After starting in Edinburgh and making our way past Loch Lomond and Luss, we arrived at our destination for the evening, Oban. While I had read that Oban was quite touristy, we really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the town.
Of course, since we were on a private whiskey tour, the first stop was Oban Distillery.
Just to let you know how relaxed Oban was; check out the pooch sleeping belly up in the window across the busy parking lot of the distillery.
Sean guided us in and got us on our tour.
Our guide was a hoot…..with a great sense of humor. He went over the five major Scottish Regions that make Scotch Whiskey and then the Flavour Map.
And then we were off into how Oban makes their whiskey. I won't go into that detail, but you can find a good outline here. Scotch Whiskey uses copper stills. We were told that the copper binds with the sulphurs released during the fermentation process. Thus the liquid produced has a cleaner taste. We were also told during our tours that each distillery has its own design for pot stills.
As for Oban….you gotta love our guide, who photobombed me when I wanted to take a photo of the stills.
At the end we had a sampling. The Missus prefers a more peaty-smoky Scotch; the versions here had a nice bit of almost citrusy-fruitiness to it.
This was a fun first stop for us!
Oban Distillery
Stafford St
Oban PA34 5NH, Scotland, United Kingdom
After freshening up at our hotel we set out to explore a bit and then find some dinner.
Oban was a charming town and we enjoyed the views.
We saw an interesting church from the harbor and decided to walk on over to the Northern side of town past the main road to check out Saint Columba's Cathedral.
If you're interested, here's some good info on the Cathedral.
We then headed back into the city. We went thru a more residential neighborhood before getting to Dunollie Road.
Which turned into George Street where I had a place on my list named Coast Restaurant, which seemed to have the type of menu we enjoyed so we headed on over. It was exactly at opening time; 530pm so we easily got a table.
The service was warm and welcoming; typical of all the service we had in Scotland.
The Missus started with some wine. I got a Isle of Jura 10 Year Single Malt.
The menu itself was divided into two parts; the Light Bite menu, where you could even have some of the starters as mains, and the A La Carte menu. We chose items from both to make out dinner.
The Missus wanted to try the mussels, so we ordered that off the Light Bites menu as a main (£15).
I believe mentioning how amazing the seafood was in Scotland and this was no exception. Sweet, tender, not a gritty bite found anywhere. This was so good.
We also got the Crab Pot (£9.5).
Wonderfully sweet and briny crab claw meat, with a refreshing, if a bit too sweet creme fresh, we enjoyed the baby chard and arugula which helped develop a textural contrast and add earthiness to the dish.
And also the starter of "Hand Dived Scallops" – £10.95.
So sweet, tender, perfectly rare in the center. The smoked bacon added another layer of flavor and smokiness. The tempura samphire tasted like asparagus. This was quite good…and look Black Radish, more than one scallop for almost half the price!
This was a nice dinner. We'd gladly eat here again.
Coast Restaurant
104 George St.
Oban PA34 5NT, Scotland, United Kingdom
After dinner we went for our usual stroll.
There's something about the pace of life here that really made one relax.
Though many places seemed to close early. Folks would pass us on the street and greet us.
We returned to our room and settled in. Tomorrow would be quite a day as we'd be taking the ferry to Islay and visit not one, but three distilleries.
Thanks for stopping by!
The fish was perfectly marinated, with just the right amount of toothsomeness. The marinade was nicely balanced; with a good balance of sour to salt. Enjoyed the ripe avocado which added a slightly creamy texture and a mild buttery-nuttiness to the dish.
Except for the packets of Kikkoman Shoyu, definitely a Covid thing, this pretty much looked the same as what I recalled. I enjoyed the miso soup, nice beany-nutty flavor….I really liked it. Perhaps I've been having too many watered down versions recently. The Japanese potato salad and the pickles were decent. But the agedashi tofu's battery was strangely rubbery.
Things looked pretty much the same with no large notices or signs. Until I took a look at the note on the door.
Since we had already visited 
According to this 
As before the tortillas were up to the task though not outstanding. The pulpo was on the tougher end of things and we thought more citrus/sour tones were needed as well. We enjoyed the lemony-peppery-slightly anise tones of the epazote.
There's a Cervantes Festival in Guanajuato. And the 
From the center of town we made our way Northwest, past Mercado Hidalgo, then up the one of the hills that surround the town. Right past the Mummy Museum is Panteón Municipal Santa Paula, the cemetery.
Con Pane has two distinct lines; one for ordering food and café items. The other for bread and pastry only. As you can tell, I go first thing in the morning when they open. I'll often park all the way down by Trader Joe's and get a couple of extra steps in, while shopping at both places.
While still a bit on the chewy side, when toasted it achieves a nice crispness, with good sour-tangy tones which doesn't overwhelm the yeastiness of the bread.
There were a couple of folks working on their laptops….when things slowed down a bit I got a chance to chat with Noel. I got my cold brew….Noel knows exactly how I take it.
I've been back a couple of time and all the folks working are friendly. One of Noel's coworkers went to Sacred Hearts Academy "back home"…in my 
It was somewhat divey, the bartender was super friendly, the decor was quirky and eclectic. The music was what I often call the Unites States' greatest export…rock 'n roll.
La Clave Azul
We walked down one of the side streets and came to a point where two buildings were a mere two feet apart. This was the scene of a tragic, "Romeo and Juliette" story. Thus giving the spot the name "Callejón del Beso" (Alley of the Kiss). To 
Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was that this was a product of the silver mining days of the city. Which was incorrect. These tunnels were actually created in the late 19th century to divert the Guanajuato River which had flooded the city several times. In fact, Susana went and showed us markers of the height of the waters of several historic floods in the city's history.
Nice and crisp exterior, the smoked fish was really the star of the show here. It was moist, smokey, not overly salty, with great savory tones. The queso was used sparingly, which was actually a good thing. Look at all that smoked fish!