Sandbar Burns Afternoon

January 27, 2016 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Sandbar Burns Afternoon

Wow, what a trip! Lou and I have just spent the past two weeks on the beaches of Goa, hanging out with hippies, wearing nothing more than a tie dyed loin cloth, with the breeze flowing through our dread locked hair, getting really spiritual man! Ok, well not exactly; yes we were in Goa, but not hanging with the hippies, oh no, we where eating our way round Goa. I soon discovered 3 meals a day is not enough, there is just so much great food to be had. Believe me, if you’ve never been to Goa, and you like seafood, you need to get your ass over there, its seafood Nirvana. The curries, tandoori fish and huge prawns are some of the best I have EVER tasted. Super fresh and whats even better, super cheap. For lunch you can get a South Indian speciality, a fish Thali. Basically a platter of small fish and shellfish dishes for 160 rupees; to put that in to perspective, there are 98 rupees to the pound. It’s a foodies paradise, I was like a pig in shi.. well you get the picture!

But hey, back to old blighty, and back to the reality of forking out a lot more for a pint of beer! But, as Ol blues eyes said, it nice to go travelling but its so much nicer to come home! As soon as Lou and I got home, some friends of ours invited us along to the Sandbar Burns afternoon. They’ve been to this event on previous years and always come away raving about how wonderful it is. It’s fast becoming an annual Sunday afternoon tradition. Sounds like this could be fun! Take Monday off work, they advised. Mmm this is beginning to sound like the afternoon will go on well in to the evening. So, heeding these words of wisdom, Lou and I booked Monday off, and decided we would join this rowdy bunch for an afternoon of Haggis, fun and frolics. Oh and maybe a whisky or two, this could get messy!

Haggis; not everyones cup of tea I agree. I think most people get a little put off by the ingredients. A sheep’s stomach filled with minced sheep’s pluck; pluck? Hearts, liver and lungs to you and me. What’s not to like there! Oh, but come on people, I am sure we have all eaten far worse, possibly late on a Saturday night after a few cold ones, don’t we all get attracted to the twinkling lights of the local kebab joint. I dread to think what goes in to those. At least with Haggis we are all fully aware of its contents. Haggis tastes great (saying that so does a kebab!), all that offaly goodness mixed with herbs and spices, its good eating. I visited Edinburgh last year, and I managed to eat this Scottish delight for breakfast lunch and dinner! You can even get haggis in the chip shop, but lets not forget that other Scottish staple; the legendary deep fried Mars bar! Yep, I tried one of those also; it wasn’t too bad at all! I just love how the Scots celebrate Haggis. Countries and regions all over the world hold celebrations for their local cuisine. Cassoulet in the Languedoc, Wieners in Munich, Fete de la Crepe in Brittany, I could go on. These celebrations are something us English have never really grasped. Just think, we could hold a cockle and eel festival in Old Leigh, how wonderful would that be!

Anyway back to our Burns afternoon. First off the price. I know I normally end with the price, but if the afternoon was going to be full of wine and whisky I doubt I could be relied on to recall the exact figure! This special Burns afternoon menu was £22 for three courses, now that my friends is a bargain. Ok, we’ve still got booze to add to that, but even so, great value I thought! The menu looked good, and with a real Scottish feel. How does Cullen Skink or Dunsyre Lanarkshire blue cheese tart take your fancy? Or how about Scottish Jacobs Ladder for mains? Which is a tasty short rib of beef. As you’d expect at the Sandbar, they even had two great sounding fish dishes. Monkfish Cheek in herb butter with a mussel and clam garlic broth, or smoked cod fillet with fried cabbage and onions with a brown shrimp butter. In addition to all of that, each dish is served with haggis neeps and tatties! Jeez, they’re not holding back here, and remember £22!!

The whole restaurant was packed, with a real buzz about the place, and tartan as far as the eye could see! From this wonderful sounding menu I opted for the potted brown shrimps and smoked mackerel to start, followed by the Scottish Jacobs ladder. For pud, it just had to be the isle of mull cheddar with oatcakes. The starter was tasty, simply spread on some fresh bread I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lou went for the Dunsyre Lanarkshire blue cheese tart. I managed to pinch a taste, and it was incredibly rich and cheesy, just as a good cheese tart should be.

So, the main event was here; this is where the real theatre begins! The haggis was ceremoniously piped in to the room, together with a recital of the classic Rabbie Burns ode to the haggis. I'm no Scotsman, but if I were, this would've made me proud to be Scottish! The bagpipes continued to be played when our main courses were bought to the table, and not forgetting a plate of haggis neeps and tatties. The Jacobs Ladder short rib beef had been cooked ‘Low and Slow’ it just fell apart, very tasty indeed. Our whole table of 10 had ordered exactly the same, and nobody was disappointed. The haggis was just as I’d expected, herby, meaty and peppery, delicious! My only criticism here would be the amount of food, there was too much! Ok, I shouldn’t moan about having too much, as it was all delicious. But, a large main course with a side of haggis neeps and tatties, it was a tad OTT. Maybe just a plate of Haggis and the trimmings would have been enough. Oh but come of Richard, get a grip, since when is having too much food a bad thing! It was all very tasty! So to finish, the cheese and oatcakes, with a glass of port it was the perfect ending, and by this time we had polished of one or two bottles of wine! Gosh, the sun had gone down, we’d spent the whole afternoon in the Sand Bar, I was glad I followed those words of wisdom ‘take Monday off work!!’ Just looking around the restaurant I reckon most of the diners wouldn’t be working too hard on Monday morning!!

Well, what a great afternoon / early evening. Im pretty sure most of us are more than familiar with the great food that is to be had at the Sand Bar, and not forgetting the great value and service. But, this burns afternoon has made me realise these guys know how to put on a great special event too; everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, even the staff. Lou even managed to stroke the piper’s sporran!! I know it’s a little way off, but note it in your diaries for next year, the Sandbar Burns afternoon. Im definitely going back, and I’ll see you all there for a wee dram or two!!