Christmas at The Globe Inn: festive fine dining without a turkey in sight

Festive dining at The Globe Inn is something special. Forget cliched Christmas dinners – you won’t find turkey on the menu. However, dining at this iconic Dumfries eatery is certainly not short on cosy Christmas character and cheer.

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Visit The Globe Inn over Christmas and New Year and you’re in for a treat. In fact, it might just be the highlight of your festive season.

Steeped in history and intimately intertwined with Robert Burns, that alone makes it an intriguing place to visit.

However, add in the exceptional food and dedication of the team to make your visit an unforgettable experience, and you have the perfect venue for festive gatherings with family, friends and colleagues.

Michelin level a la carte and set menus

Having built an impressive reputation for Michelin level food, who better to speak to about Christmas at The Globe Inn than head chef, Fraser Cameron.

A chef with two-Michelin star experience, Fraser explained that while you won’t find a turkey dinner on the menu, you will find bags of Christmas cheer and great festive events within the historic fine dining restaurant.

Fraser said: “We don’t run a traditional Christmas menu as such. We keep to our own offering of an a la carte menu and our eight-course Degustation tasting menu. However, there will definitely be hints of the festive period in there, and much of that is due to the seasonality of ingredients and produce.

© Supplied by The Globe Inn Dumfri

“Also, for the very first time, we’re offering a special little set menu that gives a choice of two starters, two mains and two desserts. It’s available for groups of eight or more, so it’s ideal if anyone wants to bring their family, friends or colleagues for a festive treat.”

Fraser added: “But Christmas or not, as always, what we really focus on is letting the food and wine speak for themselves. We use really, really, high-quality ingredients that are local to us – as a chef I don’t think I could ask for anything better.”

A focus on seasonal local produce

So, what can diners look forward to over the festive period? Fraser talked us through some highlights: “We’ll have our filet of beef dish, also Millbank venison, and we’ll have beef cheeks and roasted coley too.

“There’ll be salmon ravioli on the menu as well. The team make the pasta dough each morning, and we fill it every day to make the parcels for lunch and dinner.

“There’s some lovely cured salmon as well. We cure it in rice wine vinegar and lemon juice, then coat it in beetroot juice so it gets a really nice red rim round it. It has a sea buckthorn and maple sauce too which is pretty tasty!”

And it’s safe to say when a chef of Fraser’s calibre describes something as ‘pretty tasty’, it’s going to be good.

The unique Burns Table dining experience

© Supplied by The Globe Inn Dumfri

If you are looking for a unique festive event for a gathering of four people, then there’s the one-of-a-kind Burns Table. It is available throughout the year, however, at Christmastime it makes an especially indulgent treat.

“You sit at the actual table and chairs that Robert Burns sat at,” explains Fraser, “it’s the only experience of its kind in the world.

“For the Burns Table, we create a special 10 course menu with matched drinks. Every menu is bespoke to each time we do this table making it really special.

“It’s a private dining experience in our Burns room, and it’s such an atmospheric room. You’ll be surrounded by artefacts and fascinating items. There’s entertainment and storytelling as well. It’s not just going out for dinner, it’s a full experience with a touch of theatre.”

Fraser joked: “You can do as Burns did and eat, drink, hold court and be merry!”

Despite an emphasis on fine dining, Fraser says the food at The Globe Inn is made to be enjoyed by everyone – a sentiment we’re sure Burns would appreciate. He explained: “In my eyes anyone can visit and enjoy what we do here.

“We have a strong ethos here where it doesn’t matter your walk of life or where you come from, as soon as you cross the threshold you’ll be treated like family and looked after.

“While you’re here we want you to forget about everything in the outside world and just focus on enjoying yourself.”

Hogmanay Gala Dinner

© Supplied by The Globe Inn Dumfri

Fraser says his favourite service of the year is Hogmanay, and The Globe Inn is the perfect place to celebrate it. Fraser told us more: “On New Years Eve we do a Hogmanay Gala Dinner.

“It’s a ticketed event with a special tasting menu. Everybody sits down for dinner at the same time and it’s always a fantastic night. There’s entertainment throughout the night, cocktails and champagne. It’s my favourite service of the whole year. It’s the chefs’ time to show off!

“The very first time we did a New Year service, completely by chance, at the bells all the guests, staff and chefs joined hands and sang Auld Lang Syne, and we’ve kept that tradition ever since. It’s a really lovely way to celebrate New Year.”

The Globe Inn is famous all over the world as Robert Burns’ ‘favourite howff’. But it is now becoming just as well known for the quality of its food and dining experience. However, you certainly don’t need to be a Burns aficionado to appreciate everything The Globe Inn offers.

Fraser finished by telling us: “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too interested in Burns when I was at school, but the longer I’ve been here the more fascinated I get!”

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Make this Christmas one to remember with The Globe Inn. Book dining for lunch or dinner, experience The Burns Table, or secure your ticket for the Hogmanay Gala Dinner.