Tempus Bar and Restaurant

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

You feel you’re dining in the shade of history at Tempus – these days the dining room of the revamped Grand Central Hotel, it previously was the Malmaison Restaurant, the town’s swankiest destination for many a decade. An illustrated book demonstrating this is proffered readily, showing the upper echelon of the 1940s and 1950s dropping by. The style now is similarly Belle Epoque, with a mural depicting days gone by and ox-blood banquettes. Fittingly enough, steak is a theme here; the Flavour of the Old Malmaison is a 14oz chateaubriand for two, carved at the table. The rest of the menu is equally meaty, though there is a well-trimmed fish-cake with prawns and a sherry vinaigrette for those more delicate. It is worth making a beeline for the Highland venison ‘en croute’ with marinated beetroot, rosti potato and leaf spinach, a surprisingly effective fist-fight of textures. Pizzas, such as smoked chicken, chorizo and jalapenos, and pastas are available too. Service is as observant as you’d expect in a hotel of this standing, ensuring that for customers new and old Tempus is a back-to-the-future experience.