TRAVEL : 24 hours of food, drink & art in Dundee

A packed schedule and the smallest suitcase I could find, myself and TartanSpoonie, Lotte were off on TartanSpoon Travel adventures, returning to Dundee for another 24 hours in this lovely wee city.

I really like Dundee, it reminds me of Edinburgh in that it’s fairly easy to get around, to navigate, its creative and it has some cracking places to eat and drink. Of which more and more are springing up and from looking in the window at some of them, are delivering some high end dining.

REVIEW - 24 HOURS OF FOOD DRINK AND ART IN DUNDEE

Initially we were meant to head to Wrecking Ball Doughnuts for a naughty lunch but they are only open Thursday to Sundays, and this being a Wednesday, they were closed! So we chose Pacamara. I remembered it being mentioned on the Instagram grapevine that its pretty delish here.

And we can concur. A very plain, but lovely cafe that seemed to constantly be bustling. They still have the perspex panels up dividing sections of the cafe from the days of Covid past. It’s a little distracting but luckily we got a seat by the window and all thoughts of the C days were forgotten.

They serve a brekkie menu until 1130am and then switch to the lunch menu. The difference between the two is that you can get a cooked breakfast on the Brekkie menu and its replaced by Beefburgers, Falafel Wraps and Sandwiches at Lunch. But all the main absolutely scrumptious dishes are on all the time and we got two of them!

Korean Fried Chicken Waffles homemade waffle topped with maple butter, buttermilk fried chicken coated with spicy Gochujang chilli sauce and an organic fried egg (£9.95). Superb! The waffle was perhaps a little overcooked but still soft and the chicken was freaking outstanding.

Brioche French Toast with caramelised banana, honey and cinnamon mascarpone and roasted hazelnuts (£7.95) . You can add streaky bacon and maple syrup to this for an additional £2.95 and in hindsight I should have added it. The french toast with banana and the toppings was absolutely delicious but there just wasn’t enough of it all and left the last few bites a little drier than I would have liked. The additional bacon and syrup would have taken this dish from yum to awesome!

Highly recommended spot for brunch or lunch when in Dundee. They are located on Perth Street and if you are driving, there is plenty of parking nearby which allows you to park free of charge for 45 minutes which is ample time for a quick bite.

Pacamara, 302 Perth Street, Dundee, DD2 1AU www.instagram.com/pacamaradundee

With about an hour to spare before our Street Art walking tour, we decided to see if we could check into our room at the Malmaison Dundee. Luckily our room was ready and we headed upstairs to our Junior Suite to stare in awe at the luxurious surroundings, look in every cupboard, check out the bathroom and test out the bed. We all do it! We did find fluffy white robes and slippers, a coffee machine, kettle and tea, beds neither of us wanted to get out of and a lovely welcome bottle of Prosecco chilling on ice as well as some choccies which we saved for later.

The Malmaison is an ideal spot to stay when in Dundee. It’s right in the thick of it - close to the waterfront and V&A, a minute walk from the train station, an outdoor carpark is located across the road from it, there are loads of restaurants and bars within a 2-5 minute walking distance of the hotel, the city centre is 5 minutes walk away and best of all their sound proofing in their rooms is amazing! Besides looking out the window, you would never know you were in the city centre.

My full review of the Malmaison Dundee is available to read here - www.tartanspoon.co.uk/home/stay-malmaison-dundee

Malmaison, 44 Whitehall Crescent, Dundee, DD1 4AY www.malmaison.com/locations/dundee

Dundee is a very creative and art filled city. Home obviously to the still new V&A Design museum, it is also home to some great art institutions like the Dundee Contemporary Arts, the McManus Museum, Duncan of Jordonstone College of Art & Design, the Dundee Design festival, Generator Project and WASPS studios. It’s also jam packed with creatives, freelancers, talented artists, designers, who’ve all made Dundee their home. From Industry to Tech, from the Dandy and Desperate Dan to Denim and Rockstar North gaming; outside London, Dundee is where its at.

Dundee is also edgy and filled with pops of colour thanks to Open Close Dundee and their amazing street art trails. You’ll find incredible designs and artwork by young artists, established artists and graffiti writers all creating artwork on doors, boarded up windows, gable ends, half torn down walls, the pavements, the tarmac, and even in two dedicated legal graffiti parks which are located at DPM Park and Mary Anne Lane. There are currently 3 trails (City Centre, Stobswell and Lochee) comprising over 50 individual pieces, with new street art and legal graffiti walls springing up all the time.

The local trails all include large-scale murals to encourage this city-wide exploration; at Tay Street Lane, Gardiner Square, Cardean Street, and Lochee. The plan is that communities in the city will be connected to each other and cultural attractions, via a series of impactful artworks all across the city. Open Close Dundee work with local artists and community groups to help inform the location, content and design of the murals to foster pride and ownership of the works.

As a mural artist myself, having completed several large scale murals across the world in South Africa, Australia, California and closer to home, East Lothian, I know that by encouraging people to be part of community arts/ street art/ mural projects - through research, discussion, history, allowing them to be part of the consultation process and or even participate in drawing and painting the mural, it creates ownership and thus drives down the risk of vandalism.

You can check out the Google Map available on Open Close Dundee website, pinpointing all the various artworks, or pick up a map from the McManus Museum for £1.

Open Close Dundee is also available for private tours. They take your needs, abilities, length of time available and dates and times into consideration to create a tailormade tour just for you. We had a fantastic 1.5 hour tour with Russell on the city centre trail, taking in several alleyways, windows, doors, tarmac and the legal graffiti park on Mary Anne Lane. We were also lucky enough to run into Syke, a very well known, loved and extremely talented graffiti writer.

After a quick change back at the hotel we headed out for a much deserved pint at Dynamo. Spent much of the time petting and hugging the pub dog and forgetting about the beer!

But then it was time for dinner at the much anticipated Franks Wine and Pasta Bar. It’s reputation precedes itself and it was as divine as everyone has said it would be.

The restaurant is split into 2 levels. Entrance area with a few chairs and upstairs is the main seating area with a mixture of booths and chair seating.

Franks is a Pasta and Wine bar and although it served up Italian food, there is no pizza on this menu. The menu is small and perfectly formed. Delivering simple insanely gorgeous flavoured bowls of pasta that will leave you begging for more. Franks is special and it deserves a whole review to itself. Full review on Franks coming soon.

Franks Pasta and Wine Bar, 36 Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4ET www.instagram.com/franksdundee

This part is a secret, so don’t tell anyone … and I’m not suppose to tell you this but…. close to Franks is a secret speakeasy, Draffens. A single solitary lamp earmarks the entrance to this bar. Step inside and you’ll be transported back in time to the 1920’s. Mannequins are dressed in 1920’s garb as a nod to Draffens Department store, the bar is dimly lit, seating is cosy and although the bar is small, what it delivers is big! Big bold cocktails that is!

I chose the Setting Sail for Islington with Jamaican Rum, Mango Shrub, Guava, Tamarind and Smoked Salt. Powerful! Lotte chose the Draffens Margarita with Mezcal, Lime, Dragonfuit, Saline.

After an incredible nights sleep and a breakfast of champions, we headed out on another wander in search of more art around Dundee. There are plenty of public art sculptures in the city centre including this cheeky wee monkey, the magnificent dragon (see if you can spot the eggs) and of course Desperate Dan. We also seen the super cute March of the Penguins, some adorable housing/building statues called The Three Icons and Oor Wullie.

Dundee has over 600 pieces of permanent public art, including sculptures, murals, mosaics and more so its safe to say, whether you like it or not, you’re gonna see art at every turn. To find out more about the public art sculptures click HERE

A wander through the Mcmanus Museum is a must for history buffs, art lovers and just the general curious georges in all of us. Dundee has a fascinating history and it is all on display in permanent and temporary exhibitions. I particularly enjoyed the The Street and Love Letters to Dundee.

Take a walk down memory lane and immerse yourself in The Street at The McManus. Visit the shop and stand at the bar. Browse the windows of the old Toy Shop and the Pawn Shop. Look into the Shoe Shop and Furniture Shop. Peruse fashions from yesteryear in the department store. You may even remember some retail names from old Dundee. It’s brilliant and so well done. The Street is on show until January 2023.

Viewing all this art is thirsty work, so our visit to Wrecking Ball Doughnuts was perfectly timed and would you believe they had Fanta lemon and Coca-Cola slushies available. Freaking whoop! With the weather being absolutely cracking, full on sunshine and warmth, these were most welcome. With two large slushies in hand and doughnuts to go, we had one more pitstop to make before lunch and that was to visit the wonderful mural created by artists Fraser Gray and Martin McGuinness in Stobswell.

BTW Wrecking Ball Doughnuts are insane! They are freshly baked every morning and come in a variety of flavours, both filled and topped doughnuts. It was an incredibly hard decision but we chose the Creme Brulee and the Lemon Meringue. The doughnuts available on this day were Toffee Popcorn, Maple Bacon Ring, Frosties Ring, Raspberry Ripple, Tablet Custard, Tiramisu, WB Sprinkles Ring and more. Now you see our dilemma!

Wrecking Ball Doughnuts, 12 Exchange Street, Dundee, DD1 3DL www.instagram.com/wreckingball_doughnuts

The final hour spent in Dundee was a treat. We ended our 24 hours in Dundee on a high and this cafe just perfectly epitomised our trip bringing together food, drink and art. We had lunch at the beautiful Gallery 48.

Gallery 48 is a social space made up of a gallery and a restaurant serving up tapas style foods, Spanish wines and a superb range of gins. It also boasts a multi-faceted exhibition space providing regular workshops and bookable hosting opportunities. I loved it! And if I lived in Dundee, this would most definitely be the spot you’d find me most in!

Full review on Gallery 48 coming soon!

Gallery 48, 48 West Port, Dundee, DD1 5ER www.gallery48.co.uk

What a whirlwind. What a delightful, joyous, colourful 24 hours in this city. This city packs so much into its streets, venues, parks, waterfront and suburbs; with something different around every corner that will evoke an emotion. You can tell that Dundee is built on solid foundations but its the creativity, the positivity, the passion and the people that drive this city forward. It’s an artists haven, a creative hub and I love that it has bubbled over and spilled into every crack and open space Dundee has to offer.

For more information on Dundee read my previous post HERE and click over to VISIT DUNDEE website for more information on everything Dundee has to offer.

Many thanks to Visit Dundee for hosting me and to

• Amy and her team at Malmaison Dundee

• Russell from Open Close Dundee

• Franks Pasta and Wine Bar

• Draffens Speakeasy

• Wrecking Ball Doughnuts

• Gallery 48

This was a sponsored visit with VisitDundee to promote all that Dundee has to offer. All the views are very much my own.