Restaurant review: River House, Stirling

Location

River House has a unique location, sitting in the middle of a pond at the foot of Stirling Castle. Views from the restaurant go out towards Callander and the Highlands to the north and the castle and Ochils to the east.

First impressions

Very luxe, with a packed restaurant a clear sign of an excellent reputation.

Service

The restaurant is always well-staffed and that means service is pretty much unrivalled. Staff are attentive, warm, friendly and discreet. Superb all round.

Menu

The menu is large, which can at times be a sign of a restaurant not knowing what its market is. Not here.

The food ranges from Asian-inspired to locally sourced classics and everything is made to the very highest standards. I struggled to choose because I wanted everything.

Taste

We had the crispy chicken bao buns, an Asian-inspired dish of breaded chicken with traditional crunchy vegetables and a chilli dip sauce.

The bao buns were light and fluffy, not unlike a sweet bread you might get in Chinese cuisine. They were delicious, while the chicken and vegetables were perfectly cooked and tasty.

We also ordered the Katsu chicken, Asian shredded vegetables, katsu sauce, basmati rice. It was excellent and packed with flavour.

Ambience

The restaurant looks amazing, I can imagine it is a favourite with the Instagram scene. Inside, it was packed, with a lovely hubbub of chatter adding to the vibe.

Price

Very reasonable. The River House is aimed at a more high end market but it is not overly expensive. Two courses with soft drinks came in below £60.

P.S. Bao Buns (pronounced bow) are steamed warm, sweet, fluffy buns used to fill with meat or vegetables, a bit like a tortilla.