Previous experience on two separate days taught me that you book the Lochside Venachar if you want to eat there at the weekend. So I did, and the next day we drove up to Loch Venachar, dowsed ourselves in iced loch water (for the Ice Bucket Challenge) before parking up and running for the warmth.
Funnily enough it was busy but not rammed this time, and there was parking easily available, so I guess the moral is book if it's UK school summer holiday time, otherwise you might get away with it. Lochside Venachar has a café overlooking the loch of the same name in the Trossachs. Next to it is a boat and fishing hire place if you fancy a wee sail. The café is small but bright with huge windows and a sun terrace onto the loch.
The menu is very much a restaurant menu, with fish being the speciality. I went for the scallops to start and the chicken for a main. The food came quickly, and I would say the scallops were pretty damn good. Nicely seared, professionally presented, and with accompaniments that complimented the dish really well. I expected I would be less keen on the chicken and I was right. Again it came beautifully presented with well-cooked accompanying veg, but the chicken was just ever-so-slightly dry and the dish didn't wow me. To be honest it was almost a five but that fact and the front-of-house not collecting my payment make it a high four. read more
