Howgate

A birthday celebration over two months late! We’d intended eating out on our actual birthdays but never managed (only an icecream after S’s birthday swim in the cold sea at Coldingham) So today we had a delicious lunch in this old renovated horse/cow byre.
This unprepossessing place is well over 200 years old and originally would have been dwellings for farm workers before being used for breeding many prizewinning race horses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as Kerr’s Yard. Then it sheltered pigs, cows and cart horses until in the mid 60s when, after much renovation and upgrading, the buildings were used for making one of the first Scottish artisan cheeses. The various Howgate cheeses were renowned with a very successful milkbar and shop attached and then later the Langskaill restaurant. Since about 15 years ago it has become the warm and welcoming Howgate bistro and restaurant serving excellent food within its two foot thick walls. It was difficult to think that less then a hundred years ago it was cold and draughty with the cattle being served with draff from the McEwan's brewery while now not only McEwans products are on offer but also an extensive wine list and menu. Well worth a visit.