Yesterday morning Lorna had a hankering for adventure, and fancied a bit of big city buzz. Since London was too far away for a day trip, and Edinburgh and Glasgow a bit further than she wanted to drive, she plumped for Dundee.

She’d heard of a hotel near the city centre that served weekday lunches in its rather swanky-looking bar, and the building had some architectural interest, being the site of an old jute mill. The mill had opened in 1822, and the modern bar had been given the name ‘Eighteen22’ as a nod to its history.

We arrived after a circuitous journey which included a long diversion for a very short piece of closed road in the city. The diversion signs seemed to be taking us further and further away from our destination, but the car’s navigation system came up with an alternative route, which very satisfyingly took us where we wanted to go.

There was a little light rain when we arrived at Hotel Indigo.

Inside, the lobby was comfortably laid out in a minimalist style, with artwork on the walls relating to the building’s past.

We walked through this area to the bar, which was empty, with no sign of any staff.

Having checked with the receptionist that lunches were indeed being served in the bar, we chose a seat, sat down and got settled for our meal. I removed my jacket, put on my bib, and waited for someone to appear.

After a while, Lorna peered over the bar to see if there was anybody about, but all was silent. She went back to the lobby and explained to the receptionist that there were no staff in the bar. The receptionist left her desk and went on the hunt for the barman. She said he would be about somewhere, but after a while of searching she came back and told us he had vanished. We sat there a little longer, and eventually decided we should go elsewhere for our lunch as it was getting close to 14:00 by this time. The receptionist was very apologetic, so we left on a pleasant enough note.

Lorna remembered another Dundee hotel she had once had a meal in when I was in hospital, and we decided to go there instead. She couldn’t remember the name of it but she knew it was near the Botanic Gardens, so we went off in search of it. We found it, got parked, and got ourselves out of the car. We had seen diners through the restaurant window as we drove into the parking area, so we felt pretty confident of obtaining a meal there.

Once inside the warm and welcoming lobby, Lorna spoke to the receptionist, who informed us that we were too late for lunch as they stopped serving at 13:45.

Back we went to the car, and wondered what to do next. The Scottish Antiques and Arts Centre was a 15 minute drive away, and we knew it served food all day. It happens to be one of our favourite lunch spots, so we were happy with the idea of going there.

As we were driving along the busy A90, Lorna accidentally turned off the road one junction too early and we found ourselves in the village of Inchture. That was no problem as we could simply drive through it, re-join the main road and come off at the correct junction. As we drove along the main street, Lorna remembered that there was a hotel in the village, and she was interested to investigate it. Moments later we came upon it, parked outside, and Lorna popped in to ask if they were still serving lunches. She reappeared from the hotel entrance with her thumbs up, and out I got.

Meals were served in a restaurant called The Priory, built onto the side of the original hotel building. There was a ramped entrance I could use with my rollator, and we were warmly welcomed by a helpful waitress who showed us to a table near the window. We settled ourselves in, very glad to have found a lunch spot at last.

They had quite an extensive menu, and I opted for a small portion of battered haddock with chips and peas.

Lorna chose the grilled goat’s cheese and roasted beetroot salad, which came with a little bucket of chips.

We both very much enjoyed our meals in The Priory. Despite the late hour, there were quite a few other diners in the restaurant, and the atmosphere was warm and convivial.

The day had not worked out as planned, but we felt pleased with ourselves for having an adventure, particularly as it had ended in a tasty and satisfying lunch.