Lochend Farm Shop: Great grub on the farm

Jul 11 2008 by Lady Who Lunches

IT’S great to get off the beaten track once in a while and that’s exactly what we did on our way back from hitting the sales in Edinburgh.

Rather than sticking to mundane motorway and two-lane tarmac tedium all the way back, my chum Jools and I – on our way back from an early morning raid on Jenners’ sale – turned off just south of Kinross to take a scenic route around Loch Leven.

It is always satisfying to find hidden treasure and, just as tummies were rumbling, our ‘off piste’ adventure brought us to a homely haven in the Kinross-shire countryside serving up first-class fodder.

Across Scotland, farm shops have been undergoing a quiet evolution transforming from shabby-chic, fall-down shacks selling fresh veg, right up to dynamic rural super-shops offering everything from apple air-freshener to wasabi paste.

It is with a dip of disappointment you stumble across a ‘farm shop’ with not so much as a sniff of farmhouse loaf about the place.

But at Lochend Farm shop there is no such fear. Open for just about two years, the family-run farm diversification delivers exactly what you expect a shop on a farm to do.

However first things first. There was the appetite worked up gallantly fighting sale fever in the capital to deal with.

At Lochend the range of food on offer in the coffee shop oozes homely appeal, as do the surroundings.

There is the cosy feeling of settling down in a farmhouse kitchen, just what was needed after an energetic trek scaling Jenners’ six floors – alternatively the nearby Lomond Hills or Loch Leven’s trail if sustenance is required after a stint in the great outdoors.

I went for a simple baked potato with cheese and side salad. When it arrived it was a showcase of generous potato, plenty of salad, creamy coleslaw and a mountain of melting cheese.

Jools opted for soup and a sandwich; a bowl of broccoli (good sign – saw some on sale outside) and chicken soup with salmon and cream cheese on a tasty, and deliciously soft, organic baguette.

And with the memory long gone of those ‘I’ll slim into it’ bargains we picked up; to sweetly round off proceedings I tackled a slab of almond cake and Jools picked out a fruit scone, so freshly made we thought Annie from Emmerdale had reincarnated in the kitchen.

To work off our indulgences we took a wander around the farm shop showcasing the pride of Perth and Kinross produce. Everything from locally-made chutneys and honey to Aberfeldy oatmeal.

I picked up some carrots and potatoes the way they are meant to be – so fresh from the field they’re still wearing their earthy coats. And left with some home-produced steaks for dinner in an attempt to sweeten-up Other Half before he saw the damage my earlier Edinburgh exploits had done to the credit card bill.

It worked a treat.

“Best beef I’ve had in ages,” he claimed, adding hope to my plan for a return trip to Edinburgh before all Harvey Nichols’ sale bargains are snapped up.