The celebration of Robert Burns began just a few short years after the poet’s death, when a few of his closest friends gathered to host a supper in his honour. This quickly grew to an annual event on Burns’ birthday, which is now celebrated by millions worldwide with traditional pipers, haggis, neeps, tatties and, of course, whisky.
If you’re looking to raise a toast, with a twist, to the Bard of Ayrshire this January, you could do worse then check out Quo Vadis. This annual linkup with Lee and Kate Tiernan of F.K.A.B.A.M on 23rd January promises an unorthodox menu (think haggis with clapshot and suckling pig with mapo tofu followed by yuzu and marmalade pudding) with Jeremy Lee’s famously enthusiastic addressing of the haggis. In honour of Quo Vadis’ 100th birthday year, Burns Night celebrations will be taking over all floors of the Dean Street club and restaurant.
Babur, in London’s Forest Hill, is renowned for bringing together the best of India’s cuisine, both modern and traditional. And its Burns Night offering is no exception, with a five-course tasting menu featuring rare and forgotten Indian recipes paired with Indian single malt whiskies, all accompanied by a soulful Nepalese bagpiper.
Edgbaston’s delightful Chapter is sticking to tradition with a piper, a reading of Selkirk Grace, the Address to a Haggis and a delicious three-course menu of scallops with Stornaway black pudding, dry-aged beef with haggis and all the trimmings (plus a wee dram) and rhubarb cranachan… all this and a live Celtic band for £70. Further north, the Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman’s Rest in Brampton, Northumberland, is also offering a tradition-forward evening of music, poetry, bagpipes and a four-course Scottish menu that includes Cullen skink soup and freshly prepared haggis… one muckle shindig indeed.
If Burns Night is a little too late for you, there’s always the Burns lunch menu on offer at John Dory in Sandgate, Kent. This locally beloved new-wave wine bar has teamed up with Scottish chef Clive Greenhalgh to create a £30 menu of sharing starters, including a delicious brandade of Cullen skink, followed by homemade haggis and cranachan. And the really early risers might want to swing by Dishoom for its limited-edition breakfast special of haggis pau, an Indo-Scottish creation of spiced pork haggis, fried eggs, bacon and honeyed chilli chutney in a toasted bun. Available at all Dishoom and Permit Room locations from 19th January-15th February, we can’t think of a better way to start the day.
And finally, here’s one to look out for next year: Stuart Ralston’s exceptional Edinburgh flagship Lyla has paired up with the Clove Club for an ultra-refined four hands dinner but tickets have been quickly snapped up. As Robert Burns said: ‘The best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley’.
