We headed to the City to test the food on offer in the restaurant’s private dining room and try the whisky bar’s virtual shooting range
For the longest time, treating your staff to a nice meal in a decent restaurant, providing an abundance of wine at the table and then sticking the company card behind the bar at the nearest pub was an accepted way to do the office end-of-year party.
Those days are gone. Now, the
Christmas party has to be peppered with ‘an experience’ or be made ‘immersive’ somehow. This can in many ways alienate a lot of finer restaurant establishments, who are missing that interactive element as part of the offering.
But not at Mac & Wild’s
City outpost. The
PDR, which seats up to 22 people, transports you to a Scottish Highland shooting lodge – think robust wooden furniture, antlers and pine trees. From £60pp you can choose from a range of different menus, which all aim to highlight the best of Scottish produce.
We tasted the ‘Deer and Dive’ (Scotland’s take on a surf n’ turf) – a big slab of grilled venison fillet with a whole butter-poached Cromarty lobster (to share between two). The meat was tender, cooked just rare and simply seasoned with a generous amount of sea salt flakes – delicious.
With this, you also get a choice of two sides and we couldn’t resist the renowned truffle mac & cheese, which thankfully lived up to the expectation: creamy béchamel sauce with the right amount of cheddar to make it gooey, and that earthy hint of truffle. Don’t leave without trying it.
Although we were also eying up the haggis mac & cheese side, we had already had the haggis pops (these plentiful deep-fried haggis nuggets are an absolute must-try), and the venison Scotch egg (runny yolk and rich, flavoursome mince) to start.
Also, we couldn’t visit Mac & Wild without ordering the award-winning Veni-Moo burger. Fair to say, there was enough food to feed an army. Scottish hospitality infused both the service (friendly) and the portions (huge).
The shooting range experience is available for up to 60 people for exclusive hire (or 15 for one lane – there are three). From £600 per hour, you can use replica rifles to shoot wild boar, bears and an array of birds on the virtual screen. You can also look the part with tweeds, hats and vintage Barbour gilets up for grabs – fun.
Each lane comes with sofas for you to cheer your colleagues on from while enjoying whisky cocktails and bar snacks. People that are into their whisky as much as their shooting will be especially happy here.
But there is still a place for pacifists and those who don’t necessarily call them sells whisky lovers. In an effort to make the spirit more approachable and fun, Mac & Wild has teamed up with whisky specialist Blair Bowman.
The result? Tasty cocktails that will lure even the harshest critics for a sip. We especially enjoyed The Forager, which came served with a burning pine needle, providing plenty of smoky flavour.
So jump on the immersive wave and consider Mac & Wild for your
Christmas party this year. Just remember to stick the company card behind the bar for a whopping time.