An Lochan Tormaukin

The McKie family has done it again. Their little empire started in 1997 when they turned the Royal Hotel at Tighnabruaich into a beacon of good taste & fine cooking. Then they opened a stand-alone restaurant in Glasgow in 2004, & early in 2007 this latest venture, the Tormaukin in bonny Glen Devon (all three premises now coming under the An Lochan brand). A long-established & pleasant roadside inn, the Tormaukin has been given a sympathetic modern makeover & if you can tell the class of a kitchen by its vegetarian offering then the simple linguini with pesto & roast tomatoes – fresh, with loads of flavour – speaks volumes. Otherwise, three courses might bring a great seafood chowder to start, slow-roasted pork belly with celeriac mash & roast apple for mains, & lemon posset with figs & shortbread for dessert. Easy to reach from both Glasgow & Edinburgh, Tormaukin nevertheless feels like a bit of a hideaway out in the Ochil Hills.