While you might not be able to sit in for a full table-service dinner at Aran Bakery, we thought it deserved a place on our list of favourite places to grab a bite in Scotland anyway. You see, the thing is, it serves up the most amazing artisan bakery goods, and we’re not too proud to say we love beige food.
With the shop window and inside shelves piled high with treats, you’d be hard pressed to walk by this little slice of heaven found in the countryside of Highland Perthshire. The Scandi-Scot interiors almost beg to be Instagramed, and the outside is just as pretty, with a regularly rotating floral arrangement strung up over the door.
Sourcing is at the heart of what the Aran team do, with the ingredients for their creations coming from as close by as possible. Oats are milled just down the road, while free range neighbouring chickens provide eggs from just two miles away (we’re assuming the chooks have a little hand with delivering them).
Here you can buy sell-out products like sourdough baguettes, coffee and cardamom cake or chocolate and pecan tartlets. If you’d prefer to sit in there are a few bench seats at which you can grab a coffee and something from the simple breakfast and lunch menu. Sandwiches might include fillings such as hot smoked trout with apple and beetroot or a classic bacon bap, while sticking to savouries you prefer to indulge in a homemade sausage roll or a tomato, chorizo and roast pepper flatbread.
Service is always fun and friendly, which must – we think – trickle down from the owner Flora Shedden who you might recognise from the Great British Bake Off in 2015 when she became a semi-finalist. We’re pleased to report not a soggy bottom was found upon inspection of Aran Bakery.