Scottish food

So now it's time to say what my palate thought of Scotland. Yum. Long John Silver's will never be the same after having eaten fish and chips on the sea coasts of Scotland.

Sandwiches on regular whole grain sliced bread are common lunch fare, but the fillings weren't so familiar. The bread was always spread with butter. Shredded cheese was a common filling. What they call a chicken salad sandwich is not chopped chicken with mayo but sliced chicken with salad (lettuce and tomato). A sandwich similar to a BLT with brown sauce (kinda like steak sauce) was even sold as a breakfast sandwich.

Flapjacks over there are not pancakes. They are deliciously soft chewy oat bars often with fruit or chocolate. Black currant juice was a tasty beverage. If you order a cheese and pickle potato (yep, it's on the menu), the pickles will be a brown-sauce-based relish.

I found the best tastes of Scotland to be on the isle of Arran. There you can find ice cream from the local dairy, Arran Dunlop cheese, and original Arran Mustard. Arran Mustard is horseradish based and chock full of whole mustard seeds.

And now for a rundown of some of the places I ate:

Deacon's Cafe - Edinburgh - Royal Mile - Named after Deacon Brodie
Ruby Seven - Ayr - Cantonese - Three course meal
Bamboo Garden - Bonnybridge - Serves sweet and sour chicken with sliced almonds in the batter
Lock Inn - Fort Augustus - Gaelic country, near Loch Ness, internet access
Lauder's - Glasgow - Sauchiehall - Decorated with Harry Lauder memorabilia
The Filling Station - Stirling and elsewhere - American food and decor
Castle Arms - Edinburgh - near Royal Mile - Great food and dining area options
Underwood Lockhouse - Bonnybridge - Recently opened Indian restaurant in former canal lockhouse