Last Sunday dawned grey and wet, but it felt like a day for adventure. A relatively new 5 star hotel, the Gleneagles Townhouse in Edinburgh, seemed to be calling us, and we heeded the call.

Following a five year renovation, Gleneagles Townhouse opened as a hotel in 2022, the building having previously been owned and inhabited by the Bank of Scotland. The property was originally built as a mansion house in 1781, for the 8th Earl of Dalhousie and his wife, the Countess. Following the Countess’s death in 1807, their only son, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie, sold the property to the British Linen Company (a precursor to the Bank of Scotland) for £5,000.

Some years later, in the 1840s, a grand banking hall was created inside the building, which now houses The Spence restaurant. The exterior was also redesigned, and Corinthian columns with large statues atop them were added to the front of the building.

We learned all this about the property’s history from a helpful leaflet given to us by our waitress. Lorna remembers going into the building many years ago when it was a Bank of Scotland branch, and being very impressed by the interior. The hotel has kept the original architectural details, which makes for a magnificent setting in which to dine.

We hadn’t realised when booking a table by phone on Sunday morning that on Sunday lunchtimes the restaurant serves a set 2 or 3 course menu, rather than the usual a la carte. Lorna came to sit beside me on my bench seat to discuss the menu, and a kind waitress offered to move two tables together so that we could sit next to each other at a table for four, rather than opposite each other at a table for two. We were happy with this arrangement, and quite surprised by the suggestion since the restaurant was busy.

Having a small appetite, I chose my two courses from the starters and desserts, while Lorna opted for a main course and a dessert. My starter was onion soup, which came in a large-rimmed bowl, as a pale lump of something or other sitting by itself in the dish. The waitress then poured hot brown liquid over it to create the soup. It was the most peculiar soup I’ve ever seen, but it tasted very good. It was served with a small block of toast smothered in melted cheese and topped with grated black truffle and edible flowers.

Lorna opted for the vegetarian Sunday roast alternative, a vegetable pithivier with large Yorkshire pudding, a jug of gravy and a dish of roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots and cabbage. The pithivier was stuffed with a mixture of vegetables and vegetarian haggis, and she was very pleased with it.

We both chose the same pudding, apple crumble, but I asked for ice cream rather than custard. Lorna was delighted when my dessert came with a jug of custard as well as a blob of ice cream, because it meant she got twice the usual amount of custard. In her opinion two jugs of custard was the right amount to go with the crumble. As with our savouries, we both greatly enjoyed the dessert, and rounded our meal off with excellent decaf Americanos.

We spent about three hours in the hotel, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant and the interesting mixture of dining parties. There were several tables of family groups, some with babies and young children, and smaller groups of adults sipping cocktails. A lady at a table near us was brought a small cake with a candle in it by her waitress, presumably to mark her birthday.

We made our way home through a notable selection of weather conditions, including bright sunshine, torrential rain and strong winds. I dozed for part of the journey, but thankfully Lorna stayed awake at the wheel. It had been an unusually long day out for us, but a most enjoyable one that exceeded all expectations.