Nautical but nice

Sunday Herald, The, Jan 23, 2000 by Alison Craig

In search of succour and warmth on a wet and windy day, ALISON CRAIG headed to the banks of the River Tay Place: The Ship InnAddress: 121 Fisher Street, Broughty FerryTelephone: 01382 779176Opening times: Mon-Fri Lunch 12-3pm, Dinner 5pm-10.30. Open all day Saturday and Sunday from 12pm-10.30 for food. Prices: Two courses #18.95, three courses #23.95 (evenings). Other information: No disabled access; no American Express.

DON'T bother getting your jaws wired together after severe over- indulgence during the festive period - just get the dreaded Millennium flu bug. It works a treat. Luckily mine didn't last too long and the second my appetite returned with a vengeance I headed off to Broughty Ferry one wet and windy Saturday to make up for lost time at The Ship Inn. Overlooking the silvery Tay it's an inspiring place. Open the door against the wind and you are enveloped within a warm cosy snug of a place as visitors to the place have been since 1800s. Today it consists of a bar on the ground floor and the main restaurant - all dark blue and nautical - on the floor above it. At mezzanine level there's The Cross, which on this particular day holds the overspill where we manage, only because we appear inconceivably early, to secure a table for lunch. The menu offers all things comforting as well as more exotic and imaginative dishes too and at #1.75 for home made chicken broth the cost is very reasonable. A plate of fresh brown bread and butter arrives as we read the extensive menu. There were three of us, one child, who shows no further interest in the childrens' menu as soon as he heard the words crab and melon cocktail. Suits me sir, it means I can taste it too - big chunks of honeydew together with mostly white crabmeat. A bit of a strange combination but surprsingly tasty. Fresh prawns in a lemon mayonaise for me, a generous portion of tasty but definitely previously frozen sea creatures arrived. My husband went for the deep- fried brie, two great hunks of hot, melting cheese which spilled out over the plate as the knife crunched through the breadcumbed exterior. Yum. Main courses offered smoked haddock stuffed with prawns in a herb cream sauce, lemon soul in a leek sauce or a 10 oz steak. It was a hard call but escalope of pork with bacon, chick peas and celery in a tomato sauce won my vote. Plump and bursting with goodness, the great flavour of the chick peas combined superbly with the salty bacon and thinly escaloped pork. With its great flavour, this dish was just the thing to keep off the cold east coast wind waiting for us outside. The other two shared a huge, deep-fried haddock, beautifully fresh, creamy white and well muscled with a thin delicate batter that melted in the mouth. The vegetables, however, were dull: broccoli, cauliflower and new potatoes served on a small side dish. My pudding - a lemon meringue pie - was straight out of Willy Wonka's pie factory, all dayglo yellow and bright white. It was too synthetic and reminiscent of school dinners for me, but the brandy snap basket packed with toffee ice cream and caramel sauce was a marvellous reminder that The Ship Inn had been a more than worthwhile choice.