Lairhillock Inn and Sticky Toffee Pudding

Anyone who visits Aberdeen must put dinner at Lairhillock Inn on their itinerary. It’s an atmospheric cozy restaurant in the countryside serving authentic Scottish cuisine. I first ate there 5 years ago when visiting my parents, and I’d been hankering to take Jonathan there ever since we arrived. When our friend Ryan reminded me of just how good their sticky toffee pudding was, I broke down and made a reservation for last Friday. 

Since the day was warm by Scottish standards, I even got to wear a sweater dress without tights. I even shaved my legs and painted my toenails and everything. It definitely got me excited for a special date night with my honey.

The drive out to dinner was so beautiful that it made my heart hurt. Every time that we’re in the country, I have renter’s remorse about choosing a house in the city. I don’t like to be reminded of this by the astounding views just 3 miles outside of Aberdeen. I just have to keep repeating to myself: Jonathan gets to walk to work. Jonathan gets to walk to work. Jonathan gets to walk to work. Which is great for Jonathan, but honestly, for me it means waking up at 6:30 AM every morning to walk with him to work, which I really didn’t think through very well.

I’d much rather roll out of bed at 8 AM and have a coffee while overlooking rivers and hills. Sigh. That’s the thing about property in Aberdeen: you can’t go wrong, which unfortunately means you can’t go right either. You’ll never been 100% convinced that you made the right decision because all of your options are so appealing. I’m getting on a tangent, but suffice to say: my heart hurts a bit every time we visit the countryside.

When we arrived at Lairhillock, the restaurant was just as adorable as I remembered it. We were seated in a dark and cozy room with an enormous fireplace. Jonathan ordered meat pie and I had chicken stuffed with brie and sun dried tomatoes. It. was. so. good.  My stomach is growling just thinking about it.

Once we licked our plates clean, the waitress asked if we’d like to see a dessert menu. I told her there was no need-  bring out the Sticky Toffee Pudding please!

Sticky Toffee Pudding is probably the best food to ever come out of the UK. Better than deep fried Mars Bars. Better than Fish and Chips. Better than Lamb Stew or  Shepherd’s Pie. It’s one of those rare desserts that is absolutely worth every single calorie. I’d be perfectly content being morbidly obese as long as I got to eat Sticky Toffee Pudding for every meal. It’s that good. I’m talking Meche’s donuts good. Barnaby’s Sweet Potato fries good. Café Du Monde Beignets good.


I’ve thought about learning to make it myself, but I kind of don’t want to know what’s in it. Ignorance is bliss in the case of Sticky Toffee Pudding and for now I’ll stick to only ordering it on special date nights with my honey.  

Jonathan decided to forgo the traditional Scottish dessert and ordered Dark Chocolate Mousse instead, figuring that I’d at least give him a bite of my pudding snack. He was wrong.

Worth every. single. calorie.