Scottish Arms of this year

Last weekend, while enjoying some pleasant conversation with Chef John Johnson and his wonderful wife, Maria, my wife and I tried to push some of the great selection of foods upon the two of them.  This really gives me an idea of how busy a chef can get if he has been in St. Louis for a few years and had not gotten the chance to eat at some of these better locations.  I always get happy, like a 4 year old boy who sticks his hands into paint for finger painting, the look and happiness in my eyes at sharing and recommending some food items which I love, to someone whom I know will appreciate them as much or if not more.

What I also like, as does he, is when I go places I enjoy ordering small plates and getting a feel for the flavor of a place as much as I can.  Ordering a dish or two at a restaurant gives you an idea how they do with those two dishes, but ordering 3 or more, gives you a better idea.  So, with the Chef and his wife, my wife and I tried to make some good selections and choices and here is what we did:

(First off, I want to preface this, Chef John enjoyed the food, I didn't ask nor demand what his thoughts were on the food.  It looked as if he did enjoy what was in front of him.  I do enjoy food when I eat it.  If I don't like it, I won't eat it.  When I think of things to write about it, I try to describe it in the most accurate way I can which matches what I experience.)

I will say this, sometime within the past year, the Scottish Arms has turned into more of a European Arms restaurant than just a Scottish one.  Items on the menu involving sausages, baguettes and even Italian cheeses suggest that the newer international items are there to help round out the menu.

The first thing we had ordered, was called the Highland Gathering and consists of 1 scotch egg, 2 haggis fritters, Scottish smoked salmon, 2 sausage rolls.  The scotch eggs are my favorite, with sausage and breading over a hard boiled egg, the haggis fritters are little pastry puff items with ground lamb, liver, oats, spices inside, the smoked salmon was cut slices of salmon and the sausage rolls reminded me of fancy pizza rolls.  All were delicious.  I give this sampler platter a 4 out of 5, meaning that I would order it some time for myself.

We did also get the Meat Plank, which was "spiced mixed nuts, house pickled vegetables, dried fruits, aged Irish cheddar, volpi sopressata, finocchiona salame, sopress da veneto salame".  This was a nice selection of all sorts of things and the salamis and sausages were very tasty.  I'd give it a 3 out of 5, meaning that it was good but I wouldn't eat everything on it myself.

Another item we ordered was the Currywurst Sliders, which were a homemade sausage cut in half and placed on a small hamburger bun with some onions and a curry-ketchup sauce.  I thought that these were great.  I didn't have as much trouble as some with the casing still on the sausage, as mine was tender enough for me to bite through.  The flavor of the sausage was great and a bit different but still very tasty.  The sauce was very good at playing with the sausage flavor and the onions.  The fries were cut fresh as well and cooked perfectly so there wasn't an issue where one was too crispy on the outside and one was mushy on the inside.  I'd give this one a 3 &1/2 out of 5 because it was good but I'd have to think about how I was feeling as to if I wanted them or not.

So, if you are in the area, check out Scottish Arms.  They still have a great selection of beers, whiskeys and all sorts of good stuff.