and rich too and I liked the presentation of it in the tin!

For main my mum and I had seared tuna steak with green beans, olives, tomato, new potatoes, sesame and soy dressing, and my dad had the burger with haggis and cheddar, and Christopher had duck shepherd's pie and chips (his usual!).

I tried my dad's burger and it was actually really good - seeing as I am a bit of a burger snob I wasn't expecting it to be too great but it was really juicy, with nice mature cheddar and the bun was soft and squidgy. Lovely fat chips too! My tuna was absolutely delicious - so fresh tasting, with saltiness from the soy, and tangy olives. All the veg was really well cooked and the combination of the vegetables with the fish added different textures and tasted great.

I also had a side of macaroni cheese because I just can't seem to resist it.

It was one of the best macaroni cheeses I've had in a while - nice strong cheese and a crunchy crispy top, with a rich and creamy cheese sauce!

I didn't have space for pudding and nor did my mum,  but my dad had Cranachan like I did last time, and Christopher had the macaroon cheesecake, both of which they really enjoyed.

Forgan's is a really great restaurant with excellent food and drink, made even better by the history of the building and the bothies. Also, fun fact - Hilary Clinton came here to eat when she was in St Andrews to be presented with her honorary degree! If it's good enough for her, it should be good enough for us all! 

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Little Italy, St Andrews

I have just got back from visiting my brother at university in St Andrews, and with a meal out for lunch and tea every day, I have plenty to write about over the next few days! It's lucky Christopher loves eating as well!

I have been to visit him once before, and on that visit I managed to put on half a stone in a week through eating so much, which I think is testament to how much good food there is in such a tiny city. I absolutely love St Andrews (it is such a beautiful place!), and while I would never regret going to York (ever!), I always think that if I hadn't gone there, St Andrews would have been a brilliant replacement.

Down by East Sands and the pier - so pretty!

So anyway I'll try and put photos of St Andrew's the city (as well as the food) in these blog posts - hopefully it might convince some people that it's worth making the (very) long journey up there. St Andrew's should be seen by everyone!

There are hardly any chains in St Andrews (there is no McDonalds, no Dominos...) - they have a Pizza Express, Subway, Bella Italia and a Zizzis, but I think that might be where the chains end...this means there are lots of lovely little independent places to sample - even after my two visits there are still places I have yet to try, and, of course, places I want to revisit!

The first meal out we had was at Little Italy. It's a very cute little restaurant on a side street (Logies Lane) between Market Street and South Street - when we first went in it was quiet, but by the end of the meal it was very busy considering it was a Monday lunch time! The restaurant is currently rated number 3 on Tripadvisor which, considering the strong competition there is, is very impressive!

I went with Christopher, Hannah (whose family are family friends - we have spent every New Year (bar one!) with them since 2000, and I have known her since she was born! And funnily enough both she and Christopher go to St Andrews!), and Hannah's flatmate Kat.

I really loved the interior of the restaurant - I thought the red walls with all the pictures gave it a cosy and familial vibe, and I also really liked the ceiling! As my dad said, it looks as if it should be tacky, but somehow it just works and makes it look even more fun! They also had candles in bottles on tables, which has been a favourite of mine ever since I was nine and we went on a family holiday to Portugal and they did it there!

There isn't a website for Little Italy, but I took a picture of the main menu

As you can see, it is hugely varied, and has lots of delicious things on it - I also loved the description of the "Melanzane alla Parmigiana" - "homemade baked aubergine, please try it." An earnest menu, that's what I like to see!

They also have a special lunch time menu for £7.95 for two courses, and as the true students (and one ex-student...how sad) we are, we all ordered from that.

Both Christopher and I went for the deep fried mozzarella and marinara sauce (for a £1.50 supplement)

Yummy oozy cheese

 It was definitely worth the £1.50 extra we paid - the amount of cheese was really generous, and breadcrumbs were nicely crunchy. The sauce complemented it well and they gave the perfect amount so the breadcrumbs did not become soggy, but you also had plenty to coat it all so it wasn't dry! I feel like the side salad also deserves a mention as they put olives in it, and I love places which do that!

Hannah and Kat shared a salad with avocado, olives, grana padano cheese and balsamic dressing, and a selection of olives and bread (which sadly I didn't get a picture of!)

 I thought the salad was really nicely presented and looked fresh and appetising - I would have been bad at sharing it though as I'd have wanted all the olives and avocado to myself!

For main course, I went for a pizza. On the 2 course set menu you can get a margherita, and add extra toppings from a selection for 85p each. I added pepperoni, capers and olives

While I wished that they included maybe even one other option of pizza on the set menu rather than charging extra for any topping, I must say that this is one of the nicest pizzas I have had in a while. A nice thin and crispy base, with a generous amount of tomato and cheese (also it was really nice and stringy mozzarella!) - and they didn't skimp on the extra toppings so it was good to see my 85p x 3 bought me something! The capers added a delicious saltiness and tang, and the pepperoni was crisp and flavoursome. Obviously I loved the olives too!

Christopher had a pizza too, but added ham and pepperoni to his.

He really enjoyed his too - also I forgot to mention that he had come here two weeks previously with my dad, and liked it so much he brought me too. A good recommendation!

Hannah went for spinach and ricotta stuffed cannelloni with a tomato sauce which she really enjoyed and described to me in a text as "sooo good!!!", and I have to say it did look tasty - so much cheese and sauce!

Kat went for a margherita which we all laughed at after Hannah said "looks pretty boring", but I am sure it was just as delicious as mine and Christopher's - perhaps Kat even appreciated the base etc more without extra toppings crowding her taste buds?!?!

Nice corner table with a window looking out onto the street 

All in all I thought this was a really nice restaurant, with a great buzzy atmosphere and friendly and efficient service. It reminds me of a slightly more formal version of my favourite restaurant in York, Il Paradiso, and I would definitely come back here on my next visit. The set menu is a bargain too, as even if you do pay extra supplements, you still end up paying for two courses about what you would pay for one off the normal menu! Definitely a great way to start off my week of eating!

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