Long standing and popular good food restaurant with rooms for those visiting the far corners of the Isle of Skye

This was a very pleasant package and although is a fair hike from any direction, it is easy to see why this windswept hub in the hills has gained so much attention. The food was complete fun and carefully designed for a non-starrred restaurant and came with interactive service at the chef’s table inside the kitchen. The restaurant was fully booked two months prior to the enquiry for the Sat night however, the chef’s table was free which was more lucky. This comes at a higher premium for the tasting menu but it is very good speaking with the chefs and staff who are all more than happy to engage with you if and you are invited to have a wonder round and ask questions which is bold of the staff and a first that I have come across. A couple of moments that stood out as negative on this visit in an otherwise colourful and well-presented manner. Recommended for celebrations and romantic occasions alike.

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First impressions were of warm, welcoming service and we were escorted to the Annex for drinks and canapés. Once at the chef’s table it was abundant that the experience the restaurant staff wanted us to have for the evening was nothing but the best that can be provided and we were all invited to take a wonder among the kitchen and ask any of the chefs anything from time to time if we fancied. It was evident we were in good hands.

The heather smoked and salted whipped butters were a particularly nice way to enjoy our breads which were well done. The Raw and cooked langoustine with butter milk with pickled carrot had a wonderful langoustine emulsion to go with the dish and the elements held themselves together well. The crab was utterly fresh and a pleasant originality with the pickled fennel.

The scallops and the halibut were both pleasing enough in their own ways but the dissapointing episode on this occasion was that there was an insect crawling around one of the halbut dishes which had to be sent back for replacement. This can happen to anyone and it was dealt with as quickly as possible but it obviously lowers the stakes of the overall product as more attention to detail was required.

Two other dishes stand out for me on this occasion and they were the beef which was absolutely superb with a lovely combination from the cheese and garlic emulsion – this really was an inventive, light and powerful dish that deserves a lot of credit. The same can be said for the strawberry dessert which was similarly good for creative flare, colour and flavours although the one aspect that brought that dessert down was the sticky nature of the strawberry gel that held the mousse together – if that was less so, it would have been a very strong dish.

Ultimately this was a well done meal and I can see how this has been of interest to many for so long with its inventive twists, lovely, rustic dim-lit and wooden charm on the inside. It is hard to get explosions of flavour for every course but this was a valiant effort in trying to strive for that. Two last miscellaneous things stand out from here: 1) the seats of the chef’s table could do with a change – as grand as they are with thick, wooden beams and looking as if they had been taken straight from a medieval castle, the back is completely straight meaning that they don’t really cater for much comfort, and 2) I loved the fact that the staff were so welcoming to us being able to approach anyone at any time to ask questions over the food – I put this to the test for a couple of minutes and was lovely to chat about the qualities of various fish with the head chef who was accommodating. Overall this was an enjoyable meal all round and even nicer for the occasion that it was.

Food Grade: 76%