Toby G.
Yelp
The Oak tree inn is a quick forty minute drive from my flat (West end) but it feels like it's a million miles away. Set on the eastern side of Loch Lomond, in the picturesque village of Balmaha, this place is a wee gem.
On a day out for a drive around Loch Lomond and beyond we stumbled across the Oak Tree Inn as we had stopped in the car park adjacent for a break and and decided all of a sudden we were hungry.
We arrived just after twelve and the main restaurant was heaving, so we walked through to the conservatory part, which we were glad we did as we got to sit right next to the huge windows and could see over the loch and woodlands.
Beautiful views of the Loch in fact, close to Conic Hill - good for a walking to, we were told (yawn)
Inside is kitsch meets twee meets godknowswhat; china cups and plates and saucers on the walls and fairy lights on the ceiling, you certainly never get bored looking around waiting for your grub.
Both being vegetarians it didn't really take us long to look over the menu, not an abundance of veggie options. The menu won't blow you away at first, it's pretty much staple looking pub grub. But never judge a book by it's cover and all that cliched nonsense, because It was a step above that.
Starters came out rapid style, beautifully presented, pear and stilton pate for myself served in a wee ramekin with sides of oatcakes, toasts, chutneys and salad. She got mushrooms on toast which I regretted trying as they were amazing and I wanted them; creamy, garlicky on sourdough griddled toast.
For my main I went for Macaroni cheese with no bacon served with garlic bread. In retrospect probably not the best idea as I had a cheese starter. I can't remember what other main was ordered which is strange, for when it comes to food I usually have an eidetic memory.
When my main came out it had bacon on it, this was rectified pretty quickly and apologies all round from two separate waitresses. When the server brought me my new food she went a bit mental and kind of ran towards me with my new dish. You know that bit in the trailer for Annable? (or if you've unfortunately like myself seen the whole film) when she runs through the door like a deranged mental patient. Was EXACTLY like that.
The macaroni was ok, nothing to write home about, the pasta a little over cooked and the cheese maybe not the highest quality. But again presented beautifully and because I'm a macaroni snob I was maybe overly critical
Next time I'm going to go for the pizza, it looked great. A group came in right after us and ordered three pizzas, and they looked smashin' - I had pizza envy, which I think I've never said in Scotland before!
On the way out I also noticed they serve a ploughman's lunch, which is a favourite of mine and will be sure to try.
The place was buzzing when we left and looked like it be fun to sit and have a drink while looking over the loch, can imagine in the summer it would be bouncing.
For all you internet lovers, the signal there is really poor, which I'm starting to see as a blessing on occasions, I think they have free wifi but we didn't test it.
The Oak tree inn is literally a stone's throw from the loch, which we sauntered down to, to feed the (evil) ducks and swans, it's good that's it's close as I could barely move due to the twelve ton of cheese I had just consumed.
So, three stars for now, just because the macaroni wasn't great, but I loved the place in general and I'll be back soon to do an updated review and I'm positive they'll be another star to add.
They also have a great selection of beer and cider, all local from the Balmaha Brewing Co, owned by them.
Never got the chance to partake as I was driving, but next time for sure.